THE DISCOVERY

Jimmy was one of the friendliest kids on the block, but also one of the poorest. His house was very old looking and there were many cracks in the dried paint. He was an only child so he had no brothers or sisters to play with which made him very lonely. His parents were so poor that they could not afford to buy him the things his friends had, like toys or new clothes, and although they were clean, he wore the same clothes almost every day. His family was lucky enough, however, to win a black and white T.V. which helped to pass the time away, but now he wished he could own the many toys he had seen advertised on it. Jimmy had only a handful of friends, and spent most of his time wishing for the things he wanted. Whenever he found pretty stones, crystal clear marbles and shiny rings, he would close his eyes and wish. He wished on first stars and of course, on falling stars. He wished on almost everything!!

One bright sunny morning he heard his mother say as he was awakening, "Hurry up Jimmy or you're going to be late for school again!" Jimmy jumped up hurriedly dressed and prepared for school. He grabbed his school books and headed out of the door, "Bye!" he said as he dashed off slamming the door behind him. It happened to be trash day and all the containers were set out for trash collectors. As he walked down the street Jimmy came to Thompson's Gift Shop, a store filled to the brim with many strange and unusual articles. In front of the store was a large yellow-brownish barrel that he couldn't resist looking into. Inside along with old papers he saw a broken chair and table pieces. These were things he could use for homemade toys, so he put down his school books and using all of his strength, he managed to pull out a broken chair leg. At the same moment a gust of wind picked up some of the papers from the barrel which went flying off and a very old fashioned oil lamp covered with dust, fell with a bang to the ground. Jimmy quickly threw away the broken chair leg for an object that looked exactly like 'Aladdin's lamp'!

Jimmy's eyes sparkled and his heart pounded faster and harder than ever before. It seemed that this was going to be his luckiest day ever! He hoped that in the lamp there would be a magical genie living inside. He used the inside of his shirt tail to wipe the dust off of the lamp, as he rubbed he closed his eyes and wished. He rubbed and he scrubbed. Before long the lamp was wiped clean. He kept rubbing and the old lamp began to shine so brightly in the sunlight that it hurt his eyes. He waited but nothing happened. He waited some more, and then began to rub again, but still nothing happened. He kept rubbing until his whole arm hurt but it was useless. Jimmy was so upset and angry; he threw the lamp forcefully on the ground. It bounced a couple of times and landed in the street where it was smashed beneath the wheels of a fast moving orange truck. Jimmy's mouth opened as he just stood there viewing the flat piece of metal on the road and could feel his eyes begin to water, yet, he wouldn't give in to his sadness.

He made his way into the wide barrel and once again began looking around. He pushed aside the old papers and again found an unusual item. It was, he discovered, a medium sized flawless crystal ball. He reached carefully into the barrel and pulled it out. Papers fell out of the barrel, were caught up in the cool wind and swiftly flew down the street. Jimmy held it up to his eyes and noticed that everything looked upside down. Suddenly he remembered and said out loud, "Oh shoot, I'm going to be late for school!" He placed the crystal ball inside of his lunch bag, grabbed the school books and ran quickly off to school.

When Jimmy arrived he was very, very late. He walked into the room interrupting the class. All of the students turned and looked at him. "Why are you so tardy Mr. Jumpferjoy?" asked the teacher in a harsh tone of voice that frightened him. "I, I woke up late", stammered Jimmy meekly, "then I found a magic lamp in a barrel, but it really wasn't magic at all." The class found Jimmy's story to be very funny, they began to laugh and would not stop until the teacher made them. "Stay out of people's trash," she said sharply, "and make sure you arrive on time from now on, o.k.?" "O.k.!" said Jimmy and held tight to the crystal ball that was inside of his lunch bag. She asked the class not to embarrass him, but poor Jimmy was already embarrassed. Like a good student Jimmy studied hard in school, but at the end of the day he felt a tingle of excitement when the bell rang. After school he was the first one on the school bus and the fastest one off. Something unusual was going to happen and he could feel it.

