The old man lounged on the sofa. His eyes were glazed over from the sleep that hadn’t left them and momentarily blinded by the sun coming in through the window. His hair wasn’t combed and his belly stood out from his jean shirt.

“What would you wish for, grandpa, if you could wish for anything?” His grandson asked.

“I don’t think like that anymore,” he said.

“Would you wish for a million dollars or a special gift?”

There was a pause. It was unclear whether the old man was annoyed or he was just being thoughtful.

“I’ll tell you what I’d wish for,” he said. “I’d wish I had someone to pass my guns on to.”

“Won’t you pass them on to dad?”

“Well, some people appreciate things and some just want things. I’ve been making these guns for some time. I put my love and life into them. I just can’t give them up to anybody.”

Andy thought about that and wondered what kind of person would appreciate grandpa’s guns. His friend would be over soon.

“Hey Andy,” Joel said.

“I’m over here.”

“Do you want to build our underground fort on the other side of the river?”

“Sure.”

Andy walked into the garage and collected 3 tins of gun powder.

“We might have to blast if we find rocks in the way. Do you have the top ramen?”

“Right here,” Joel said.

‘We’ll build a camp fire.”

They worked all day, chiseling out their hole, eating top ramen, and hoping to find a rock big enough to blow up.

“There it is; now pack it tight, remember.”

“Leave a trail of powder to the payload. Okay, light it.”

BOOOOM!

“That was awesome!”

“Let’s go get more.”

They walked back into the garage and the old man was standing there. “You are just like your father; no respect for another man’s things.”

“Do you want to go play video games?” Joel asked.

“Sure,” Andy said. They left the old man and killed each other several times, but it just wasn’t exciting enough. “Let’s go squirrel hunting.”

“But your grandpa already caught us stealing his gunpowder. What would he do if we stole his guns?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. He has short-term memory loss.”

THE END