a little post-apocalyptic fairy tale for everyone:<\/p>\n
\n
THE MAGIC MARBLE<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \u201cGive me a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n Jake looked up from his marbles.\u00c2\u00a0 Except for the girl standing over him on the stoop, the street was empty.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u2019d never seen her before.\u00c2\u00a0 She was older than him, but not much, and the way she leaned over him it was as if she was curious but unwilling to get too close.\u00c2\u00a0 The way she spoke, she obviously expected him to obey.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA dollar,\u201d the girl said, straightening and taking a step back.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not like that\u2019s a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 Jake rolled up his marbles, gathering them in one hand and then dumping them into a plastic pouch.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll give you a marble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have plenty,\u201d Jake said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to give you a dollar, you have to give me something I want.\u201d<\/p>\n She grinned.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll want this marble.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u2019s a cat\u2019s eye.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs it an actual cat\u2019s eye?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s gross,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen I don\u2019t want it,\u201d Jake said.\u00c2\u00a0 He stood and dangled the pouch in front of her.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cGot all I need in here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s magic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarbles aren\u2019t magic,\u201d Jake said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re being stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a girl,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m never stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a girl,\u201d he agreed.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve got cooties.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do not,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 She fished the marble out of her pocket and held it out on her palm.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got this.\u201d<\/p>\n It was bright, sparkly, blue glass with red veins inside, and it was definitely prettier than any of Jake\u2019s marbles.\u00c2\u00a0 And bigger, too, twice the size of any of his shooters.\u00c2\u00a0 He reached for it, but she closed her hand around it and shook her head.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI need a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want a dollar for?\u201d Jake asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cOnce you give it to me, it\u2019s mine, and I can do what I want with it.\u00c2\u00a0 And I\u2019ll give you this marble, and you can do what you want with it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt ain\u2019t magic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very magic,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cA fairy gave it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no fairies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA fairy elf.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as elves, either, \u2018specially not fairy elves,\u201d Jake said.\u00c2\u00a0 He thought he was being reasonable.\u00c2\u00a0 But he wanted the marble, and he wished he actually had a dollar to give her.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course there are.\u00c2\u00a0 You don\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know there\u2019s no elves or fairies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho takes your teeth, then?\u201d the girl asked.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t a fair question.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone knew about the Tooth Fairy.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cNot the same.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just saying,\u201d the girl said, \u201cthat you don\u2019t know everything, and you\u2019re wrong, and this is a magic marble and I\u2019ll give it to you if you give me a dollar.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 She was showing the marble again.\u00c2\u00a0 Sunlight glinted off it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s magic, what does it do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt wins.\u201d<\/p>\n Jake looked up and down the street.\u00c2\u00a0 They stood on this stoop, but all the others were empty.\u00c2\u00a0 No kids.\u00c2\u00a0 No adults either.\u00c2\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t seen much of anyone since the evening sunrise.\u00c2\u00a0 Days ago.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not playing with anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can play with me,\u201d the girl said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t have an answer.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cWhy don\u2019t you play with the marble?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a girl,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI have dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s silly.\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cJust give me a dollar.\u00c2\u00a0 Please?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Jake admitted.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t have a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n She frowned.\u00c2\u00a0 She dropped the marble into her pocket.\u00c2\u00a0 She looked up the street, then down, then up the side of the apartment building as if someone might look down from one of the windows.<\/p>\n He thought she\u2019d go away now.\u00c2\u00a0 Or say something else.\u00c2\u00a0 She looked at him again, and she frowned, but that was all.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had a dollar,\u201d Jake said, \u201cI\u2019d buy your marble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou said…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI said I\u2019d give you the marble if you gave me a dollar.\u00c2\u00a0 I did not<\/u> say I\u2019d sell it to you for a dollar.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 He thought about it, and said, \u201cThen can you give me the marble anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut then I won\u2019t have the marble and I still won\u2019t have a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about dolls?\u201d Jake asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00c2\u00a0 You\u2019re a boy.\u00c2\u00a0 What do you know about dolls?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know where to find some.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs there a doll shop?\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cBetter.\u00c2\u00a0 A five and dime.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want a cheap doll.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want a cheap marble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just want a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause.\u00c2\u00a0 Why do I have to have more than because<\/u>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Jake said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cDo you want to buy something?\u00c2\u00a0 Are you saving dollars for rainy days?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s pennies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jake reached into his pocket, pulled out three of those, and held them out.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cPennies, I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n She took them, one at a time, taking a time to look at each (maybe to check the date, or the face, Jake didn\u2019t know).\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cThanks,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI suppose you want the marble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou said it was magic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt wins,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you know?\u201d he asked.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI told it I wanted to find a doll,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cIt led me to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA doll, or a dollar?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted a dollar,\u201d the girl said, \u201cso I could buy my doll.\u00c2\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know who to buy it from.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can sell you a doll,\u201d Jake said.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the five and dime?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019d be nice.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 The girl sat on the stoop, smoothed her skirt, and smiled.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cIs it a nice doll?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a boy,\u201d he reminded her.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a nice doll.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill you pick it yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen it will be nice,\u201d she said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe five and dime,\u201d she said, \u201cis your secret.\u00c2\u00a0 The fairy elves and their magical marbles is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" a little post-apocalyptic fairy tale for everyone: THE MAGIC MARBLE \u201cGive me a dollar.\u201d Jake looked up from his marbles.\u00c2\u00a0 Except for the girl standing […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}