jack and the jack in the box
I am sure that you have heard of, or maybe even owned your own, Jack in the Box. Do you remember this toy? If not, I will give you a little information of what a Jack in the Box does. It is a box with a handle on the side and a doll inside on a spring. You turn the handle on the box to make music play, so you think it is a music box, but then all of a sudden the Jack in the Box doll jumps up from the box with no waring at all. It can scare the shoes right off of you. No matter how many times you turn the handle, knowing the Jack in the Box will jump out at you, it still makes you jump when it finally happens.
I am going to tell you a story about a young boy named Jack who, on his seventh birthday, received a Jack in the Box from his best friend, Billy, who came to his birthday party. Although Jack is way less afraid of different things now than he was when he was younger, there still are a few things that will scare him, including that Jack in the Box. He never did like them, even when he was younger, and he still doesn’t like them.
His friend, Billy, was very excited to give him the Jack in the Box as a gift. Billy told Jack, “I was wondering what to get you for your birthday, and all of a sudden I had the idea to get you the toy that has the same name as you! Get it - a Jack in the Box for Jack?” “Gee…uh thanks, Billy…uh…I really like it…uh…it’s a neat gift…uh…really it is,” Jack said quietly, hoping Billy couldn’t sense that he wasn’t too happy about getting this scary gift. Jack didn’t want to appear ungrateful because Billy was just trying to give him a gift he thought would be nice. He didn’t know it was a scary gift. Billy said, “Go ahead, turn the handle and see what happens.” That’s the last thing Jack wanted to do! Jack said, “I will later, definitely, I will, but right now it’s time to cut the cake and eat ice cream,” and with that he ran over to the table where his dad was putting pieces of birthday cake onto plates.
That evening, Jack’s dad was tucking him into bed and asking him how he enjoyed his birthday. Jack said, “It was great, Dad!” “And just look at all these great gifts I got,” he said pointing out all the new toys that he had carried up into his bedroom and placed on his desk. “Yep, you sure did get a lot of gifts,” said Jack’s dad, “but you forgot to bring this one up to your room,” and with that his dad pulled the Jack in the Box out from behind his back. Jack’s eyes got real big as he stared at the Jack in the Box his dad was holding in front of him. Jack had purposely left it downstairs. He didn’t want it in his bedroom, but now his dad had brought it right to him.
His dad looked around and said, “Here’s a good spot for this Jack in the Box, right next to you on your nightstand.” “Gee…uh…thanks for bringing that up to my room for me, Dad,” Jack said quietly. He did not want his dad to know that he was kind of scared of the Jack in the Box. He didn’t want his dad to think he was a scaredy cat now that he was seven years old. His dad wished him a happy birthday again, kissed him goodnight, told him to have sweet dreams, shut off his light, then closed Jack’s bedroom door.
Jack laid there just staring at the Jack in the Box on his nightstand. There was no way he was going to get any sleep with that toy sitting right next to him, so he decided he was going to move the toy to the floor next to the desk so he wouldn’t have to look at it. He got out of bed, and as he was picking the Jack in the Box up, he accidentally, slightly touched the handle. Well that handle must have been needing just one more little, tiny push to undo the latch to allow the top of the box to fly open because as soon as he touched that handle, the doll inside sprang up frighteningly out of the box, scaring the daylights out of poor Jack!
Jack dropped the box on the nightstand and ran towards the bedroom door, but stopped. He didn’t want his family to think he was afraid of a toy, so he decided not to leave his room. But he didn’t want to stay around that Jack in the Box either. He came up with an idea. He gathered his flashlight, pillow, blankets, alarm clock, even his glass of water, and moved it all to the closet. He double folded blankets to make a bed for himself on the floor of the closet. He ran the plug for his alarm clock under the closet door and leaned the flashlight against the wall so it was like a nightlight. He wasn’t going to get the best sleep, but he wasn’t going to sleep with that Jack in the Box, and there was no way he was going to touch it ever again.
