There once was a little boy who received as a gift a shiny new toy truck. He was quite fond of the little toy truck, and when he learned that it had been sent to him by the toy maker himself, it became his favorite of all his toys. He thanked the toy maker for giving him such a special gift, and promised that he would always take good care of it. He took it everywhere he went and slept with it beside his pillow. So great was his fondness for this toy, that he even etched his name on it so everyone would know that it belonged to him. He was so happy!

As the years went by, the little boy grew, and he continued to take his favorite toy with him wherever he went. He continued to sleep with it beside his pillow every night. Then one day, the boy noticed that his little toy truck was not so new anymore. It had lost its shiny new finish, a wheel had fallen off, and the horn no longer tooted. Now his little toy truck was not as much fun to play with as it used to be, and the boy began leaving it at home when he went out to play, and on the toy shelf when he went to bed at night.

After a while, the boy decided to go shopping for another toy truck to replace the one that was sitting on the shelf. He went from store to store and finally found just the right truck, at Discount Toy Store. The new truck had some features that the old one didn't have. The boy enjoyed playing with it so much that he took the old one from the toy shelf and tossed it in the trash. It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off of the new little toy truck, as did some of the paint and a few of the moving parts. The boy went back to the store and purchased another new toy truck, but soon lost interest in that one, too. He continued to go from store to store, looking for just the right truck, but to his disappointment all he could afford to buy were cheap imitations of the first little toy truck that the toy maker had given to him. He began to think about that truck more and more, missing it more and more. Now he really regretted having thrown it away.

Finally, one day the boy went to see the old toy maker and asked if he would make him another toy truck just like the first one. "That's not possible," said the toy maker, "That little truck was hand-made, one-of-a-kind, and could never be duplicated." Then he added, "What a shame you discarded it. I found it in the trash bin, and picked it up. Now I'm repairing it so that I might someday give it to someone else who'll appreciate my gift." The boy's eyes welled up with tears as he left the toy factory. He went home feeling very sorry for himself for having lost what was most precious to him.

08/04/2006

Posted on 08/05/2006
Copyright © 2024 Diane Paley Davis