I recently spied a soda vending machine. The bottom button, which would normally say "cola" or "grape" or some brand name simply said "Mystery."
Did I push it? Nope, as I'm not the hugest of soda drinkers. But did it flitter at the edges of my mind for a few days? Yes.
Surely the mystery slot holds the overstock soda of whatever brand. But what if you hit the mystery button and something that wasn't soda popped out? A candy bar? A bracelet? A small cloud of butterflies?
We likely encounter mystery buttons throughout our days, some pushed, some left alone. If we wanted to look very deeply, we could say life is all one big mystery button. Are we all looking deeply? Excellent. Are we done? Good. Moving on.
Mostly, though, I like when everyday objects, such as a vending machine, and ho-hum activities, like purchasing a soda, contain whimsy and surprise.
Clearly the Motel Fairwil, which has both a soda machine and a food
vending machine -- chips, cookies, snacks -- needs a mystery button pronto. Monty Overbove might even create one, for kicks, to see how fast the slot empties and what sort of thirsty adventurers might push it.
(P.S. Is it soda or pop where you live?)
