Story Cubes Prompts: Turtle – book – parachute – cell phone 

Matt put the book down with a smile on his face. “Here,” he said to Kiley, “I marked the page. Surprise me.” Kailey immediately pinched the page marker between her fingers, opened the book and began to read where Matt had circled a paragraph lightly with a pencil.  

She read, “It started as a dot in the sky. Like a bird soaring so high that you cannot quite tell if it is a large object falling from far away in space, or a tiny object that is about to reach the ground. Getting a good perspective is difficult without familiar structures nearby for comparison. This is why the full moon appears so huge against the vastness of the sea. It took shape, little by little, and they broke the silence in unison as they exclaimed, “A parachute!’” 

This was her challenge. To fly a parachute. She would have to outdo herself this time, she thought. This was no ordinary challenge in itself, but what twist could she possibly add that would totally mystify her friend? 

Kiley and Matt had been friends ever since his family moved next door. They devised this challenge when they realized how much they enjoyed the same types of books. They took turns marking a paragraph from their current novels. The object of the game was for the chosen paragraph to inspire a challenge or feat to be demonstrated within 48 hours. Occasionally, the rules would change, mostly on weekends and during the summer, and the allowed time for completion shortened to a day, or less. Or they would meet in the morning, each presenting the other with a paragraph from their respective books and agreeing to meet after dinner. Ready or not. 

It was not a competition, really, and there was no winner or loser. Upon completing a challenge, one would point out the best elements of surprise and how he or she might have approached it had it been theirs to complete. They had decided long ago that it was as much a challenge to come up with a premise for one another as to actually perform the task, and they found immense pleasure in simply sharing the experience.  

Today’s challenge was to be completed within 48 hours, but Kiley already had an idea she felt confident she could pull off by morning. Matt would certainly not expect that. After all, this one was far from easy. What’s more, they had agreed upon one very important rule: If the challenge could not be done safely, then it was not to be done at all. Being reckless, breaking the law, stealing, lying, disobeying their parents or in any way injuring themselves or others was out of the question. 

Morning came. The two friends met at the playground. Thankfully, it was already a warm and sunny day; exactly the conditions Kiley needed so she could suggest they go to the swimming hole. They were allowed to go only as long as the neighbors’ older kids were there too. On a day like today, you could be certain many would already be there, filling their day with giggling and swimming. They were good kids who always watched out for each other. Matt and Kiley liked them a lot. In fact, they were more like an extended family of brothers and sisters. On this particular day, Matt was soon to find out every single one of them was in on Kiley’s challenge. 

She picked the perfect spot on the stretch of rocky beach just beneath the group of teens, so that she and Matt were surrounded by their chats and laughter. This was their favorite spot anyway, so nothing about this would appear out of the ordinary. “Let’s play Frisbee in the water!” suggested Matt. “Perfect!” thought Kiley. “Let me just text my mom to let her know where we are.”  

On her cell phone, she typed, “Hey guys. Ready here. About to play Frisbee. Wait until we’re in the water and launch away!” Her mom was in on this too. She knew exactly where they were and what was going to happen. She and Matt’s mom loved this challenge game their two children had imagined. They often talked about how grateful they were for the truly wholesome friendship their two kids enjoyed. Both had lost their dads, one to illness and the other to divorce, and both were single children.  

Matt stood waist-high in the water, ready to throw. He gave the Frisbee his special spin that made it look like it would boomerang back to him but magically slowed down to land almost directly in Kiley’s hand instead if she turned about 90 degrees to her right. She tried to learn this trick but could never master it.  

He was already totally absorbed by the game and about to throw again when something caught his eye. He almost ducked as he mistook the sudden activity from above for a meteorite shower, but he stood there instead, puzzled, and delighted. Above him, a hundred little parachutes opened in unison. His eyes grew even wider when the outline of a turtle began to form under each parachute. He then launched in a good belly laugh.  

The toy turtles landed on the water with ease, as if they had been alive and perfectly trained for the stunt. Matt began dishing them out one by one and, looking up at the teens who clearly took great pleasure in participating in Kiley’s challenge, he screamed, “Do it again! I want to see that again!”  

Challenge executed to perfection. He would not have changed a thing about it.  

In the early 1970’s, in Canada, a children’s show from Sweden was translated to French and appeared on my TV screen every Saturday morning. It instantly and completely captivated me. It was called “La Pierre Blanche,” The White Stone. This popped in my mind as soon as I saw today’s four Story Cube prompts.

This short but adorable series featured a young boy and girl in a remote countryside who met each day during summer vacation to exchange a white stone. The one holding the stone was to accomplish a feat. Upon completion, the stone would change hands and a new assignment given.

It was imaginative and tender, pure and innocent, and a distinct contrast from the North American playgrounds and suburban street ball games I grew up with. And Mischievous too. My few friends tended to favor more active games, or make-believe mom & dad scenarios with dolls. I lived in my head a lot. The quiet and unhurried Pierre Blanche challenge resonated deeply with me.

Do you have memories of childhood shows that completely delighted your imagination? Or that even shaped the trajectory of your life in some ways? Do tell.