Pa bay manti!

Duckhein is gullible. I can tell him almost anything and he will believe it.

(NOTE: This is a hypothetical conversation - if I like it, I will have it with him next time I talk to him.)

Me: "Duck, I went to the zoo last week with Kim. They have 40 elephants there."
Duck (believing every word and not pausing to reflect on the fact that there are no zoos in Haiti): "Wow, that's cool."
Me: "Yep, and the funny thing was the elephants were all purple."
Duck (getting a tiny bit suspicious): "Purple elephants?"
Me: "They get this weird kind of skin fungus that makes them turn purple."
Duck (a believer again): "Oh."
Me: "So the elephants were just hanging around when Kim fell over the fence into their cage."
Duck (looking shocked): "Is she OK?"
Me: "Well, yeah, because I jumped over the fence, picked her up, climbed onto one of the elephants and rode away."
Duck (thinking that is just a little too much for even someone as amazing as Super-Kez): "Did you really ride an elephant?"
Me: "Of course. I rode him all the way to the orphanage and he's up on the soccer field now. Do you want to go meet him?"
Duck (realizing that this could not possibly be true): "Hihihihi, Keziah, you're lying. You didn't see any elephants, did you?"
Me: "HAHAHAHAHA. No."

It's just so much fun because when he realizes that he's had his leg pulled, he breaks into hysterics of Duck-giggles. Priceless. But I occasionally feel a little guilty so I decided to give him a warning.

Me: "Duck, 50% of what I say is not true."
Duck (looking skeptical): "Really? 50%?"
Me: "Yeah. In fact, what I just said isn't true."
Duck (looking confused): "What?"
Me: "Hahaha, I joke, all the time. Half of what I tell you is a joke."
Duck (finally getting it): "Oh."

When I hugged Duck good-bye on Thursday evening, I gave him a big squeeze and whispered, "I love you" into his ear.

Duck (very seriously looking at me) "Keziah, stop telling lies."
Me: "But I'm serious. I do love you."
Duck (confused again): "I know you love me."
Me: "Then why did you tell me to stop telling lies?"
Duck (shaking his head at my ignorance): "Because you said that 50% of what you say is not true. I'm just giving you advice so you can improve before you next visit."
Me: "Oh, so you do believe that I love you?"
Duck (with a big smile): "Of course I do. And I love you too."