The Creator of Shrinky Dinks, Demonstrates Her Product to the Milton Bradley Board of Directors

Good afternoon gentlemen, my name is Betty Morris.  I must first start off by saying how proud I am to be showing you, the board of directors for Milton Bradley, this creation of mine.  Well mine and Kathryn’s, but really all she ever did for the project was to color the plastic.  And let us just be honest for a moment, my sweet little boys manage to do better, and one of them (bless his heart) has a touch of the epilepsy. But regardless of who contributed the most to this endeavor, I would like to present to you: Shrinky Dinks!

What’s that Kathryn?  Don’t be silly, we loved the name and you seemed very agreeable to it last night.  And you can’t keep using your drinking as an excuse to not honor a contract agreement.  A verbal contract still counts in a number of place darling.  

She does have a taste for the liquor, which is why I’ll gladly be the face of the product.  

Now to continue, and I certainly hope you all know how to hold questions till the end, you start with a sheet of our special plastic.  Then you can just draw whatever the heck you could want on them.  Simple enough, right?  I’ve had my own little artists make some examples.  Let me just take them out of this folder and… Hmm.  It appears both Billy and Sammy have grown an interest in human anatomy. A vivid interest.  A vivd interest and generous imagination.  No matter, we’re all adults here, and I’m sure all you gentlemen have seen your own share of… these.

Taking this one here, you can see it is already drawn and filled with color. Next, we’ll just cut along the edges, like so.  The beauty of this is that you can really make your own toys customized to each child.  My goodness, I’ll just keep a couple extra inches on that end, it would be embarrassing to have such a small bit. Sir, I wish you would stop squirming, you’ll want to watch what happens next.

So we put the cut-out on this tray, which we can put it into this oven, and bake it.  Why we could even ship them with those things the little girls make the goodies with.  You know those small ovens, right?  Oh that is such a clever idea, a tiny oven for tiny toys!  I’ll have to jot that down for later. Don’t even try to weasel credit on that one Kathryn, there are witnesses here who saw how quickly that idea evolved and from whom.

Oh yes, there is a slight burning smell.  I wouldn’t worry too much about it, the parents may not like it, but the children won’t even mind. Heck I know for a fact that, most children have a scent of rancid milk and body odor about them so they will hardly even notice that burnt plastic smell.  

Oh and there is the ding!  Let me take them out of there.  Oh my yes that smell is just a tad strong but you know what else doesn’t smell so good.  Money.  And I’m sure you won’t mind rolling in that, would you?

But if I could draw your attention away from the other drawings from my boys, and focus on something other than the smell, you’ll notice the... toys have all shrunk to about one-third of their size!  Isn't that just marvelous? Here let me hand that around so you can look at and feel the weight of it.  It grows thicker as it shrinks, but also the coloring get more vibrant.   Why it almost looks like the real thing!  No thanks sir, I’ll let you all keep that, as you seemed to handle it in such a fond manner just now.

So now that you’ve seen it in action, I would like to thank you again for this opportunity present my… "our" idea.  I think this will present many children and parents the opportunity to bond, draw and create images of almost startling clarity.  Good day!

The Flight of Jenna Stephens

Jenna had seen the blue sky earlier and wanted to escape into it as she had before.  She wanted to feel the exhilaration of gliding through the world again, free of worries and fears.  The damage to her legs, especially her knees made it hard to walk without wincing, and the cold chains in her hands were of little comfort.  

The cuts and bruising could have been much worse she was told.  These wounds, no badges of pride, had happened the last time she had tried, the tears from her failure still fresh in her mind.  But Jenna would not be cowed into submission by a few failed attempts.  She waited, her routine still carrying her back and forth, back and forth. Those around her seemed content with that kind of life, but not this girl.  Some windows of opportunity had presented themselves to her, and she wished she had taken them, but she was ready now.  Fear of failure no longer holding her back.

And after careful waiting and planning she finally had found the moment she had been looking for.  Without a word of warning for anyone around her, Jenna Stephens jumped.

The girl’s world changed around her, falling away and speeding by.  The chains behind her jangled as her leapt from their protective yet, stifling grasp.  Looking ahead she felt herself propelling forward and upward, flying.  The air sped through her hair, lifting brown curls,with hints of blonde, and Jenna tossed them back from her face.  Her clothing, a pretty pink dress at odds with her worn shoes, also flowed beautifully.  Pieces of her fabric rippled gracefully around her.

The joy that managed to fill Jenna was refreshing and clear. No worry about her injuries plagued her mind.  Not a single care about the things that had angered her earlier today surfaced in her thought.  And most of all, gone was the fear of failure that had marred her previous attempts.  Her freedom was complete.  

But it appeared her flight would not be permanent.  The world finally stopped pushing away from her, and her descent began.  The slight disappointment at this turn of events was quickly squashed, Jenna had already determined how to deal with this turn of events.  If she wasn’t careful, it would be goodbye to those she had met, and if her meeting with the ground was disastrous, she might not get the opportunity to try again for a very long time.  The timing was crucial.

Jenna brought her arms out to her side, she new balance would be key. She couldn’t see her feet, obscured by the dress  which had ballooned outward from her. The girl would need to rely on her memory.  She had prepared for this moment in her mind hundreds of times.  

The ground came rushing to meet her, clearly missing her company, and the moment of truth was at hand. Everything suddenly was a rush of activity.  Her arms reached out, and her torso bent to keep her from crashing face first.  Legs were tensing to prepare for the impact, and as her feet touched the ground, bits of rock were sent flying.  She managed to stay upright, she had her balance again. When everything had settled around Jenna, she looked around and smiled broadly.

Jenna waved at her mother, and ran back to her swing, ready to do it all again.