" Kids are wonderful,' the man was saying. 'Our four-year-old, the things he says! The other night he wouldn't go to sleep, you know. He was making a little fuss and saying he was afraid of the dark and all and mother here says to him, "Don't be afraid of the dark. God's in the room with you," and he says "I know God's here but I want somebody with skin on."'
The woman started to laugh. She was plump and blond and smelled like a rising cake.
'Isn't that a kid though,' the bartender said.
Pearl put her hand out and held on to the bar. She thought that this was the most horrible story she had ever heard in her life. "

― Joy Williams , The Changeling