Once on his block, he ran quickly up the street to his old weather-beaten house. He felt butterflies in his stomach and happiness in his veins. He went straight to his room, sat on his bed and opened the lunch bag. Removing the flawless crystal ball he stared at it. He loved the way it made everything look upside down, and noticed that it was still a little dusty. He wanted his beautiful crystal ball to be as clear and pure as fresh pond water, so, he took the inside of his dark blue shirt and rubbed until it was smooth and sparkling clear. He held it close to his eyes and smiled, never before had he owned such a beautiful object!

Suddenly, the once clear crystal ball began to take on a greenish tint towards the center. Jimmy was puzzled; he dropped it on his bed and watched it fill up with bright green smoke. The misty smoke curled and swirled inside of the crystal ball. Then it began to slowly escape from within, and soon filled the entire room. Jimmy waved his arms and hands to clear the smoke away, but before he knew what he was happening, the smoke vanished. Squatting on his knees before him was a giant genie, strong and powerful. He was all alone in his bedroom with a strange greenish giant. It frightened Jimmy so much that he tried to scream for help. Although he went through all the motions, no sound came from his tight throat!

Then a horrible thought came into his mind, "Smashed to death by a seven hundred pound genie." The monstrous being gave a wide grin showing all of his bright yellow teeth. His huge head rolled back and he let out a powerful roar of laughter. "Do I frighten you?" he asked in a loud strong voice. Jimmy stood staring in disbelief, the genie watched Jimmy with his larger than basketball-sized eyes and spoke again, "This, my friend is your lucky day!" Jimmy swallowed to clear his throat and tried to speak but he could not. "What's the matter?" asked the genie, "has a cat taken hold of your tongue?" He reached over and produced a fluffy white cat out of thin air. The genie found it to be very funny and laughed a monster-like laugh. The cat then vanished. "Are you.....," began Jimmy in a dry crackling tone of voice, "are you the friendly kind?" asked Jimmy. "Don't I look friendly?" asked the huge genie. "Prove it then," said Jimmy gaining his courage back. "I'll grant thee but three wishes," thundered the genie, "use them wisely!"

Jimmy could feel the genie's words; at last anything he wanted could be his! Now for the first time in his whole life he could have all the beautiful wonderful toys he had seen on his family's black and white television. But he stopped his day dreaming and remembered, there was one wish that would out wish all other wishes. "Well," he said feeling the beat of his heart, "I wish for as many wishes as I want!" "Your wish is granted, oh mighty master!" said the genie as he stretched out his hands and bright sparks of magic flew out of his finger tips. Jimmy was overjoyed over his first wish and thought to himself, "um-m-m-m now what should my second wish be?" "I know!" he said out loud looking at the genie with a sly smile "I wish," he closed his eyes tight and said, "I wish, for a real magic carpet!" The genie stretched forth his hands. "Wait!!" said Jimmy, "I'm not finished yet!" he continued his wish, "It has to be rainbow colored." "Has master completed his wish?" asked the genie. "Go ahead," said Jimmy. At once the genie made a carpet appear on the floor in front of Jimmy's bed. "I'd like to try it out," said Jimmy. "Be my guest," answered the genie. Jimmy sat in the middle of the carpet and gave it a command. "Rise carpet!" The magic carpet quickly rose upwards nearly squishing poor Jimmy into the high ceiling. "Down carpet, down!" he said. The carpet smoothly dropped to the floor. Jimmy was amused with his new carpet.

"For my next wish, I wish for a telescope," said Jimmy pausing. The genie spread his hands forward. "Wait!" said Jimmy, "I want a telescope but not a regular one. This telescope should be a telescope that I can use to see anything and everything I want to see, at anytime and at any place!" "Is your wish complete oh, mighty master?" asked the genie. "Yeah, that's my wish, I wish for a Telescope of Wonder!!!" said Jimmy. The strong and powerful magical genie put out his enormous arms and in his large hand appeared a tiny telescope. The telescope was just the right size for Jimmy. He loved the look of his new toy. "Wow!" said Jimmy, "may I try it out?" "If that is what you want to do, oh mighty master," said the smiling genie.

