"mr. tony, do you like scary movies?"

asks lily, a wide-eyed curly-haired first grader who does karate kicks and jumps off benches.

"not so much, they give me nightmares," which is half true.

"i LOVE scary movies," she volunteers.

"then you are one brave kid."

"have you seen the one where the girl pees on the floor and her mommy puts her face in the pee?"

"no," i shake my head and repress the urge to ask her the title of this film so i can imdb it when i get home. "but have you seen the sponge bob movie?"

her unyielding enthusiasm in telling me about this movie renders her immune from the redirection tactic, which works ninety-nine percent of the time. "and then the girl throws up and another girl has sex with a god and then the girl's head is sliced off and purple snakes crawl out?" she acts out the beheading for me.

i say nothing, wearing an expression that is a mixture of bewilderment and defeat. she looks at me, grinning ear to ear and wondering why this grown-up has nothing to say after being told the plot of what is clearly, to her, the greatest movie in the world.

the bell rings and lily says "bye mr. tony!", does a jump kick, then gallops away. "have a good weekend," i call back, making a mental note to not ask her come monday if she saw harry potter and the goblet of fire.