I Have a Story to Tell
The missing Piece of the Puzzle – or – Pierce Fits In
When Pierce woke up he was in a large box filled with toys. Light came in around the edges so he could see. There was a plane, a fire engine, a sports car, and other toys, and Staring down at him was the face of a lady in a fancy dress that looked like angel. Hi! Said Pierce, where am I? Oh, you finally woke up, she said. You’ve been out for a long time, I thought you were just a block. It’s so dark, said Pierce. Where is the light coming from?, he asked. Oh, it’s just the morning light, said the angel lady. You don’t really remember anything do you? You’re in a toy box at a preschool, You know what that means? No, what? asked Pierce. It means we’ve been given to the school by people who don’t want us anymore and after this it’s the dust bin. I’m not sure I really understand, said Pierce. By the way I seem to remember that my name is Pierce. Hi Pierce, I’m Sissy. You look a bit lost, said Sissy. What’s a silver star doing in a toy box? I wish I knew, said Pierce. Are there any more like me and you ? asked Pierce. No, but I used to have a boyfriend named Bobby when I was new but he disappeared a long time ago after we came here. One day it seemed that we were so happy and the next he was gone. I’m so sorry Sissy. So what do we do here? asked Pierce. Every morning the children take us out and play with us and put us away when they are done. The girls are pretty nice but the boys are terribly rough. Every Friday night the teacher checks us out repairs us if she can, but if anyone is too badly damaged they are removed and sent to the dust bin. But sometimes toys just disappear. What happens if you go to the dust bin?, asked Pierce? No one knows, no one has ever come back, replied Sissy. The hope is that we go somewhere nice and are played by nice children. Maybe we come back as other toys? if we do, I’d like to come back as a pony. I had one once. He was brown with a white stripe on his nose. It’s been so long though, I don’t even remember his name.
Soon the cover opened hands reached in and out all the toys went. Even Pierce. The children tried to make him fit into their puzzles but he was too big and didn’t fit into the one with ships, or the one with horses or even the one with the space man. He was laying on the floor but a little girl picked him up and say him next to Sissy in her sports car. Around him Pierce saw a plane soar and crash over and over in the brightly lit room filled with tables and chairs. Blocks were being piled into towers. Little wooden trains ran in figure eights on carved wooden tracks. Cold winter sunshine entered through windows along one wall. Sissy and Freddie the fire engine tore down carpets with streets, buildings, and signs printed on it. Sometimes they would crash together. The teacher would remind the children to not be so rough with the toys as they would not get any new ones until next Christmas. Other children played at tables with games and puzzles. At the end of the day back in the box they went. Jerry the jet was not looking so good as he had crashed many times that day and one wing was askew and he was missing an engine. Four more days went by and just as Sissy had said, at the end of the fifth day the cover came off the box and the teacher checked each toy. She took Jerry out and soon they heard a clunk from across the room as he went into the dust bin. Two more weeks went by and several more toys left.
Then one day Sissy let Pierce drive but stars can’t move their arms and while they were driving along they crashed and threw Sissy so hard that she lost an arm and her dress was ripped. Sissy’s car also lost a wheel.
“Help! Get a doctor! Do something!” , Cried Pierce,
“I’m so so sorry”, he said as he tried to comfort her.
“Don’t freak out”, said Sissy.
The children put Sissy and Pierce in the bottom of the box hoping that the teacher didn’t notice them and closed the box but that Friday the door of the toy box opened and car disappeared. The box closed again. Sissy was very sad, but she said, Someday even the sun will stop shining, We just have to give thanks and enjoy the time and the things and those around us while we can. While sitting in the bottom of the box next to Pierce she said weakly, I don’t want to go away, but I’ve been put back together before and it wasn’t too bad, I remember a bright light and all my friends around me again. Then very weakly she said, "Maybe even get to see Bobby again”. And that was the last thing she said.
They sat that way silently, side by side, for some time. Then the teacher opened up the box again. First, the teacher eyed pierce, What are you doing in here? she asked. She picked up Pierce and started walking towards her desk then spied a dolls arm on the floor. She sighed and absentmindedly set Pierce on frame of the window . Then she went back to the box looked through it and picked up the damaged Sissy. Pierce tried to call out, “Don’t!, Please! I didn’t have a chance to say…” Angry and sighing the teacher took the broken doll and it's arm over to the corner and klunk into the dust bin they went. “Good-bye”.whispered Pierce.
