Such was the case today, and she waited a safe distance for Jack to come out. She waited almost seven minutes before noticing a sign on the box. Jackie took wary steps toward the store so she could read the paper.
Now Hiring:
Jack-in-the-Box Jester
Jackie looked between the sign, the colorful box, and then store. Were they serious? Did they really expect someone to be the crazed maniac that jumped out of a box every thirty minutes? But knowing the box was currently empty let Jackie calm down. With her tormenter now a terrible memory, she began to walk away.
She made it only two two steps, before she began to hear the terrible melody of ‘Pop Goes the Weasel.’ Jackie turned slightly with a confused and worried face, and turned just in time to see the box lid explode open. She flinched, fully expecting her clownish nemesis to surprise her.
And then her stomach lurched and the tile she stood on launched Jackie into the air like she had been launched off a trampoline. Her body made a perfect arc into the box where she landed on an overly soft pad. All this before she could open her mouth to scream. But now inside the cursed box Jackie’s heart beat with terror. She tried to get back out, but not before the box sealed up tight and her world went black.
Jackie didn’t know how long she was inside the wretched box, but knew something wasn’t right. She could only barely move, and felt that her face was contorted in some playful smile. She felt new clothing materialize on her body, replacing her old jeans and t-shirt get up. Her fingers were smooshed together in a mitten glove, and something coiled around her legs. Her joints felt springy, like they never wanted to stay in place.
She didn’t seem like herself anymore and just wanted to jump out of her skin. Her body had too much energy and not enough room. Then, in the dark she began to here a little jingle play on a music box. The same playful melody that she had been scared of minutes before now made Jackie happy, and she couldn’t figure why. The lid of the box sprang open just as the song crescendoed. Jackie sprang also, her body releasing its stored energy and leaped out into the world. Her arms and legs flung wide and bounced from the brand new springs inside them.
Jackie looked out the mall, and thought everything just looked dull. Drab. Why did she think that? She looked down and saw a man in a red apron, the uniform of Ye Olde Toys, standing in front of the box that had captured Jackie. He had well groomed black hair and was a little short, and held a crumpled up piece of paper in one hand. He smiled a toothy grin at Jackie.
Curious, and a little frightened, Jackie looked down to see herself. What skin she saw was plastic now instead of flesh, with a slight shine to it. Long white mitten gloves covered her arms past her elbows, and a floppy jesters collar rung around her neck. Her lime green dress fit her snugly and sported two fist sized poms pretending to be buttons. Her dress skirt was a velvety purple with green lace, and would bounce wildly whenever she did. Jackie could see little else about her new body, but could feel a coil wrapped around her legs, and all covered by nylon tights.
Jackie looked at the employee in front of her box. She started to ask him something, but her mouth wouldn’t move. She tried to move her arms, but they just flopped around. From his perspective, it looked like she just waved at him.
“You’re going to make a great mascot for this store. Gonna bring in at least double the customers, I think, since you’re not nearly as creepy as the last one.”
Jackie was bewildered by the man. She couldn’t curse, hit, or even make funny faces at him. All she could do was bounce and vaguely wave. And then she began to feel something pull her down. Back into the box. Back into the dark. She could have imagined it, but she felt her eyes widen. She tried to move again, tried to get her fingers to grab the lip of the box. But they and every other part of her went inside. And then the lid closed.All she could do was wait for the music to begin to play.
She couldn’t believe what she was now. Couldn’t believe it was possible. But she came to accept that she was, for the time being, an oversized toy made from plastic and springs. Many people admired her, and no one suspected that she was alive. But she never gave up hope that she would escape.
But the box became Jackie’s life. Jumping out of it, going back into it, smiling and waving at the amazed people she surprised. She urged them into Ye Olde Toys, urged them to play and purchase to their heart's content. Some even went in and found themselves on the shelves, and prepared for new lives with loving owners. Jackie was happy for each and every doll the store sold, and counted herself among the reasons the shop was so successful.
Years passed and Jackie-in-the-Box never tired of her job. She always wanted to find some way out, but if she was stuck to a coil and made from plastic, the decoration decided to make the best of it. And while she was as eager as ever to greet customers, the customers themselves grew weary of Jackie.
The day came when Jackie came out of her box and saw the very same employee who first greeted her readying a new pedestal for a new decoration on the door opposite her. Jackie the Jester knew her time in front of Ye Olde Toys was ending. She smiled brightly, and would have even done so even if her grin was fixed in place. The spell that held her to the box would soon be lifted, and she could talk and move just like any other human. The thought of being human after so long being a toy actually bewildered the toy.
The employee finished with the new pedestal, doll-less, Jackie saw, and knew why that was. He walked over to her and gave her a smile and started to speak some magic words. She felt the magic waft over her and waited for the her coiled spring to shrink away, and her plastic skin to go away. Except neither of those things happened.
Instead, the man in front of her, and the mall around her, grew to dizzying heights as she was shrunk down to a toy just inches tall. Jackie realized she wasn’t going to be human, wasn’t even going to be a decoration for the toy store, but was going to be a toy. Being a jack-in-the-box was her life.
Different emotions ran through Jackie’s mind as she realized this. She was disappointed, not just because she was not going to be turned back, but also because she wasn’t going to welcome customers to her shop. She felt afraid of being put on the shelves and wait for someone to own her. But she also felt excitement and joy, realizing that she would finally, after so many years, be played with properly.
She hung onto that last thought the most as the employee picked up her palm sized box and took her into to the store. Jackie had been the best advertisement for Ye Olde Toys for years, had done her best, and was now getting a promotion.