Mama's Magic Purse

Gina and her twin brother Charlie believed that their mama had a magic purse. They didn’t know where she got it or exactly how it worked, but the twins were convinced that the only answer was magic. No matter what they needed when they were out somewhere with Mama, she would always find it in her purse.

If they were in the car and they were sniffly, Mama would pull a tissue from the purse. If they were in a store and they needed to buy something, Mama would get money from her purse. If they were out for a walk and got hungry or thirsty, Mama always had snacks and water in her purse.

“How is it possible, Gina?” Charlie asked his sister. “Mama’s purse is not very big, but it always has everything we need! Do you remember the magician at our 6th birthday party last year? He pulled flowers and a bunny from his hat. Mama’s purse must be just like that hat.”

One day their mama took the children to the park. When they were playing, Gina fell and hurt her knee. Charlie ran to his mama shouting, “Gina got hurt! Come quick!” Charlie led his mama over to where Gina was sitting on the ground crying.

Mama looked at her scraped knee and said, “Don’t you worry, my little girl. You’ll feel better in no time.” Mama unzipped a pocket on her purse and pulled out a wipe to clean Gina’s knee. Then she sprayed the scraped knee with something that took away the pain. After that, Mama pulled a few bandages out of the purse and selected just the right size. She put it on her daughter’s knee and said, “There, all better!” She gave her a hug and a kiss and Gina really did feel better.

“Because you were such a brave girl, Gina, and because Charlie, you did such a good job helping your sister, I have treats for both of you.” Mama dug around in her purse and found two bags of fruit snacks. Then she told the children they could keep playing when they finished their snacks. Everything worked out fine because of Mama’s magic purse.

That night, when they went to bed, Charlie couldn’t stop thinking about Mama’s purse. “Wasn’t that amazing?” he asked. “The purse had exactly what you needed when you got hurt! I bet you Mama could pull anything out of her purse if she really wanted to. Do you think I could ask her to get an elephant out of her purse for me?”

Gina laughed. “I don’t think that’s how it works, Charlie. Mama never takes anything out of her purse that’s too big. The magic is that she always finds exactly what we need.”

Charlie thought about that for a moment then asked, “Do you think I could get Mama to believe I really need an elephant?”

The next morning the children were having breakfast in the kitchen. Mama got a call and told the children she would be in the living room on the phone for a little while. A litte later, Gina realized that she hadn’t had her milk. She was still too small to pour it herself, so she sighed in frustration. “What’s wrong?” Charlie asked.

“Nothing,” Gina said. “I just forgot to ask Mama for milk, so now I have to wait.” Then, Charlie spotted Mama’s purse on the counter.

“Maybe you don’t have to wait,” Charlie said. “Let’s see if there’s any milk for you in Mama’s magic purse.”

Gina was hesitant. “I don’t think we should, Charlie. Mama wouldn’t like it if we looked around in her purse.”

“It will be ok,” Charlie assured her. “Besides, you need the milk. The purse’s job is to give us stuff we need.” Charlie climbed off the chair and retrieved Mama’s purse. He sat on the floor, hugged the purse and said, “Magic purse, my sister Gina needs milk… and I could use an elephant, if that’s ok with you.”

“Charlie!” Gina shouted. “You shouldn’t be using Mama’s purse! It’s not right!” Charlie just frowned at his sister and unzipped the magic purse. Even Gina wanted to see what was inside, so she leaned over her brother’s shoulder to look.

There were a few different things inside the purse, but not any milk, and definitely no elephants. Charlie tried unzipping some other compartments, but found nothing. “It didn’t work,” Charlie said. Both children were very disappointed. They couldn’t understand what went wrong. Gina thought about it for a moment and suddenly realized something.

“Charlie! We were wrong about the purse!” Gina said. “The purse isn’t magic; Mama is! She’s the one who can always get just what we need.” Charlie smiled at his sister. She was right! That had to be the answer.

“What are you two up to?” It was Mama standing over them. She didn’t seem mad, but the twins suddenly felt bad for what they had done.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” said Charlie. “It was my fault. I just wanted to see if your magic purse would give Gina her milk.”

Mama laughed. “My purse isn’t magic,” she said.

“We know that now, Mama,” said Gina. “We know that you’re the one that’s really magic.”

Mama laughed even harder. “Why would you think I’m magic?”

The children looked at each other. Then Charlie said, “Because you always have whatever we need in your purse. You pull it out of your bag like a magician. We thought the magic was in the purse but Gina figured out it was really you.”

Mama sat down on the floor with her children. She pulled them close to her. “You two are very imaginative, but I’m sorry to say, I’m not magic. My purse has what you need when you need because I put things in there in case something comes up. So, I usually keep tissues and snacks and bandages and anything else I think you might need. I do that because you two are my little darlings, and I love you more than anything.” Mama pulled the children close.

Gina and Charlie hugged their mama back. Gina then said, “Mama, I think maybe you are magic. Your love for us is magic because it’s why you always have what we need and always take care of us.” Charlie nodded and kissed his mama on the cheek.

“You two are the best kids ever,” Mama said. “And you’re right, Gina. A mama’s love is magical.” She kissed both of her children on the top of their heads. “Let’s finish breakfast now. I’ll get you some milk, Gina.”

The children went back to their seats and Mama got Gina’s milk. She noticed that Charlie seemed to be thinking about something very seriously. “Is something wrong, Charlie?” their mama asked.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Charlie said. “But I was just wondering, if your love is magic, do you think you could love me enough so that I could have an elephant?”

Mama and Gina both laughed. “It doesn’t quite work like that,” Mama said. “But what if we all go see elephants at the zoo this weekend?” Charlie got up and hugged his mama with all the magical love in his heart.