"Wow!" said Jimmy again putting the telescope to his eye. "Let me see the world famous Disneyland." At once he was looking at Disneyland with all its different lands and rides. "Let me see my friend Joey." he said and suddenly he could see Joey riding on his new bicycle. Joey hit a ditch, the bike fell over and Joey landed on the ground. Jimmy watched Joey walk the bike home crying on the way. When Joey entered the house, Jimmy gave him a call on the phone. "Hi Joey are you o.k.?" he asked. "I skinned up my knees," sobbed Joey. "I know I saw you," said Jimmy. "Where were you?" asked Joey still crying. "Oh, I've got to go now," said Jimmy and he hung up the phone, and went back to his room.

"I don't believe it, this is great!" said Jimmy. "I wonder what else I should wish for." He thought hard for a moment. "Well," he said, while thinking aloud, "if I get sick I won't be able to use my magic carpet nor have any fun outside, so I wish for..... um." "Medicine?" asked the genie "I know," Jimmy said with another one of his joyous smiles, "I wish for one million magic berries, to keep me well whenever I'm sick, to keep me from having any pain or injury and to keep me warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot. Also, I want them to allow me to breathe any atmosphere. These berries must keep me healthy at all times, no matter what, so that I can have many happy days!"

The genie, which towered above him, put out his hands. "Is this your final wish?" he asked his little master. "There's nothing else I can think of," said Jimmy, "So be it!" said the genie. There was a puff of green smoke and grayish berries were all over the place. The genie finished with his work, disappeared back into the crystal ball. "Oh, no!" said Jimmy "where am I going to put all these berries?" Poor Jimmy couldn't move without stepping on the magic berries. He grabbed a couple of handfuls and stuffed them in his pockets. "I wonder if I should disturb the genie?" he thought to himself. "No, I better not he did enough for one day." Jimmy was upset that he had forgotten to ask the genie to put the berries into some type of container. He decided to solve the problem by using large paper bags from the grocery store to put the berries in. He left his house in great excitement and ran down the street, thinking only of the new gifts he had received.

He wasn't paying any attention to the stop light and ran straight out into the middle of the busy traffic. There was a loud screeching sound and Jimmy saw a small red car speeding right at him. The driver slammed on the breaks but it was too late. The fast moving car hit Jimmy! He flew up into the air and landed hard on the ground. Dazed and hurt, Jimmy felt terrible pain while tears streamed down his scratched cheeks. He saw that a large crowd of people had gathered around him. Everyone was asking him if he was o.k.. Jimmy wanted to speak but couldn't, the pain was too much for him. Someone in the crowd said, "Call an ambulance!" A tall man in a grey suit pushed his way through the crowd. "I'm a doctor," he said, "let me see if I can help, while we're waiting for the ambulance to arrive!" "Let's see," he said as he examined Jimmy, "Fractured ribs, two broken legs, and possibly internal bleeding."

News reporters seemed to appear out of nowhere. Just then Jimmy remembered the grayish berries, painfully and slowly he reached into the nearest pocket and took out one of his magical berries. His movements were very slow and he could hardly breathe, but he managed to put the berry into his sore mouth and chew on it. The sweet juice of the berry quickly entered his body. The flavor reminded him of a mixture between blueberries and cherries. Suddenly he felt fine. "I'm o.k. now." he said and stood up. The crowd was shocked. The doctor was confused and made another examination. "It felt like your rib cage was broken and it looked like your legs were broken," he said, "but now you seem to be all right, even the scratches on your face have vanished!!!" The news reporters moaned with disappointment, then left.

An ambulance quickly pulled up and two attendants rushed out. "Where's the little boy?" asked one of the men. The crowd pointed to Jimmy who was looking as healthy as he could with a very stupid grin on his face. "What kind of joke is this?" asked the other attendant. "It's not a joke, it's a miracle!!" said the doctor. "Well," said Jimmy, "It's been nice meeting all of you but I really must be going home." Everyone was astonished, everyone that is, but Jimmy. He was the only one who knew what had really happened. When he came home he heard his father's voice. "Jimmy, where have you been?" asked Mr. Jumpferjoy," we've been calling you for the last fifteen minutes!" "You didn't go in my room did you?" asked Jimmy worried. "No, but I was about to." said Mr. Jumpferjoy. "Your mother thought something might have happened to you." "What could happen to me?" asked Jimmy calmly. "Get ready for dinner," said Mr. Jumpferjoy. "O.k." said Jimmy. He washed his hands, and enjoyed his dinner more than ever, being relieved and hungry.

