The Story of Tommy Trinket
A boy named Tommy lived in the castle of Bartholomew, The Magical Prince. All the people who lived there liked to call him “Tommy Trinket” because he would spend his days going about the castle collecting things. He had a collection of string, a collection of scraps of paper, a collection of pieces of wax, a collection of metal, and various other collectable items.
He would often go by the tailor’s shop and talk to Mr. Tyler, “Good morning, Mr. Tyler. Have you any scraps of string?”
Mr. Tyler would say, “Good morning, Tommy Trinket. I think if you look around on the floor you might find some thread for your string collection.”
And sure enough, Tommy would find a piece of black thread, a piece of white thread, or a piece of gray thread. Once, around the holiday season, he was lucky enough to find a piece of beautiful red thread for his collection of string. This red thread was the prize of his string collection. He would take all of his new finds back to his hut and hide them under his mat in a small box.
He often went to the scribe who wrote all of the royal proclamations for The Magical Prince. He would ask the scribe, Mr. Scrivens, if he had any scraps of paper. Mr. Scrivens would say, “Good day, Tommy Trinket. I have made a few mistakes on a few of the royal documents. You will find the scraps in the bin in the corner.” Tommy Trinket would run to the corner and find the scraps of paper. Some of them even had writing in ink on them. One time, right before Christmas, he found a scrap of paper that was edged with gold leaf. This wonderful item became the most important piece in his entire collection of paper. He would take his prized finds out of the scribe’s office, run to his hut, and hide them in the box under his mat.
Tommy would often visit the candlemaker’s hut inside of the castle to speak with Señor Candelaria. Señor Candelaria made the fine wax candles that lit up the entire castle in the evenings and kept a golden glow about the rooms at night. Tommy would ask Señor Candelaria, “Have you any scraps of wax for my collection?”
Señor Candelaria would say, “Buenos dias, Tommy Trinket. I think that you will find a few scraps of wax on the floor, under the table, where I have been shaving the giant candle for Christmas mass.” Indeed, Tommy found scraps of red and green wax. There was even a chunk of golden wax. This would make a fine addition to his collection of wax. He put them all in his pocket, ran back to his hut, and hid them in the box under his mat.
Sometimes he would go to the blacksmith, Mr. Swarthy, to see what he could find there. Mr. Swarthy would say, “Hello, Tommy Trinket. I know you are here to look for something for your collection. Here are a few small beads of lead and a few small scraps of iron that you can have.” Tommy was thrilled. He didn’t have much metal in his collection yet. He took the pieces of metal from Mr. Swarthy, thanked him over and over again, ran back to his hut, pulled the box out from under the mat and dropped in the metal items.
Sometimes he would make a trip to the bakery at the castle and speak to Mr. and Mrs. Barker. Tommy would say, “I’m here to see if there are any unusual items lying around on the floor that I could add to my collection.”
Mr. Barker would say, “Good morning, Tommy Trinket. I don’t think there is anything around but you are welcome to look.” Tommy Trinket would look around the clean floor of the bakery but he usually didn’t find anything there. He did remember that once he found a special little candy pine cone that had fallen off one of the special Christmas cakes. He ran back to his hut, pulled up the mat and looked in the box. There was the pine cone he had found last year. It was small and delicate and he kept it in a special place in the box. It was the most treasured object in his entire collection.
The box was beginning to fill and Tommy Trinket was beginning to grow up. When he was small, he collected something almost everyday. But now, more and more of his time was taken up by his job as apprentice to the castle carpenter, Mr. Carter. His days were spent working for the small farthing and ha’penny coins that Mr. Carter would give him for his work at the end of the week. He only had Sundays left to look for anything to add to his collection.
One Sunday, the Sunday before Christmas, he was kneeling inside the church. On the floor beside him, he saw a shiny gold object. He didn’t know what it was but being the curious, collecting type he picked it up and put it in his pocket. When he got home he discovered it was a crown coin! That was more money than he would make in two or three years as Mr. Carter’s assistant in the carpentry shop of the castle. He pulled his box of collectables out from under the mat.
When he opened his box, he realized that it was full. He took out all of his strings and the special red thread from Mr. Tyler, the tailor, to see if that would make enough room for the crown coin. But, they took up very little space and the crown coin was rather large.
He pulled out his paper collection. There were many scraps of paper that Mr. Scrivens, the scribe, had given him. It probably would have made room for the crown coin if he could throw them all away. But, he couldn’t bear to part with his treasured scraps of paper, the ones with writing in ink, and the one with the gilded edges. He put the paper back into his box.
He took out the scraps of wax from Señor Candelaria, the candle maker, and held the special golden chunk from the Christmas candle in his hand. He couldn’t bear to part with his wax collection. He put the wax back in the box.
He took out the beads of lead and the scraps of iron that Mr. Swarthy, the blacksmith, had given him. These certainly would make room for the crown coin and were worthless to most people. As he held them in his hand, he saw that they were dark and rusty, not shiny like the gold coin. But, they were special to him. He liked the weight of them in his palm. They had been given to him as gifts and he could not part with those metal scraps. He put them back into his box of collectables.
There in its special corner was the little candy pine cone from the Christmas cakes. Tommy Trinket realized that there was nothing in the box that he was willing to trade for the crown coin. It was more money than he had ever seen but he had no place to store it. He closed the box, put it back under his mat, and ran back to the church.
As Tommy entered the church through the arched doors, he dropped the crown coin in the poor box. When he heard the clink of the coin in the collection box, he thought about the children in the castle. Now, on Christmas morning, the crown coin would buy Christmas cakes for all of them. Each one would have a special little candy pine cone like the one in Tommy’s box. There would be much more joy than if Tommy Trinket had kept the coin for just himself. He was filled with the spirit of the season.
He went back to his hut and laid himself down on his mat. As he was lying there, he reached under his mat, felt his box of collectables, and fell fast asleep smiling.
Tommy Trinket by C. Walker ©03