Later that night Pierce saw the janitor take the dust bin away.
He returned a few minutes later with the bin but it was empty.
Sissy did not return.
The sun and moon rose and set. Winter turned into spring and the sun grew warmer. The children planted seeds in cups and placed them on the ledge below Pierce. He watched them grow and disappear. He saw the other toys become fewer and fewer. He became dustier and less shiny. He saw the snow melt, the grass turned green, dandy-lions bloomed and blew away. The birds made nests and hatched eggs in the trees outside. One day the children stopped coming and it was summer. He just sat there and watched and remembered the happy times he spent talking with, and riding along side Sissy in her car. The room was very quiet and very lonely except on those nights when storms rolled thorugh and rain beat against the window panes.
One day new children came to school. Pierce remained untouched on the shelf. Soon after the leaves began to change and fall and it began to get colder outside and the snow began to fall. One day the teacher announced that Christmas was the next week and that they would need to start decorating for it and that there would be some new puzzles and games to play with. She brought out a big puzzle box and set it on the table. The children crowded around it and began to put the puzzle together. Pierce couldn’t see what it was but they appeared to be missing something as they were looking all around on the floor.
A little girl spotted Pierce on the window frame and exclaimed, There he is! Oh no, thought Pierce, I’m going into the dust bin for sure. She ran over to him and plucked him down saying, We’ve been looking all over for you!
As she took Pierce to the table he looked down and there on the table was a puzzle made from a photo of the last Christmas tree with all of the presents below it. There was Jerry the jet, and Freddie the fire engine, and Sissy with Bobby in her red sports car with a brown pony galloping around them. They all looked happily up at Pierce and waved and welcomed him home. Then Pierce realized that the missing piece was the star on the tree. He was the star on the tree. Then it all came back to him. He had been a real star at one time and been discarded into a dust bin. He was the one who had come back. Pierce felt himself snap into place. He was home, he was with his friends, and they were all in a safe place where they would always be together. Pierce positively glowed.
The End
MT 030311
When Pierce woke up he was in a large box filled with toys. Light came in around the edges so he could see. There was a plane, a fire engine, a sports car, and other toys, and Staring down at him was the face of a lady in a fancy dress that looked like angel. Hi! Said Pierce, where am I? Oh, you finally woke up, she said. You’ve been out for a long time, I thought you were just a block. It’s so dark, said Pierce. Where is the light coming from?, he asked. Oh, it’s just the morning light, said the angel lady. You don’t really remember anything do you? You’re in a toy box at a preschool, You know what that means? No, what? asked Pierce. It means we’ve been given to the school by people who don’t want us anymore and after this it’s the dust bin. I’m not sure I really understand, said Pierce. By the way I seem to remember that my name is Pierce. Hi Pierce, I’m Sissy. You look a bit lost, said Sissy. What’s a silver star doing in a toy box? I wish I knew, said Pierce. Are there any more like me and you ? asked Pierce. No, but I used to have a boyfriend named Bobby when I was new but he disappeared a long time ago after we came here. One day it seemed that we were so happy and the next he was gone. I’m so sorry Sissy. So what do we do here? asked Pierce. Every morning the children take us out and play with us and put us away when they are done. The girls are pretty nice but the boys are terribly rough. Every Friday night the teacher checks us out repairs us if she can, but if anyone is too badly damaged they are removed and sent to the dust bin. But sometimes toys just disappear. What happens if you go to the dust bin?, asked Pierce? No one knows, no one has ever come back, replied Sissy. The hope is that we go somewhere nice and are played by nice children. Maybe we come back as other toys? if we do, I’d like to come back as a pony. I had one once. He was brown with a white stripe on his nose. It’s been so long though, I don’t even remember his name.
