Reincarnation 101

"Mom, when we die, do we come back as something else?" Aidan asked.

"Some people and some religions believe that, Aidan. They call it reincarnation," I answered.

"What do you think?" he pressed on.

"Hmmm, I don't really know what happens when we die. It would be neat to come back as something else but I don't think that happens," I explained.

"Well, when I die, I want to come back as Papa Smurf," he said leaving me wondering why I ever take their questions seriously.

"Yeah," mused Lily. "And I want to come back as Baby Smurf!"

"Well, I want to come back as a cat," said Madeline. "Would you want to come back as a rabbit, Mom?"

"Um, no. I would not choose to be a prey animal," I answered. (Or anything blue and imaginary for that matter.)

"What's a prey animal?" Madeline asked.

"UUUUUHG, you don't even know what a prey animal is?" Mr. Know-it-all sneered.

"Ok, Aidan, what's a prey animal," I asked.

"Uuuuuum, I don't know," he said sheepishly.

"Is it one that prays?" Lily asked.

"They need to," I said. "But, no, a prey animal is an animal that gets hunted by other animals. So take a rabbit for example. It is prey to a fox because the fox will kill it and eat it for food," I explained. "The fox is the predator and the rabbit is the prey."

"You know, maybe I would want to be Handy Smurf instead because then I could make a lot of cool stuff," Aidan said.

Again, why do I bother?