Jack made sure he set his alarm clock to go off after sunrise so he can get back in bed before anyone came in to wake him up. He doesn’t seem to be as scared when its daylight, but even in daylight he got the creeps when he looked at the Jack in the Box sitting on his nightstand. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers over his head so he would not be able to see the toy. He thought maybe he could get a little bit of sleep in the comfy bed, but soon his big brother came in to tell him to get up for breakfast. When Jack got out of bed, he walked as far away from his nightstand as he could, never taking his eyes off the Jack in the Box. When he got close to the door, he ran out as fast as his feet could carry him. He really had no idea why this toy scared him so much.
Jack slept in the closet for the next several nights but it was getting more and more uncomfortable. It also was summer, so it was getting hotter and hotter in the closet, but he didn’t want to sleep in his bed with that Jack in the Box staring at him from his nightstand. He didn’t want to touch it to move it either, but he didn’t want to ask anyone else to move it because they would ask why he doesn’t move it, then laugh at him when he would tell them. Something was going to have to be done though because the closet was not working for him anymore.
A few days later, Jack’s aunt came for a visit with her daughter who was about 4 years old. Jack’s mom asked him to bring little Patty, his cousin, up to his room so she could see some of his toys and pick some out to play with. Jack brought Patty up to his room and when she saw the Jack in the Box sitting on the nightstand, her eyes got real big and she said, “Oh wow! I like that toy,” she said pointing at the Jack in the Box. “Can I play with this one, please, please, please?” Jack smiled and said, “So you like the Jack in the Box, huh? Sure, you can play with it as long as you take it downstairs.” Patty said, “Okay,” and with that she hurried down the stairs with the Jack in the Box. Jack could hear the music from the box playing, and he also heard when it stopped. He waited for his little cousin to scream, but instead, all he heard was her laughing. She wasn’t scared at all. In fact, she was really enjoying it. She kept turning the handle and every time the Jack doll popped up out of the box, she would laugh and laugh.
Listening to his little cousin enjoying the Jack in the Box so much made Jack think. Maybe he wasn’t giving the toy much of a chance. Maybe the toy wasn’t as scary as he thought it was. His thinking was interrupted by Patty coming back into his room with the Jack in the Box. She said, “We have to go home now, so I’m bringing your toy back. I really liked this toy. I’m going to ask my mommy to buy me one.” Patty could hear her mother calling her from downstairs, so she put the Jack in the Box into Jack’s hands, said goodbye and left.
Now there was Jack, all alone in his room holding the Jack in the Box in his hands. He looked at the box for a while and started to get scared again, but then reminded himself that he needed to give the toy a chance. If his little cousin who is much younger than him isn’t scared, it must not be scary. So he decided to cautiously turn the handle. The music started playing. He realized it was a very happy tune, “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” and he always liked that song when he was little. He knew that the doll was going to pop out of the box, so he prepared himself. And then it happened, the music stopped, the top popped open and out sprang the doll. Jack jumped back a little bit, and was getting ready to throw the box across the room, but he stopped and told himself to not be scared.
He straightened up, then looked at the face of the doll. The doll had the biggest smile he had ever seen and its eyes sparkled with a warmth that wasn’t scary at all. In fact it had a very friendly face. He noticed that the doll also had rosy cheeks and a button nose, and he thought to himself, “This really is a cute doll! There’s nothing to be scared of at all.” He said out loud to the doll, “You aren’t so bad, are you?” The doll bounced on its spring, just smiling and looking like it just wanted a friend. Jack said, “Hey, you know we have the same name! I’m Jack too!” Jack heard his dad call him down for dinner, so he set the Jack in the Box on his nightstand again. This time when he left the room, he didn’t feel the need to run to get out of the room quickly. He got to the doorway, turned around, looked at the doll, smiled, and said “See you in a little bit, Jack.”
Later that night, when it was bedtime, Jack climbed into his bed and was aware of how nice it felt to be in a bed that was so much more comfortable than the closet floor with blankets. He also had the ceiling fan which kept the room nice and cool, not hot like the closet. He looked at the Jack in the Box and said, “I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t a good toy. I’m glad my little cousin made me see that you are a really fun toy. Goodnight Jack.” Jack patted Jack in the Box on his head and he bounced happily back and forth on his spring. Before he stopped bouncing, Jack the boy was fast asleep.
So if you ever get a Jack in the Box or any other toy that scares you, just stop for a moment and think about what it is that is scaring you then look at what is good about the toy. Soon, you will see that there’s nothing to be scared of at all.