Soon the cover opened hands reached in and out all the toys went. Even Pierce. The children tried to make him fit into their puzzles but he was too big and didn’t fit into the one with ships, or the one with horses or even the one with the space man. He was laying on the floor but a little girl picked him up and say him next to Sissy in her sports car. Around him Pierce saw a plane soar and crash over and over in the brightly lit room filled with tables and chairs. Blocks were being piled into towers. Little wooden trains ran in figure eights on carved wooden tracks. Cold winter sunshine entered through windows along one wall. Sissy and Freddie the fire engine tore down carpets with streets, buildings, and signs printed on it. Sometimes they would crash together. The teacher would remind the children to not be so rough with the toys as they would not get any new ones until next Christmas. Other children played at tables with games and puzzles. At the end of the day back in the box they went. Jerry the jet was not looking so good as he had crashed many times that day and one wing was askew and he was missing an engine. Four more days went by and just as Sissy had said, at the end of the fifth day the cover came off the box and the teacher checked each toy. She took Jerry out and soon they heard a clunk from across the room as he went into the dust bin. Two more weeks went by and several more toys left.
Then one day Sissy let Pierce drive but stars can’t move their arms and while they were driving along they crashed and threw Sissy so hard that she lost an arm and her dress was ripped. Sissy’s car also lost a wheel.
“Help! Get a doctor! Do something!” , Cried Pierce,
“I’m so so sorry”, he said as he tried to comfort her.
“Don’t freak out”, said Sissy.
The children put Sissy and Pierce in the bottom of the box hoping that the teacher didn’t notice them and closed the box but that Friday the door of the toy box opened and car disappeared. The box closed again. Sissy was very sad, but she said, Someday even the sun will stop shining, We just have to give thanks and enjoy the time and the things and those around us while we can. While sitting in the bottom of the box next to Pierce she said weakly, I don’t want to go away, but I’ve been put back together before and it wasn’t too bad, I remember a bright light and all my friends around me again. Then very weakly she said, "Maybe even get to see Bobby again”. And that was the last thing she said.
They sat that way silently, side by side, for some time. Then the teacher opened up the box again. First, the teacher eyed pierce, What are you doing in here? she asked. She picked up Pierce and started walking towards her desk then spied a dolls arm on the floor. She sighed and absentmindedly set Pierce on frame of the window . Then she went back to the box looked through it and picked up the damaged Sissy. Pierce tried to call out, “Don’t!, Please! I didn’t have a chance to say…” Angry and sighing the teacher took the broken doll and it's arm over to the corner and klunk into the dust bin they went. “Good-bye”.whispered Pierce.
Later that night Pierce saw the janitor take the dust bin away.
He returned a few minutes later with the bin but it was empty.
Sissy did not return.
The sun and moon rose and set. Winter turned into spring and the sun grew warmer. The children planted seeds in cups and placed them on the ledge below Pierce. He watched them grow and disappear. He saw the other toys become fewer and fewer. He became dustier and less shiny. He saw the snow melt, the grass turned green, dandy-lions bloomed and blew away. The birds made nests and hatched eggs in the trees outside. One day the children stopped coming and it was summer. He just sat there and watched and remembered the happy times he spent talking with, and riding along side Sissy in her car. The room was very quiet and very lonely except on those nights when storms rolled thorugh and rain beat against the window panes.
One day new children came to school. Pierce remained untouched on the shelf. Soon after the leaves began to change and fall and it began to get colder outside and the snow began to fall. One day the teacher announced that Christmas was the next week and that they would need to start decorating for it and that there would be some new puzzles and games to play with. She brought out a big puzzle box and set it on the table. The children crowded around it and began to put the puzzle together. Pierce couldn’t see what it was but they appeared to be missing something as they were looking all around on the floor.
A little girl spotted Pierce on the window frame and exclaimed, There he is! Oh no, thought Pierce, I’m going into the dust bin for sure. She ran over to him and plucked him down saying, We’ve been looking all over for you!
As she took Pierce to the table he looked down and there on the table was a puzzle made from a photo of the last Christmas tree with all of the presents below it. There was Jerry the jet, and Freddie the fire engine, and Sissy with Bobby in her red sports car with a brown pony galloping around them. They all looked happily up at Pierce and waved and welcomed him home. Then Pierce realized that the missing piece was the star on the tree. He was the star on the tree. Then it all came back to him. He had been a real star at one time and been discarded into a dust bin. He was the one who had come back. Pierce felt himself snap into place. He was home, he was with his friends, and they were all in a safe place where they would always be together. Pierce positively glowed.
The End
MT 030311
