It's all right. The incidents that follow were described to me exactly as I present them...

[first lines] Author:
It is an extremely common mistake. People think the writer's imagination is always at work, that he's constantly inventing an endless supply of incidents and episodes; that he simply dreams up his stories out of thin air. In point of fact, the opposite is true. Once the public knows you're a writer, they bring the characters and events to you. And as long as you maintain your ability to look, and to carefully listen, these stories will continue to... Author's Grandson:
[shooting at him with a pellet gun] Author:
Stop it! Stop it! Don't! Don't do it!... Uh, will continue to seek you out, uh, over your lifetime. To him, who has often told the tales of others, many tales will be told. Author's Grandson:
Sorry. Author:
It's all right. The incidents that follow were described to me exactly as I present them here, and in a wholly unexpected way