DirectgovKids

A Taxing day

Story

This story is called A Taxing Day. It is about two children, Jack and Grace, and what happened when they wished for a world without taxes.

It was dinner time in the Wilkinson household. Mr Wilkinson came in from work and put down a pile of books. He worked as a teacher at a local school.

‘Did you have a good day at work, John?’ Mrs Wilkinson asked.

Mr Wilkinson replied: ‘Not too bad. I’ve got some really bright kids in Year 9.’

Mrs Wilkinson was a part-time nurse. She’d just finished cooking the dinner. The two Wilkinson children were called Jack, aged 7, and Grace, aged 9. They hovered by the table, ready to tuck in.

The family sat down to dinner. ‘Do you have any marking to do tonight?’ Mrs Wilkinson asked her husband.
Mr Wilkinson answered: ‘No. I managed to finish it at lunchtime.’

As the meal progressed, Mr Wilkinson opened a pile of bills.
‘I don’t know how we’re going to pay this gas bill’, he said, ‘If only we didn’t have to pay so much tax, then maybe it would be easier.’
‘Come on, John’, Mrs Wilkinson answered, ‘We’re doing OK. It’s not like anyone enjoys paying tax.’

Soon everyone had finished their food.
Jack asked ‘Can we go and watch TV, Mum?’
‘Did you eat all your vegetables?’ Mrs Wilkinson asked.
‘Most of them’, said Jack.
‘Go on then’, said Mrs Wilkinson.

The next day, Mrs Wilkinson called Grace from the hospital.
‘I’m on a late shift tonight, Grace’, she said, ‘Can you take your brother to the library and Dad will pick you up in an hour.’
‘No problem, Mum’, Grace said.

Grace waited for her brother outside the school gates, then they both walked through the local park. They cut across the playground where children were playing on the swings. Then walked past a row of tall trees. Soon they arrived at the library.

‘I’m going to the comic book section’, Jack said.
‘OK’, said Grace, ‘I’ll be over there by the window.’

Then something on the window ledge caught Grace’s eye. She saw a small blue bird with one of its legs stuck in a blob of chewing gum.
‘Come here’, Grace whispered.
She lifted up the bird’s leg and freed it from the chewing gum.

Then something strange happened. The bird looked up and started to speak.
‘Thanks very much’, it said, ‘how can I ever repay you?’

Grace couldn’t believe her eyes. She whispered across the library, ‘Jack, come here.’
‘Shhh’, the librarian said angrily.
Grace beckoned to Jack silently. Jack put down his comic book with a sigh and walked over to the window where Grace was sitting.

The bird kept talking in a loud, squawking voice.
‘Thank you for rescuing me from that disgusting chewing gum. In return, I’d like to grant you three wishes. They can be anything you like, anything at all.’

They thought about what the bird had said. Jack was the first to speak.
‘I want a new computer’, he said.
‘You’ve already got a new computer’, Grace answered.
‘Well, I want another one’, said Jack.
‘Don’t be silly. We should get new rollerblades’, said Grace.
‘But my rollerblades are cool. I don’t want new ones’, said Jack.
‘You can keep your old ones if you want’, said Grace.
‘It’s a waste of a wish’, huffed Jack.

Then Grace had a thought.
‘Hang on, Jack’, she said, ‘do you remember how unhappy Mum and Dad were this morning? They were complaining about having to pay tax. So why don’t we wish for a world without tax?’
‘Er, OK. I suppose’, shrugged Jack.

The bird squawked happily: ‘Your wish is my command’.
Then there was a puff of smoke and a small explosion.

Jack and Grace found themselves at the breakfast table, sitting opposite their Mum and Dad.
‘Where are we? What happened?’ Jack asked.

Their parents didn’t respond. They stared into space, looking unhappy.
‘Mum! Dad?’, Grace exclaimed, ‘why aren’t you at work?’
Her Mum looked up slowly.
‘They’ve closed the hospital, haven’t they?’ Mrs Wilkinson said, ‘there’s no money to pay for it.’
‘They’ve closed the school too’, Mr Wilkinson said, ‘all of the teachers have been made redundant.’

Jack and Grace slipped out of the back door.
‘Grace, what have you done?’ Jack whispered.
‘Don’t blame me. You wished for it too’, Grace said.
‘Did not. I wanted a computer’, Jack said.

They paused and looked at the rubbish piling up in the streets.
‘Why isn’t anyone collecting it?’ Grace murmured to herself.

Jack tugged his sister’s sleeve.
‘Grace’, he said, ‘let’s go back to the library and find that bird.’

They turned round and found that the pavement was blocked by a fat man with his arms folded.
‘You can’t cross here’, the fat man wheezed, ‘this zebra crossing is the property of Road Safety Systems Ltd. There’s a £10 charge to use it.’

Suddenly there was a bang and a crash and the fat man turned round. In the road behind him, two cars had crashed into each other.

Jack and Grace looked up and saw that the traffic lights were not working. In fact, none of the traffic lights or streetlights in the town were working.

A young man struggled out of one of the crashed cars. He stumbled into the road.
‘I think I’ve broken my leg’, he said.

The young man hobbled over to the fat man. ‘Can you call me an ambulance?’ he stammered.
The fat man chuckled. ‘Don’t be silly’, he said, ‘you know there aren’t any ambulances anymore. You’ll just have to walk home. Or hop...’

Jack and Grace ran off, flabbergasted.
‘Quick Jack’, Grace said, ‘we can get to the library through the park.’

Jack and Grace arrived at the park. The gate was hanging from one hinge. The railings were rusty and twisted. The grass was over a metre tall. Jack and Grace carefully made their way through the overgrown park, trying not to tread on any litter or rubbish.

They emerged from the park, expecting to see the library. But the library wasn’t where it used to be. Instead, there was a large shopping mall.
‘Where’s the library gone?’ Grace asked.
‘We’d better ask inside the mall’, Jack replied.

Jack and Grace walked through the main entrance. There were shops either side of them. The children walked towards a bookshop.
Inside, they were greeted by a sales assistant. ‘Can I help you?’ he said.
‘Where’s the library? We want to borrow a book.’ Jack said.
‘Borrow a book?’ the sales assistant exclaimed, ‘I’m afraid this is a bookshop. You have to BUY the books in here.’

Jack and Grace raced out of the mall. ‘What have you done, Grace?’
‘Don’t keep blaming me. It’s your fault too’, Grace protested.
‘Well, what are we going to do?’ Jack asked.

Then they saw the bird standing outside on the steps of the mall.
‘Hello there!’ he exclaimed, ‘why are you looking so sad? You’ve still got two wishes left.’
Jack and Grace looked at each other and smiled.
There was another puff of smoke and a small bang.

Jack and Grace found themselves back in their house, sitting at the breakfast table.
Mrs Wilkinson was in her nurse’s uniform, about to leave for work.
‘See you later, kids’, she said.
Mr Wilkinson appeared in the kitchen.
‘Are you all ready for school?’ he said, ‘you can ride your bikes if you want, since it’s such a nice day.’
‘Cool!’ Jack and Grace said together.

Jack and Grace ran outside and hopped on to their brand new bikes.
‘By the way’, Mr Wilkinson said, ‘where did you say you got those bikes from?’

Jack and Grace looked up into the sky and smiled. The bird smiled back down at them and flew off into the clouds.

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