The Fence

Saturday morning was bright and warm. Every other boy in town was free to play. Tom stood in front of a long wooden fence with a bucket of white paint and a brush, feeling deeply miserable.

Then inspiration struck.

When his friend Ben Rogers walked past laughing at him, Tom kept painting slowly and carefully, as if it were the most interesting work in the world.

"You call this work?" said Tom calmly. "Not every boy gets a chance to whitewash a fence."

Ben stopped laughing. He watched Tom work with such apparent pleasure that he wanted a turn himself.

"Let me try," said Ben. "I'll give you my apple."

Tom handed over the brush with a show of reluctance. By the end of the day, a long line of boys had each paid — with apples, marbles, and small treasures — for the privilege of doing Tom's punishment for him. The fence had three coats of paint, and Tom had learned a great truth: to make a person want something, it helps to make it seem difficult to get.