The Bottle of Glue
by Jace Daniel (b. 1969)
Once upon a time, in a world much like ours, there lived a bottle of glue. It was born full of purpose, and spent its life fixing, mending, and repairing broken things. From dropped dishes to cracked mugs, from fractured china bowls to shattered vases, nothing made the bottle of glue more happy than making them as good as new. The bottle of glue was very good at being a bottle of glue, and felt very fulfilled.
Over time, the world began to change. The breakable dishes, mugs, bowls, and vases gradually became replaced with unbreakable dishes, mugs, bowls, and vases. Things that were once real and vulnerable were becoming things of the past, and the world was becoming populated with fake, plastic, less-than-precious things. The bottle of glue’s purpose began running low, and it began to feel unimportant.
One day, determined to keep its purpose alive, the bottle of glue went searching. Before long, it met a young dish.
“Do you need me for anything?” the bottle of glue asked.
“What could I possibly need you for?” the dish replied. “I’m unbreakable. You can drop me on the hard floor and I’m fine.”
Feeling stuck, the bottle of glue continued searching. Before long, the bottle of glue met a young mug.
“Do you need me for anything?” the bottle of glue asked.
“What could I possibly need you for?” the mug replied. “I’m unbreakable. You can drop me on the hard floor and I’m fine. And if you lose me, I can be replaced for cheap.”
Feeling stuck, the bottle of glue continued searching. Before long, the bottle of glue met a young bowl.
“Do you need me for anything?” the bottle of glue asked.
“What could I possibly need you for?” the bowl replied. “I’m unbreakable. You can drop me on the hard floor and I’m fine. And if you lose me, I can be replaced for cheap. And not only that, you can buy more bowls exactly like me. We all come from the same mold, and you can’t even tell us apart. We’re all the same.”
Feeling stuck, the bottle of glue continued searching. And searching. And searching. Before very long, the bottle of glue noticed that its purpose was about to dry up, and began to feel very desperate.
“I still have some good in me,” the bottle of glue thought. “If only I could find one last thing that needs me, so that my purpose may not go to waste.”
Before very, very long, just as the bottle of glue was about to give up, it met a heart. Not a fake, plastic, less-than-precious heart, mind you. This heart was real. And it was broken.
The bottle of glue looked at the heart.
The heart looked at the bottle of glue.
“Hold still,” the bottle of glue assured. “You’re going to be fine.”
So the bottle of glue poured its purpose into the fractures of the heart, filling every crevice. After all cracks were mended, there was still enough purpose left in the bottle of glue.
“I’ll just finish off and give it everything I have,” reasoned the bottle of glue, emptying the rest of its purpose once again over the mended cracks of the heart, for extra durability.
“Thank you,” said the heart.
“No, thank you,” replied the empty bottle.
And so, from that day forward, the heart was stronger than it had ever been before.
Comments on this entry are closed.
dude, you need to find an illustrator and a publisher. as a weekly visitor to the children’s section of the b.h. public library and father to an avid consumer of children’s books, i can say you’ve got the makings of something wonderful there. reminds me of “let’s make rabbits” and “thank you, bear”.
This was absolutely charming. As an adult I loved it;
just think what a child would say.
That was really nice. It was a little journey away from all the tasks and mental notes that inundate daily life. I feel more relaxed and happy after reading your story. Thanks for that. Cool Valentine’s gift.