Silver and the Golden Scissors

This is a story I told A, early on Tuesday morning as I washed her hair. The day before she had cut out a picture of pumpkin so neatly that I honestly thought her teacher had done it.
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Once upon a time there was a boy named Silver who lived in a small city with his mother and father. His mother was a seamstress (that is what women who sew clothes are called) and his father was a tailor (that is what men who sew clothes are called). Silver loved his mother and father very much and wanted to grow up to sew clothes, just like his parents.
Silver’s Grandmother lived a few houses down; she was very ill. Everyday after school, Silver would walk to his Grandmother's house to sit with her and listen to stories about a pair of magic scissors that could do amazing things. On the weekend, Silver took chicken noodle soup, mangoes, apples, and bananas to his Grandmother to help her feel better. She would tell him more stories as he helped her cook and clean the house.
One day, as Grandmother was finishing a story. She turned to Silver and said, “You know, if you really want to be a tailor, you need to begin practicing how to cut quickly.” She told Silver that if he could learn to cut a sleeve from a piece of cloth before she could say “bobble kaboozle,” she would give him a special gift. Secretly, he hoped that it would be a green bicycle with red flames.
From that day forward, Silver practiced cutting cloth every chance he got. His mother and father had many patterns for sleeves—big poofy sleeves, long slender sleeves, medium sleeves with ruffles, short sleeves with points—all kinds of sleeves. Soon, his mother and father trusted him to cut out sleeve patterns they had pinned to pieces of cloth. Eventually, Silver began to pin his own patterns to cloth and cut his own sleeves. Every now and then he would take a piece of cloth to his Grandmother’s house and try to cut a sleeve before she could say “bobble kaboozle.” The first time he tried he had barely put his scissors to the cloth before she had said the word. Weeks passed, then months, then a whole year. Each time he visited his Grandmother, he cut more and more quickly. He got to be very, very fast.

One day, Silver told his Grandmother, “I think I am ready today. I think I can cut a sleeve before you can say bobble kaboozle.” He had his pattern pinned to a piece of cloth and his scissors open and ready. His Grandmother slowly sat down in her rocking chair. “Okay Silver. I’m ready when you are.” Silver looked at her. He looked at the cloth. Then he said “READY!” His scissors opened and closed so quickly that they buzzed. His Grandmother uttered the magic words:
“BOBBLE KABOOOOOOOOZLE!”
Before she had said “ooozle,” Silver was finished and holding up a long sleeve in his hand. He beamed with pride and his Grandmother did too. She asked Silver to come sit next to him. “Silver, I will not be here forever because I am very sick. You know that. You also know that you will be getting a special gift from me now that you have passed my test. And you know that even though I will be in heaven soon, I will always be with you—in your heart.” Silver felt sad and happy at the same time. His Grandmother gave him a hug and he gave his Grandmother a kiss and walked slowly home.
That night, when he walked into his bedroom, he saw a shiny red box laying on his pillow. His heart thumped loudly in his chest. He walked over to the box and opened it. On a little black pillow inside the box lay a pair of Golden scissors. Silver knew that his Grandmother had gone to heaven and that this was her gift to him. He put the scissors in the box and lay down to sleep.
That night he dreamt that he was in a tailor’s shop working on a shirt—it was hot, and he was very thirsty. Suddenly, a voice said to him, “why don’t you use your Golden scissors to cut out some juice?”
Silver woke up. “That was weird,” he said. “What could that voice have meant?”

Curious, he took the golden scissors out of the box. The voice said again, “Use your golden scissors…” He walked over to his desk. On it, he had drawn a picture of the green bicycle with red flames that he had been wanting forever. He opened the scissors and in a blur, cut the bicycle out. As the picture drifted to the floor, it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until finally it was the size of a real bike. Silver touched it. To his amazement, it WAS a real bike! He quickly drew and cut out a bike helmet and as it became real, he strapped it on his head and ran to tell his parents.
They were waiting for him in the kitchen. “Silver,” his mother said, “we know that your Grandmother has given you a very special present. She left it for you because you worked so hard at cutting out sleeves. Whenever you really need something or if you need to help someone who is in trouble, those scissors will work their magic for you. Now why don't you take that new bike out for a ride!”
As he rode down the street on his new bike, Silver felt a warm glow inside his heart. He smiled, and as he thought of his Grandmother, he whispered softly, “I love you Grandmother. Thank You.”