Casey was rather numb leaving the gift shop. His daughter had noticed his scars but didn't think they were bad. She thought they were cool, like a tiger shark. Though she had put it back as promised, she kept talking about the 'daddy shark' for the rest of the day and wanted to go to the library to get picture books about sharks.
After she went to bed Vera turned to him in concern. "Are you okay, Casey? You've seemed kind of off all afternoon."
"She thinks my scars are stripes."
"She's never been exposed to anything that would make her think otherwise. She's only three. Honestly, this might not be such a bad thing. If she knows about them early, she won't think to ask questions later."
His wife may have a point. Ada hadn't asked him why he had stripes. She accepted it at face value the way little kids tended to do. They were still learning about the world around them and weren't judgmental yet. He wished she would stay so innocent forever.
