Imaginary Friend

At Steve's old job he had a co-worker named Mario, and a people usually do with co-workers, Steve spoke to Mario on the phone from our home, and his name came up in conversation at the dinner table.

It just so happened that about this time Steve was playing a lot of Super Mario Brothers on his big screen, and some times he would let the boys watch him play. After all, it's almost like a cartoon, right? And both Steve and I began to have a sneaky suspicion that Nicholas had the idea both Marios were the same, and that Steve went to work with this little mustache dressed in red who jumped around a lot.

Time went by. Steve now has a new job at a new location. He no longer speaks to or about Mario. Nicholas, however, still speaks to him daily. In fact, Mario is now HIS "Office Guy." He speaks to Mario on the phone all the time. He talks about Mario constantly. Mario this and Mario that and Mario is five and sits in the back seat of the car. Mario also washed his hands and got his shirt wet. Mario doesn't have a toy car like this one. Mario likes lollipops, but only BLUE lollipops, and he shared his lollipops with Nick.

I find the presence of Nick's imaginary friend a little unnerving. After all, he came from nowhere and seems to be everywhere and I'm never sure if we're speaking about an adult or a child or an infant as it seems to change depending on the subject matter. I recognize the fact that this is a normal, even healthy thing, though, and I'm content to let Nick exercise his imagination and vocabulary with all the stories about Mario that he wishes. But no matter how strange it is for me, it is even stranger for Steve, who pictures his old co-worker whenever Nick speaks about his little friend.