In a crooked corner of the largest backyard, in the most middle-sized town, at the Center of the Universe, sits the most Amazing Sandbox that any kid could ever want.

From the outside, standing on the green grass, looking down upon four boards and a pile of sand, the amazing part is very difficult to see. But, that is the amazing part. No one can see the amazing part — not until they plunk down, sit down, or just plain wallow in the cool sand in the middle of the sandbox and take a good hard look.

The other amazing part about the Amazing Sandbox is that only kids can see the amazing parts. More importantly, only kids that aren’t crabby can see the amazing parts. On some very rare and special occasions, grown-ups that know how to plunk down in the middle of the sandbox and use the eyes they once used when they were younger might get a quick glimpse of the amazingness. But, you can’t be crabby and you can’t use grown-up eyes.

Aiden and his cousin, Liam, were plunked down in the middle of the sandbox, using the crystal clear vision of very young eyes, to see an afternoon filled with amazingness and adventure. Deep within the aged wood edges of the seemingly small sandbox stretched a vast dessert of sand that feels like sugar and rocks that sparkle like hard candy. The boys were travelling to the far off edge of the sugar and candy dessert to the Land of Ice Cream Trucks. This is a land of musical bells and chocolaty smells. But, you can only get there once a day and only in the summer.

“How far away is the Land of Ice Cream Trucks?” asked Aiden, as he pushed a bulldozer across the sand.

“How far does it need to be?” came Liam’s response, as he pulled his dump truck alongside the bulldozer.

The cousins cleared a road from the middle of the dessert to wherever they ended up. They built hills and then bulldozed them down. They dug rivers, and lakes, and tunnels, and drains. They built bridges across, and ramps up, and turn arounds, and things that didn’t do anything at all.

A sand bucket mountain stood in the way of the road they were building. The bulldozer couldn’t push it away. The dump truck couldn’t haul it away. The wind couldn’t blow it away. Water couldn’t wash it away. The mountain was in the way of Aiden and Liam’s road.

“What are we going to do?” asked Liam.

Aiden thought, and then he thought again. “Sometimes you just need a giant’s foot.”

Amazingly, and just like that, a giant’s foot swung down and kicked the sand bucket mountain half-way to the Land of Ice Cream Trucks. The Amazing Sandbox has giants that can just show up any time they are needed. Some are good giants and some are better giants. No crabby giants are allowed in the amazing sandbox. Sandbox giants can solve problems bulldozers and dump trucks cannot.

Aiden and Liam did all this just to get to Someplace Else, which is someplace you must get to before you can get to the Land of Ice Cream Trucks. Someplace Else has a rocket ship. It wasn’t there yesterday, and may not be there tomorrow, but it is very much there today. That is a good thing because, as everyone that has ever plunked down in the middle of an Amazing Sandbox knows, if you are travelling from Someplace Else to Another Place, it can only be done by rocket ship.

The cousins flew their rocket ship as high as giant arms could stretch. Of course, travelers of the Amazing Sandbox also know that giant arms can stretch all the way to There and back. But, they weren’t flying to There. They were flying to Another Place from Someplace Else.

Aiden steered the rocket ship to the right. Liam turned to the left. Everyone knows that everyone riding in a rocket ship, across the Amazing Sandbox, gets their own steering wheel. As soon as the two took off, they were chased by a dinosaur with missing teeth. The boys knew this would happen because all rocket ships get chased by dinosaurs, eventually. Dinosaurs with missing teeth are not the scariest of dinosaurs. But, scary or not, they had to get away from the dinosaur or they would never get to Another Place.

“Turn to the side,” shouted Aiden as he tried to avoid the toothless attacker.

“Which side?” shouted Liam in return.

“My side.”

“My side?”

“No, my side.”

The boys twisted and turned, and leaped and jumped, and steered the spaceship up, over, and around the dentally challenged beast. Finally, they landed safely in Another Place. It was not like any other place Aiden and Liam had ever been. If it had been, it would have been called Same Place. But it wasn’t.

Another Place has hills so smooth the two boys can slide down them. They can travel from one place to another by sitting in seats that can swing them wherever they want to go. It never rains in Another Place because, if it did, your mom wouldn’t let you go there. Another Place is an amazing place to be. It is the best place to be in the entire Amazing Sandbox.

The best part about Aiden and Liam’s trip to Another Place is that it is right next door to the Land of Ice Cream Trucks — the land of musical bells and chocolaty smells, which can only be visited once a day, and only in the summer.

 

Larry Wilson is a mostly lifelong resident of Niles. His optimistic “glass full to overflowing” view of life shapes his writing. His essays stem from experiences, compilations and recollections from friends and family. Wilson touts himself as “a dubiously licensed teller of tall tales, sworn to uphold the precept of ‘It’s my story; that’s the way I’m telling it.’” He can be reached at wflw@hotmail.com.