The Electronics and The Outside Toys

Computer and video game heard the squeals of laughter through the open window. They peered

through the blinds and saw the children running and playing and being happy.

"Look," said Computer, "Even the big boy is playing on that standing thing and his feet are almost touching the grass as he hangs on that bar. It doesn't even make any noise. It doesn't do anything except stand there while they climb all over it and slide down. But they are smiling and happy. I miss them smiling and being happy around me."

"I can't look at that." whined video game, "I'm looking at the driveway where the girl is racing around on that metal thing. I don't understand why she is smiling so much; that metal thing is covered in rust! It's not shiny. It doesn't have lights and sounds."

Computer sadly nodded, "I know and I don't get it. They're sweating and smiling. How does that happen? Don't look over there, but the parents are CLAPPING and cheering them on. They are smiling. They never did that when the children played on me no matter how many hours went by."

They continued watching alternating between feeling sad and feeling angry. Why was it that suddenly they were unimportant and forgotten? Why were they no longer the most important things in the children's lives? It just wasn't fair.

They sat and stared as the sun started to slowly descend behind the backyard fence. "It's time to go in," they heard the mother say. "NOOOOOO!" shrieked the little girl, "I don't want to go in. I'm not finished playing." The little boy climbed to the top of the standing thing. "Y'all can play tomorrow. Come on in now; it's getting dark out here." "You never let us play as long as we want," whined the little girl as she sleepily followed her mother inside.

"I remember when they used to cry when the mother made them stop playing on me. But this

morning when she told the boy to power me up, he slammed my screen down." computer sadly said.

Video responded, "You know what big boy did to one of my controllers? He hid it and not under his pillow like he used to so he could play when the parents weren't looking. He hid it at the back of something they call the coat closet. The parents won't find it for months and months."

Suddenly Switch yelled from another room, "You know what the girl did with me? She put me on her MOTHER'S bed with a note that says you can play animal crossing on this now with your friends. I'm sick of it."

Woah! That was bad. They all sat and thought about how this all started with the sickness everyone keeps talking about. Almost overnight everything changed. They went from being the most important to barely being noticed. The children didn't want to use them even when the parents encouraged it.

Computer and Video glared out the window. The standing thing and the metal thing looked up and waved. "Hi," the standing thing said, "I'm Playground and this is Bicycle. Scooter is over there. We are outside toys." They all smiled and waved. Computer and Video looked at each other very confused. "Why are you talking to us?" Video asked. "We are the inside electronics. We aren't supposed to like each other." Playground just smiled waved one of her swings. Bicycle answered, "We're sorry you're sad. We know how awful it feels to be forgotten. We know how much it hurts to have the children just walk by you day in and day out. We remember hearing the children telling the parents they didn't want to play with us, and it made us sad. We don't want you to be sad."

Computer and Video looked at each other with their buttons lighting up in surprise. "Did they just say what I think they said?" whispered Switch from the other room. "Yes," she heard back. "Do you think they really mean it?" she continued.

"We do," Scooter piped up, "We want the children to love us all. We want the children to think we're all important. We don't want anyone to feel forgotten, useless, and alone. We think everyone should be important no matter who seems fancier."

"I wonder if that can really happen?" Computer said, "I wonder if when this sickness is over it will be different. I wonder if they'll see we are all important and we all deserve to be useful and loved. I wonder..."

They stopped talking as they heard the littles putting on their pajamas and the big boy digging deep in the coat closet. "Let's play one computer game and do one assignment before we go to bed," said the little girl. "And I'll play video games until it's time for lights out," added the big boy, "but then I'm really going to go to sleep so I'll have energy to play outside tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good plan," the mother mumbled without looking up from Animal Crossing.

"I hope so." whispered Playground as she shut her eyes to get ready for another day.