The Crafty Number Six
by Daniel Errico
Number Six lived in the Land of Numbers.
She could build anything.
She built a basket that helped Number Two pick berries.
She built skis for Number Five.
She even built a building for Number Eight to turn into a library.
One day King Ten heard of her great skill at building things.
He came down to her workshop and saw what she had done.
“You are the finest carpenter I have ever seen,” he said, “I want you to build me a toy that makes noise,” he said.
She got started working right away.
She collected needles from pine trees.
When they spun around inside her toy, they made a clicking noise.
The next day she brought it the toy to the King, and he was very pleased.
“Wonderful,” he said, “Now I want you to make me a toy that can fly.”
She got started working right away.
She used the leaves from the Great Ninety-Nine Tree to make wings for the toy.
She built it out of a hollow tree to make it light.
The next day she brought it to the King, and he was pleased.
“Wonderful,” he said, “Now I want you to build me a toy that can never be broken.”
She got started working right away.
She found the strongest metal ever, inside the rock behind a waterfall.
She built a toy so strong that it could be dropped from the sky, crushed by a boulder, or thrown in the ocean, and it would still not break.
The next day she brought it to the King.
He was pleased, but once again, he wanted more.
“Build me a toy that is more fun that all of these combined!” he said.
Number Six thought long and hard, and then she went back to her workshop.
The next day she arrived at the castle with a box.
She opened it up and handed the King a small toy.
“This is the greatest toy that I have ever created.
As you can see, even a child could use it.
And it is so much fun that only a fool would grow tired of playing with it.”
The King was confused, but he did not say so out loud.
“Thank You,” he said, “It’s magnificent!”
Number Six went back to building things that she liked.
The King stopped asking her to build him new toys.
He spent days trying to guess how his new toy worked.
Number Six was sure that he would never figure it out.
The toy she’d given him, the greatest toy she’d ever built, was nothing more than a small block of wood, which would keep his imagination playing forever.
