Kyle sat up from his bed, starring out his window and into
Donald’s room. Kyle had lived across the
street from Donald for all of their lives and he had never seen Donald act like
this. Kyle was always getting in trouble and so he often got time out in his
room where he would look through his window.
He knew that the mailman often came around 4 o’ clock. He
knew that the babysitter from up the street would bicycle by at 5:30. He knew
that Donald seldom got in trouble and so Donald seldom spent time in his room, but for the last few weeks
that’s all Donald did. Something was wrong with Donald, Kyle thought.
 |
| The Grump. |
…
The Grump's plan had worked. It almost felt like they
shouldn’t call him The Grump anymore. He confided in Donald that his real name
was Harry. Donald thought that was still a grumpy name, but that thought made
both of them laugh (a feeling that was new to Harry).
Donald and the dust bunnies spent most of their nights
staying up and playing. One of their favorite games was pillow cannon. They
would all sit at one end of the pillow and Donald would press his head against
the other so to send them flying across the room. The dust bunnies would do
tricks and Donald would give them trophies for the best ones.
Daisy was so light that she could reach all the way up to
the fan and then come tumbling down. The first time she did that she realized
that there were even more dust bunnies hiding on top of the fan and so Daisy
got a very special trophy.
George didn’t enjoy games as much as the others did. He still
liked them but he spent a lot of his time making things out of legos for the
other dust bunnies to use. Even though George seemed a little dense sometimes,
all the other dust bunnies knew him as the genius inventor. So, Donald starting
bringing George more and more stuff to invent with. At first it was pennies and
pencils that he found at school, but then Donald starting bringing him things
leftover from his lunch.
You’d be amazed at all the great things George can do with a
stale piece of American cheese.
For months Donald and the dust bunnies lived freely,
enjoying every moment of every day. Until the day came, the day that Harry (The
Grump) and Donald had talked about so many days ago.
“Donald, could you please come down for dinner,” his mom
said with a hint of worry in her voice.
Donald had just finished seeing one of Daisy’s greatest
tricks and he wasn’t really inclined to leave just yet.
 |
| Daisy. |
“I’ve got to go guys, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“If she’s making fruit salad make sure to bring me some
grape peels!” George said eagerly.
“Of course George!” Donald laughed.
When Donald came skipping down the stairs he saw his parents
in the living room waiting for him. He didn’t smell any dinner cooking and
suddenly he realized it wasn’t even close to dinner-time (which was usually
around 6).
“Donald, come here, sit down for a bit,” his dad said.
Donald sat down quietly, scared of what his parents might
say.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time in your room Donald.”
His mom said, with the same worry in her voice. “Are you… okay?”
“Yeah! I’ve never been better mom!”
“Look Donald, your mom and I are just worried that you’re
having trouble at school, ya know? Making friends and what not… we just want to
know that you’re alright.”
“Dad, I’m fine, really. I’ve never been better.”
“Your room is a mess Donald.”
“It’s not that bad…”
“We found stale cheese in the sheets and there is dust
everywhere!”
“We’ll it’s not as bad as Kyle’s room”
It was worse than Kyle’s room.
“I don’t care son, it needs to get cleaned.”
“Donald, what’s wrong…” his mom said, the worry was gone and
now she was only caring. “You know you haven’t been outside in months, other
than going to school?”
“I just, mom, I just don’t want to clean my room.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t wanna.”
“I understand, but we all have to clean our rooms
sometimes.”
“I just… I wanna keep playing with… with my legos” Donald
said, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Oh Donald! Why are you crying?” His mom asked.
“I’m not.” Donald wiped the tears away with his jacket
sleeve. “I’m just, I’m not gonna clean it.”
“Honey, can you give me some time with Donald?” His dad
asked. His mom nodded and walked out of the room.
“I think I know what’s wrong son.”
“No you don’t!”
“It’s magic isn’t it?” He said with a smile. “There’s magic
in your room.”
Donald looked up at his father, amazed at the fact that he
did understand.
“I had magic too when I was a kid. I still see it everyday.”
“You still have dust bunny friends?”
His dad laughed.
“No, no. You know I had dust bunny friends when I was your
age? We played for days and days and I never cleaned up, but one day I woke up
and my bed was a mess. My mom came bursting into my room with a vacuum and
POOF! They were all gone. I never saw them again.”
Donald broke out into big sloppy tears.
“It was okay Donald. I realized that when I cleaned up, and
I went outside again that there was a little bit of magic in everything. Not
just in those little dust bunnies. You know if magic can be in little tiny dust
bunnies, how much do you think is in those big giant trees?”
“I don’t know.”
“More than you could ever imagine. How much is in the sky,
do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
“Even more than is in the trees, Donald. How much do you
think is right here?” His dad asked while pointing at Donald’s heart.
“I don’t know.”
“Even more than the sky son.”
 |
| George. |
…
The next day Donald went to school and he thought about all
the magic. He spent all day looking out the window and thinking about how many
great things were filled with magic around him. He thought about how much magic
was in his heart, and he thought about how great God was for giving him all
that magic.
When he got home his room was clean. The floors were sparkly
and his bed was made. On the pillow there was a little note that read:
“Thank you for all the magic you gave us, Donald. Thank you
for all the days and for showing me what it means to laugh. We will miss you. –Harry”
And Donald cried one last, big, sloppy tear.
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