Daydream Believer

xix. video games and piggy banks

xix. video games and piggy banks

"Hi McKenna," Noah said as he barged into my room.

"Go away Noah," I said. I hugged Bronto against my chest. I really didn't want to be bothered.

"No," Noah said. "I want to talk to you."

"Then what is it?"

"All of my friends have video game systems and I really want one," Noah said.

"So? What do I have to do with this?"

"Can you help me talk to Mommy?"

"Sure," I said. I thought that might be cool. We only had one computer and Noah always hogged it. Maybe I could get him off of it.

Mommy was in the kitchen making dinner. I looked over the counter. She was making grilled cheese. I smiled. Grilled cheese was the best.

"Hi Mommy," I said.

"I'm making dinner. Can this wait?"

"No," Noah said.

"This better be an emergency," Mommy said.

"I want a Wii," Noah said.

"What did I just say?" Mommy shouted.

"I don't know," Noah said.

"Honey, we can talk about this later?" Mommy said.

"I want one too," I said.

"We have a computer," Mommy said. "Isn't that enough?"

"Justin has a Wii," I said.

Mommy sighed. "Justin's family has a lot more money than we do."

No they didn't. Neither of us lived in a big, fancy mansion like the rich people in books.

"Do you even realize how much those things cost?" Mommy asked. "Do you?"

"No," Noah said.

"It's over two hundred dollars. If you two can come up with two hundred dollars, we'll talk about it."

"But Mommy, I want one!" Noah said.

"Stop whining Noah," Mommy said.

I pouted. "Please Mommy?"

"No."

"Let's go Noah," I said. I ran into my room. I took my piggy bank off the shelf and opened it. Lots of little coins fell out. That must be at least two hundred dollars. I counted it up.

Five dollars and eighty-two cents.

That was a start!