Just in Time for a Story

 

 

Justin came running home from school one September afternoon. His mom was waiting for him with his favorite Oreos cookies and a glass of milk. “Hi, Mom, guess what?”

 

“What, that’s what,” she smiled at his old joke.

 

“No, I really mean it, guess what?” Justin demanded.

“Okay, I give…what?” his mom relented.

 

“At school today the principal said over the PA that every month on the second Tuesday the PTA is going to sponsor an assembly. We get out of class, and everybody goes to the gym…even the big kids, and we get to watch an assembly, and it’s going to fun.”

 

“Hmm. Sounds like fun. I can’t wait to hear what your “assembly” will be.”

 

Throughout the school year Justin came home on the second Tuesday beside himself with joy. When he got home, his mother would invariably ask, “Well, what kind of assembly did you have today?”  And the conversation would go something like this…

 

….“Oh, Mom, I wish you could have been there. There was this magician guy, and he did card tricks, and made a bird disappear, and he took out this long handkerchief. He was so fun! I wish I could some neat tricks.”

 

…. “Mom, Mom? Have you ever heard of a 'triloquist?”

 

“A ventriloquist?”

 

“Yea, yea, a triloquist. He had this dummy and he said all sorts of funny stuff. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to get sick. I wish I could remember the jokes. You would have laughed, too, Mom. I wonder how he does that without moving his lips.”

 

….“Mom, mom, are you home?” Justin had to wait till his mother came back from the laundry room.

 

“This guy was dressed up like a pioneer and he showed us all kind of stuff the pioneers used when they traveled out west. It was pretty cool. I got to ask him a question about how they started a fire. He sure knew a lot. I guess you have to be pretty smart to be a pioneer.”

 

And so it went every month. Justin couldn’t wait to get home to tell his mom about the assembly program. Then, May rolled around and the last school assembly was held in the gym. As Justin had done on every second Tuesday, he ran home to tell his mom. The last program was a storyteller

 

….“Mom, Mom, sit down. I want to tell you a story!”