Last week I was waiting for someone at the Downtown Community Centre. I was sitting on a bench and looking at my phone. Suddenly, my view of the screen was replaced by the face of a tiny, grinning child.
"What's your name!" he said.
"Gryphon"
He clasped his hands to his mouth and staggered backward, staring at me in pure astonishment.
His father arrived and encouraged him to introduce himself in return. Instead, the child blurted out "But how can you be a gryphon?!"
I said "Oh, you know about gryphons?"
A shy smile crept across the boy's face, eyes still wide in amazement, and he nodded.
For the unknowing party, I told the father that it was a mythical creature.
It was obvious at this point that the child believed sincerely that I was somehow a half-eagle, half-lion that had disguised itself as a human. To clarify things, I said "Well, I'm actually not a gryphon. I'm a human named Gryphon."
Which is, of course, exactly what a magical animal undercover in the world of humans would say. From the look of the kid, this did nothing to persuade him. My confident introduction as a gryphon was far more convincing than my awkward attempt at taking it back.
His dad encouraged him to continue on to whatever scheduled activity they were going to. As they left, the child shouted "Bye Gryphon!"
I don't think I've ever felt as magical as when that kid looked at me with sudden realization, full belief, and awe in that I was some fairytale being. It was like he had randomly run across Santa Clause at the Downtown Community Centre.
