"...And Wisdom to Hide the Bodies."

J is struggling through breakfast waiting for the caffeine to kick in. A has awoken in a flash and is energetically running around the house possessed by the Spirit of Bright Eyed And Bushy Tailed.

A (bounding up to the breakfast table with toys): "J, you want to see a pirate prayer?"

J (dutifully eating some oatmeal): "Um..."

A: "It's not about killing." (Tries to hide toy cannon.)

J (reaching for some fortifying tea): "Okay..."

A: "So first you take the pirate (takes plastic pirate figure) and you put him in a box (puts hapless pirate into a small treasure chest).... (suddenly remembering that the pirate has to die non-violently) he's very sick, and he dies."(closes the chest over the pirate). His friends are very sad. They scoop out his soul... and they scoop out his brains...

(J resists a smile at this Egyptian cross-over)

... and they take his soul and put it into a cannon ball (positions cannon at dead pirate in a chest) and they fire! (sweeps the dead pirate off the breakfast table) and fire him into the sea!"

J (genuinely confused): "That's the prayer?"

A: "Yeah. Because, J, they had to take the soul out of the pirate and kill him and put him into the water -- but no one would know one of the pirates was dead because he was at the bottom of the sea."

J (less confused): "So, that's the prayer? That no one will find the dead pirate?"

A: "Yeah." (Runs off to rip up pirate treasure maps into teeny tiny shreds...)