Stories
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Marcella tries to convince her parents
to let her spend more time in her Story Box.
They acquiesce, only on the weekends.
On mondays, she tells her classmates of
adventures with knights and dragons.
But here she is not a princess.
They have stories too.

Maurice once got stuck in his Story Box.
Hungry, he ate a purple mushroom
and forgot where to find the Gate.

Prudence carries her Story Box with her
even when she goes to school
but is never brave enough to use it.
For some reason,
hers is filled with nightmares.

Domingo wishes he had a dog
in the Real World.

Trinity’s Story Box is made of leather
and would be plain but for the portraits she
paints on its sides.
They are mostly aliens,
mostly aliens she has met.

Louis doesn’t care for his Story Box.
It’s once shiny steel exterior now rusts
neglected for months at a time.
Louis prefers the Outside.

Felix’s Story Box sits amongst some weeds
alone
in his backyard.
He hasn’t been seen in two years.

Annabel doesn’t have a Story Box.
It’s not that her parents
can’t afford it.
They just worry about the side effects.

Jessica cannot sleep
concerned
about monsters
under her bed.
But in her Story Box
she has guards to protect her.
She does most of her sleeping
there.

Sam worries that someday he will
outgrow his Story Box; he worries that
he has sailed all his seas.
His parents reassure him:
there are always more seas
even for us.
You just have to find them.