The Little Magnet Girl by Owen Townend

 

A little girl sat alone in a locked office. She was waiting for her father in his swivel chair with her hands atop his large wooden desk. Between her hands was a box of toy magnets. Bouncing it between her fingers, the box rattled.

            She frowned at it. His present to her. As if everything her father had put her through could be improved by a few dozen magnets. She had loved them a year ago but today she wanted so much more.

            Clenching her fingers, she tore the box open. Two magnets came tumbling out. The green one gleamed in the light of the desk lamp. For a moment she saw her own reflection in it. As she seethed, this image turned into her father.

            The purple one developed a strange sheen too which was soon filled by a reflection of her mother. The girl brought the magnets together and their corners clicked. However, when she let them go, they slid apart. Though the attraction had been there, something had weakened it.

            She reached into the box and pulled out a third magnet. Though it was cream, a colour she hated, the girl slid it between the other two. These joined firmly to the cream one but they still fell away from each other. As the purple and green magnets landed on either side of the cream one, she glimpsed her face again.

            The girl’s hands balled into fists and she pounded the desk. The three magnets refused to part so she picked up the box and emptied it on top of them. Magnets of every colour coated the table, some clicking together, most not. At last, she let out a scream.

            Checking the office door, she found no-one coming to check on her. The girl screamed again and pounded the table harder. The magnets shook and a few slid off the desk. Rediscovering the original green, purple and cream magnets, she saw that they just about held together, despite the mess, despite the violence.

            Taking them up again, the girl turned the magnets over and set them into a stack. This seemed to strengthen their connection and they held together in the palm of her hand.

            At last the office door opened. Her father appeared, concern blanching his face. Then he saw the muddle of magnets on the desk and on the floor. Seeing how wide his eyes were, the girl hid hers and waited for the raised voice, the stern words.

            But these never came. Instead, her father knelt down and collected the magnets from the floor. Reaching for the box, he dropped them inside.

            When the quiet became too much, she swept up the magnets on the table and joined them to the three-part stack. Given time, they all held together. Her father held out the box and she refilled it.

            He closed the box’s lid and then walked around the desk. She turned the chair towards him. Without a single request or answer, they embraced. Feeling his arms squeeze her tight, the little girl squeezed back. They each squeezed until the tears were all out and gone.