Day Care Magic

• Tom Barton, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2020

The Toys heard it. Footsteps walking along the walkway. A voice talking quietly. The sound of keys knocking together. Then door banging against the walls by the lady who came in. Eddie backed towards a small alley. He always told the other toys that he hated being played with by the children who went to Little Sunshine Day Centre. The other Toys, however, raced out to the middle of the room . At last they heard the laughter of children coming into the room, their smiles reminding the toys of happy days. When the kids picked up the toys a kind of magic spread around the room. It went through the toys and the children’s heart. The magic had a feeling that could not be described. It was full of happiness, love and joy. It encouraged the children to be brave and treat others with kindness. It was making creativity. There was only one thing that was missing out on this and it was Eddie.
On Christmas day it happened. Max opened his present to find what he had been waiting for. It was the new Eddie kid monster truck that can jump five metres high. Max couldn’t believe his eyes! But when he tested the toy, he found out that it was a rip-off and couldn’t even leave the ground let alone jump 5 metres. Max was so angry about the toy, that he gave it to the daycare centre the next day. Eddie had felt a strong friendship with Max as soon as he saw him. He was so sure that Max was going to love him and play with him forever. When Max gave Eddie away Eddie’s heart broke and he made a promise to never play or love a child again. The reason Eddie hid was because of Max.
A child sat in the corner crying for his parents. He had been doing this for a long time now but nobody seemed to care. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was a toy hiding in between the dollhouse and the play shelf. He stood up and walked over to have a look. The boy picked Eric up and had a close look at him. Eric didn’t even bother to pose because he thought that he was going to be let down by another kid. It came to Eric as a surprise when the boy sat down and started playing with him. Eric started to feel a feeling that he had never felt before. This feeling was love and joy and it stayed with him forever.