After a delicious meal, Jimmy went straight to his berry filled room and rubbed the crystal ball. "I should have disturbed him the first time," he thought to himself. His room filled with clouds of green smoke and the large genie appeared. "You called master" asked the genie. "Could you help me clean up this mess?" asked Jimmy. At once the genie put his hands out and the berries were neatly gathered and placed in large boxes which were stacked in different areas of his room. "Make the boxes invisible." said Jimmy. The genie snapped his fingers, the boxes were invisible. "That's much better" said Jimmy. "Have you another wish?" asked the genie. "No, that's all," said Jimmy. With that the genie vanished. Jimmy yawned, patted his mouth and looked at the used clock on the wall. "Nine O'clock!" he said to himself, "what a lucky day!!" He then put on his pajamas and was soon fast asleep.

THE DREAM

While sleeping comfortably in his small soft bed, Jimmy Jumpferjoy had the most wonderful dream he had ever had and for the first time, this dream was in vivid color; so real it was as if he wasn't dreaming at all. He found himself walking down the street in a place full of friendly people, all greeting him as they passed by with kind and warm smiles. They shook his hands and patted him on the back. "Glad to see you here," said someone. "My, aren't you a handsome one," said others. Jimmy felt like he fit in for once, and that this was his kind of place. "I've never felt more welcomed!" he said to himself. "I think I like it here!" As he looked this way and that, his eyes fell upon a very lovely girl. "Hi there, I like you!" said the girl. She slowly walked up to Jimmy and held both of his hands in hers. "What's your name?" she asked. "Well, it's Jimmy," he answered. "Jimmy what?" she asked very curiously. "Well, it's Jimmy Jumpferjoy," he answered. "Jumpferjoy?" she laughed. "What do you do, jump for joy all the time?" "No, I don't," said Jimmy, feeling somewhat put off. "Tell me, what's your name?" he asked. "It's Jilly," she answered. "Do you have a last name?" asked Jimmy with raised eyebrows. "Why yes," she said, "Applejelly." Jimmy couldn't help it, he just had to laugh. "Jilly Applejelly!" he giggled loudly, "Oh boy, that's funny."

Then, without knowing why, they both found themselves in delightful fits of laughter. Jimmy laughed so loud and hard that his stomach began to ache and tears of laughter rolled down Jilly's soft cheeks. After the laughter died down, Jimmy gave Jilly a big hug and said, "Won't you be my friend?" Jilly hugged Jimmy right back saying, "Of course, silly!" Then she stepped back and said while wiping her tearful eyes, "Allow me to show you around; after all, you are new here!" "Well, how can I possibly argue with you?" asked Jimmy. "Good," said Jilly, "now look around at the wonders about you. To the left is our most famous Candy Coat Mountain!" "Sounds delicious," said Jimmy. "Yes," said Jilly, "as a matter of fact it is. There is of course, a very nice poem about it too!" "Please don't let me hear it," said Jimmy, "I hate poems, they're too boring!" "So I'll tell you anyway," said Jilly playfully. "This is how it goes:" Jimmy rolled his eyes upward as Jilly began the poem. She winked and said:

A special day when all was night
There came an object twinkling bright.
A sparkling rainbow that glowed in the dark,
Made all the birds of paradise bark.
It spread a wide sparkle over Mystic Hills,
Past the orange colored ducks,
and their fat stouty bills.
It hastily sped past the flowing youth fountain,
and on the far side of Candy Coat Mountain,
It dug up the ground ...
Nothing was found,
But a pot of red peelings and a sweet smelling sound ...
Mystical, magical dogs flew above ...
Dishing out handfuls of things they called love ...
That was a special day when all was night,
And that sparkling rainbow came twinkling bright"

Jilly took a deep breath. "Well?" she asked. Jimmy clapped his hands. "It's the very first poem I've ever really liked." "Come on Jimmy, there are so many places I'd like you to see!"