On a bright Saturday, five-year-old Louis completed an important milestone in his life: he went to Walmart for the first time. His expression was full of wonder as his mother pulled him along, his brother Johnny pushing the cart behind them.

As they headed to the back of the store, Louis couldn’t help but gawk at his surroundings– the mothers calming their crying children, the disinterested looks on the employees’ faces as they stocked clothing in the lingerie section, everything! As he and his family approached an aisle, he saw the giant Walmart flag hung proudly on the back wall.

His mother stopped abruptly, causing Johnny’s cart to slam into Louis. Louis shrieked.

“Owww! Johnny, that hurt!” Johnny looked unapologetic.

Their mother turned around, her eyes wide.

“Boys! You wait here! Let me go get some silverware before I forget again.” Louis looked confused.

“What’s silverware?”

“Spoons, dear. Spoons and forks.” His mother replied, tousling his hair lightly. Turning to her older son sternly, she ordered, “You keep an eye on your brother for me.” She took the cart from Johnny and walked off.

When their mother left, Johnny grabbed Louis’s hand and pulled him into the nearest aisle. The boys found themselves surrounded by markers, pens, posters, and more. Louis was astounded by the amount of colors. Johnny shook him out of his daze.

“You,” he dragged Louis to the very end of the aisle, “are going to stand here, and not touch anything.”

“What about you?”

“I’m,” Johnny walked to the opposite end, “gonna be all the way over here. And I’m going to watch you stand there and not touch anything. Got it?”

Louis’s face was sullen when he mumbled a “yes”. As soon as the word left his lips, Johnny whipped out his phone began playing on it. Louis moved his attention away from his brother to what was in front of him. His mouth dropped open in awe when he saw the love of his life in front of him.

A box of 120 Crayola crayons.

Louis had only begged his mother for weeks to get him more crayons, but she never relented. In her own words, she loved his artwork, but had had enough of the murals he would draw all over the house.

His eyes gleaming with want, Louis made a quick decision. He turned his head slightly to make sure his brother wasn’t looking, grabbed the box in his hand, and stuffed it down his pants.

The next hour went relatively smoothly, and his mother took the boys home with everything they bought. When they reached home, Louis jumped out of the car and sprinted to the front door, waiting for his mother to come and unlock it.

“Louis?” His mother voice came from the car, and he turned around.

“Yeah?”

His mother didn’t reply, but only started at him with a stern expression. Next to her, Johnny’s face was turning red trying to hide his laughter. Louis looked down.

A trail of crayons ran from the car to the very spot he was standing.