Tony the Very Picky Toaster

            by Andrea Morris

 

Tony was a very happy toaster.  Every morning, the people in his house would feed him some delicious Wonder Bread.   At night, he and his friends Olivia the oven and Mac the microwave would tell each other about what the had eaten that day.  He looked forward to each morning, knowing what was in store for him.

“Yum. Here’s breakfast!” he would think as he tasted and toasted perfect pieces of toast.  And that’s what happened every morning. The people would feed him Wonder Bread, and he would give it back to them when he was full.

            Then, one morning, as Tony the toaster was getting ready for breakfast, something happened.  The people put something in his slot, but it wasn’t right.  It was grainy and not as soft as his usual breakfast, and it scratched him as it was pushed down.

            “What is this?” he wondered with disgust.  Just then, he saw the bag where the gross bread had come from.  The label said “whole wheat” on it.

            Tony didn’t like this change at all, so he refused to taste and toast the new whole wheat bread.

            But the people wanted toast, so they popped it down again.  And Tony spit it right back out.  In, out, in, out.  Finally, the people gave up, and left for the day.  Tony was hungry, but he would not have any of the hapless whole wheat.

            The same thing happened the next morning, and the morning after that, but Tony refused to taste and toast.

            One night, after all the people had gone to sleep in their beds, Tony decided to ask his friend Olivia the oven what to do about his breakfast problem, because Olivia was older and bigger and knew a lot of useful things:  “Olivia?” he asked, “the people won’t give my wonder bread anymore.  I’m hungry, but the new bread is disgusting.  What should I do?”

            “Have you tried the new bread yet?” Olivia asked.

            “No, but I know I won’t like it.  It smells different and looks funny,” Tony answered. 

            “You should just take a little taste.”

            “No. I won’t do it!” Tony had made up his mind, so he went to bed.

 

            Then one morning, as Tony the toaster was getting ready to refuse the whole wheat bread, something different happened!  The people gave him a new kind of bread for breakfast.  This bread tasted funny and was dark brown.  It was even worse than the whole-wheat kind.  The label said “pumpernickel”.

            “I miss my Wonder Bread!” Tony thought, “and what kind of a name is ‘pumpernickel’ anyway?” So this time, instead of spitting out the gross bread, Tony lit it on fire.  This didn’t make the people happy, but Tony didn’t care.

            That very night, after all the people had gone to sleep in their beds, Tony the toaster went to his best friend Mac the microwave to ask his advice on what to do about his loathed loaves: “Mac, the people won’t give me Wonder bread anymore.  First they gave me whole wheat bread, and now they’re giving me brown bread.  It’ so gross that I won’t taste or toast it, but I’m hungry.  What should I do?”

            “Hmm,” Mac said.  “Are you sure it tastes that terrible?”

            “No, but I’m sure I won’t like it,” answered Tony.

            “Maybe you should try it.”

            “No, I won’t eat it!”  Tony made up his mind and went to bed, still hungry.

            The next morning, the people tried to feed Tony a new kind of bread, but this one was the worst yet.  It had gross pieces of fruit and weird seeds in it. 

            “That’s enough!” thought Tony angrily.  He couldn’t take it anymore, so he held his breath ad tensed his whole body up until…bang! All the power in the house went out.  He could tell the people were angry, but he didn’t care.

            That night, Olivia and Mac had a talk with him.

            “You’re making all of us unhappy,” Olivia said.

            “She’s right. Why won’t you just try the bread?” asked Mac.

            “No, I won’t eat it!” Tony made up his mind and went to bed.

            The people got the power back on in the house, and continued to try to feed Tony different kinds of bread, which Tony would refuse to taste and toast.

            But then one morning, as Tony was getting read to burn some more bread, something different happened!  The people didn’t give him anything at all.  Instead of a loaf of bread on the kitchen counter, Tony saw a big yellow box with a picture of cereal and milk on it. 

“What about me?” Tony thought sadly.

The people didn’t even look at Tony the whole morning, or the next morning, or the morning after that.  All Tony could do was watch the people feed cake to Olivia the oven and popcorn to Mac the microwave.  Tony felt left out when his friends talked about what they had tasted that day.

Then, things got even stranger:  the people pushed Tony against the wall and placed a box with a picture of another toaster on it.  He was being replaced!  This was an emergency; something had to be done, fast.

After the people had gone away for the day, Olivia and Mac started their usual arguments about who was better. 

“I’m bigger, and I have a stove top!”  said Olivia.

“Yeah, but you take forever to heat up.  I’m ready to cook stuff immediately,” retorted Mac.  “And who says bigger is better?”

“I’m more important.  They use me to make dinner.  You’re just jealous.

“Oh yeah? Well—”

“Guys! I need your help!” Tony interrupted.  “Help me make a plan to stop this new toaster from taking my place.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t been so stubborn you wouldn’t have to deal with this mess,” scolded Olivia.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” Mac shot back.

“You guys, we need to cooperate!”  Tony pleaded.

So the heating appliances made a plan. 

 

That very next morning, while the people used Olivia’s stove to make hot chocolate, she made sure that the milk boiled over and spilled onto the yellow cereal box, making all the cereal soggy.  No more cereal for breakfast!

Then, Mac used his swinging door to knock the new toaster box off the counter and onto the floor.  The toaster broke into too many pieces to count.

Now it was Tony’s big moment.  The annoyed people took a fresh slice of pumpernickel and fed it down his slot.  With a deep breath, Tony took the tiniest taste possible.  It wasn’t awful, so he tried another taste, and another.  Before he knew it, the brown bread was perfectly toasted and ready to pop up.

“That wasn’t bad at all!” Tony thought.  The people popped another slice down, and then another, until all of them had perfect pieces of toast.

And that’s how every morning went from then on, except for one thing: Tony the toaster didn’t just stop at pumpernickel—he tasted and toasted whole wheat, raisin swirl, corn, walnut, green olive, and all kinds of scrumptious breads.  He joined in Olivia the oven and Mac the microwave’s conversations, and the three of them made meals for the people without ever complaining again.