Toy - January 10, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by the word "toy". This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out]

Toy - Squiddy Geiger - January 10, 2012

The man looked carefully at the pieces before him. He'd examined the diagrams carefully, and the few words in the instructions. He'd read them through four times, checking that he had the right tools, and all the parts. He was ready.

He picked up the first two pieces in the instructions, and started construction. They went together easily enough, and the third presented no trouble. This wasn't so bad, he thought. He could do this.

By the time he was half way through, he was sweating. He was very glad he'd read the manual first, because he'd run into trouble a couple of times, things didn't seem to fit the way the diagram said they should, but each time, he'd managed to figure it out.

Finally, as his muscles ached and his back protested, he fitted the last piece in place and tightened it. He sighed, and sat back with satisfaction. It was done, it was complete, and it looked even better than in the pictures on the website. He got up and stretched and got himself a congratulatory drink.

He put the completed toy back into the box, and wrapped it carefully, taking extra time to make each fold crisp, using just enough tape to hold it, but not too much to obscure the design of the wrapping paper. He attached a small name card, and finished it with ribbon and a bow, and placed it carefully under the tree, ready to be discovered by its new owner.

---

The boy grabbed the present, the last of his gifts, and looked at it. It was big, and it rattled slightly as he shook it. He started to open it.

The man watched as the boy ripped the carefully wrapped paper and threw it aside. He watched as the boy opened the box and pulled the carefully constructed toy out, and examined it. He watched as the boy tossed it aside with a "Thanks!" and went back to his new video game. he sighed, and went over to watch the boy as he played.

Posted by Squiddy at January 10, 2012 08:30 PM | TrackBack