Working For Toys

Oobi had it in his mind to get a new game for his handheld computer. It was something that he had seen on TV and it struck home in his mind that wouldn’t leave. The image of the game danced around inside his head like the image of a Popsicle when the ice cream truck rolled around. He sat at the dinner table thinking about it, he laid in his bed dreaming about it, he would even ride his bike wondering about this game.

Now Oobi knew better than to ask his mom for something ‘just out of the thin air’, as she would say. He knew that his mom had always told him: “that there was nothing for free, and that if you wanted something you need to figure out how you could get this thing using your brain and thinking.” Although he heard his mother say that a million times, he couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t be able to get something for just thinking about it.

 “That would be a nice world,” Oobi thought. You think of something and then suddenly it appears. He wouldn’t mind giving those powers over to Cannubi, who was lying on the grass panting. “I wonder what Cannubi would want, if dogs wanted anything”, thought Oobi. Maybe they dreamed of getting up on their hind legs and being able to open the refrigerator. Or maybe, they dreamed of catching those darn squirrels that always sat in the trees laughing at him. “Whatever it is Cannubi, if I had those powers I’d let you have them too.” Then Oobi patted the dog on the head.

Oobi tried to be tactful with his mom, but being a kid it’s kind of hard to figure something like that out. You really just spoke your mind. Jessica tried to teach Oobi the diplomatic way, but he thought that she always went the long way to get to the point. At least he tried to help his mom put the groceries away when he broached the subject. “Mom,” Oobi started. “Do you think it would be okay if you took me down to the Toy Central and let me get the new Lizard and Dragons Game?”  Manubi pretended like she wasn’t listening. “Mom,” Oobi this time made his voice louder. “Do you think you could take me down to Toy Central and buy me ‘Lizards and Dragons’ game?”

“Well what do you think?” Manubi responded typically to Oobi’s request.

“I think it would be a great idea. It would give me something to do on the days there’s nothing to do. I wouldn’t be watching as much television because I would be playing with my handheld.” “Those were good reasons”, Oobi thought. He was proud of his inventiveness.

That was soon destroyed when he heard his mother’s patented answer. “Well what are you going to do to earn it?”

“I don’t know, help around the house, maybe.” He only said that cause he saw his mom putting the can goods up on the shelf.

“Well that’s a good idea. Why don’t you make me a list of the things that you could do to earn this particular game.”

So that’s how the work list started. It wasn’t really a work list, it was a checklist of things for Oobi to do before his mom would take him down to the toy store and buy his favorite game.  It looked like a chore board that went on for miles, but Oobi had fifteen things to do before his mom would take him down and buy the game.

Work is what Oobi did. He raked the yard, he took out the trash, and he washed his mom’s car. He called himself ‘a working fool’, but he wanted ‘Lizards and Dragons’, so work he did. It took him quite a few days to get all the items on the chore board checked off, and at times it seemed like he was never going to get everything done. But time was finally coming to the end, and when the last chore was done. Oobi showed his mom the board. “Okay Mom. I’m done!” Then he pushed the board in front of her face so that she could see for herself.

“You’re right my man, and I must admit that you did a pretty good job too.” That entitled her to give her son a hug and a peck on the cheek, and then she stopped doing everything and readied herself for a drive. “Com on son. Let’s go get you your game.” Oobi burst out the door and off to the car.

Toy Central was a huge store, with more toys than even Oobi could imagine. When he stood at the entryway his lips opened. Where to go first? But he knew, and off they went to the computer game section. It was a wall of ideas and video adventures, and Oobi mouthed the words of each game that he would put to memory. He wanted that game, and he definitely wanted that game. Oh and that game he had to get sooner or later too. There was a cold feeling that the game they were there for wasn’t around. Where was it? His mom asked an employee, but the employee couldn’t find ‘Lizards and Dragons’ either. They called the front, the front didn’t know. The fact was, was they were out of the game. “You can place an order for it if you’d like,” the employee offered Oobi.

Oobi turned around and walked towards the front door, all that work and he had nothing to show for it. What a bunch of hooey. He stood outside waiting for his mom, and when she found him he was angrily kicking the side of one of those twenty-five cent kiddy rides. “Come on boy,” she said ushering him to the car. “You can get it later, but now they don’t have it. It will be in next week.”

Next week was too long. Next week was an eternity. Oobi sat on the front stoop looking for a good rock to throw as far as he could. Cannubi was no consolation and he knew it, so he went off and chased cats. Across the street Oobi could see Chin Chi coming out of his house and sitting on a bench. He looked like he was playing some game, but Oobi couldn’t make it out. Well may as well look, maybe it was something new, something that would distract him so he wouldn’t be reminded about the disaster at the toy store.

Oobi walked across the street and said hi to Chin. “Hey whatcha doing Chin?”

“Playing Lizards and Dragons,” he mumbled into the game.

“Lizards and Dragons?” This astounded Oobi. “When did you get it?”

“Yesterday at Toy Central,” Chin Chi said as a matter of fact.

“Do you like it?”

“Oh yeah, this is great. You’ve got all kind of mazes to go through. And the dragons are really neat. You should get this.” Chin Chi’s fingers danced across the pads.

“I tried to, but the store was out. I’m not going to get it until next week.” Then Oobi thought for a second. “Do you think I could borrow that after you’re done, so I could play it?” Oobi’s voice went a little higher as if he might have been pleading.

“Naw I can’t. My mother won’t let me lend out my toys to anyone. She says it’s a bad thing to do, but when you get yours, we can link up,” then Chin Chi sat up as he heard his mother calling him. “I’ll be right back.” Chin Chi ran inside the house.

Oobi stood looking at the unattended game. He wanted to take it home. He wanted to stick it under his shirt. He wanted to ruin the score. In fact, he wanted to take the thing and throw it on the ground, and without thinking, Oobi picked up the game system and threw it down on the ground. Then he stood stunned, and saw the game shattered in pieces. What had he done? Before Chin Chi could come out again, Oobi ran home.

Oobi heard Chin Chi screaming across the street, but he pretended to be playing with his toys in his room. When the front door knocked, Oobi busied himself with his toy soldiers, and when there was a knock on his bedroom door, Oobi knew he was in deep trouble. He never really understood why he did what he did, his mom said he was jealous, his dad thought he was angry, but whatever the reason really was, Oobi had forty more chores to do, and he didn’t get Lizards and Dragons for three months.