A Novel Beginning

Lew and I were chatting in the kitchen this evening as he prepared our dinner.

I announced that I was going to finally start writing my novel, which resulted in the following exchange:

Lew:  May I suggest the first three words?  'Once upon a time'....

Me:  That's four words.

Lew:  Once up on?  Upon?

Me:  Once upon a time.

Lew:  Is "a" a word?

Me (well, what I wish I'd said):  It depends on what the meaning of "is" is!

(Postscript:  For the record, Lew knows that "a" is a word.  But I think that the dinner preparation must have been affecting his counting ability.)