My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 14th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which teachers from around the world participate in posting a story per day.
Jackson reached into a bin of stretch plastic animals. “Look at this one!”
He squeezed a toy alligator and it’s eyeballs bugged out.
Together we browsed the bins of small toys: rubber finger puppets shaped like monsters, glow-in-the-dark squishy aliens, small jars of goo, and tiny erasers shaped like food.
On the top shelf my eyes landed on a Magic 8 Ball, just like the ones I remembered from my childhood.
“Jackson. Look! A Magic 8 Ball!”
“Whooooooooah. That’s it. That’s what I’m getting.”
A few minutes later, in the car he pulled the Magic 8 Ball from it’s box.
Lily, eleven years old, muttered something pessimistic about it just being a cube floating in water and rolled her eyes. Undeterred by his older sister’s skepticism, Jackson asked me, “Is it real? Is it magic?”
Without hesitation I replied. “Yes, buddy. But it only works if you actually believe that it’s magic,” and Jackson’s eyes widened and he gave a hearty, “Oh ho ho ho ho. This is is gonna be good." Lily grumbled some more.
Then Jackson proceeded to ask questions.
“Will we have a good day today?”
Signs point to yes.
“Is Lily annoyed right now?”
Certainly.
Then he gave it a question designed to test its powers: “Is it sunny today?”
YES
Having had three reasonable answers in a row his amazement and excitement only grew.
“Will I ever get married?”
The 8 Ball answered, “Certainly” and Jackson was thrilled. “YES!” he shouted, while his sister gagged.
All the way home, Jackson asked question after question.
Then, at home, he asked even more questions.
At dinner I had to set the Magic 8 Ball in a separate room, so that he would stop asking questions long enough to eat food.
And finally, at bed time, he was still filled with questions to ask. By now the Magic 8 Ball had foretold (in the form of yes/no responses) that Jackson would live for 500 years, that he would be happy, that his sister was tired, mad, happy, and hangry, that I had secrets, and that his father would lose all his hair. All that and much more.
Finally, sleepy and fresh out of questions to ask, Jackson climbed into bed with the Magic 8 Ball on the bedside table, ready to provide more answers the moment he wakes up.