The Laughing Place, by Bob Byerley

I was sitting on our porch swing sharing a three foot length of candy paper dots with Jack Hamond and I said, “Jack lets rig up a crank to the side of that shipping crate out back; the crank will hook up to a big old spring and we’ll build a rocking horse to set on top of the spring; put some old fried eggs on him for eyes. When you turn the crank, the horse will jump and buck and we’ll see who can stay on the longest.” Jack said to add a straw hat, cover it with doughnuts, and tie it to the old nags head. We rolled on the ground and laughed till our sides hurt. Last fall I discovered that there really is such a wonderful place, hidden deep in Mrs. Meek’s forest. Kids can go there to fulfill fantasies like Jack’s and mine. All the tools and boards and nails and wheels a kid could ever use are free for the taking. In those enchanted woods a kids ideas always turn out great. Every project is possible and fairies are there to help out if a kid should hit an engineering snag. Every little kid is a success and no one hollers at him to remember to put the tools back. They call this magic forest “The Laughing Place”.