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Milo tended to live an adventurous life, and he treated each new day as a chance for a fun story to tell. Murphy’s Law usually offered such opportunities. Some fun stories, however, came about from the crazy ideas he and his friends had.
Today was one such day.
“Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!” Milo greeted his friends at the door to his house.
“You ready for some experimentation with luck?” Zack asked.
“I guess! I’m excited to see what will happen!” Milo said.
The three friends went into the living room and booted up a video game to begin. “This will be a great layer of research for me,” Melissa said. “I can’t believe I never tested good luck charms against the might of Murphy’s Law.”
“Well, I do have a lot of ancestors from Ireland, but I think all our inherent luck is spent on making sure the men of my family survive to adulthood regardless of Murphy’s Law,” Milo said. “What’s the first good luck charm you want to try?”
“Going simple!” Zack pulled out a penny from his pocket. “I found this on the way here. Just hold onto it and let’s start the game!”
They booted up the video game, Milo holding onto the supposedly lucky penny. He decided to use that penny as a coin to flip so he, Melissa, and Zack could decide who picked a character first. When Milo flicked the penny into the air, the coin bounced off the ceiling, ricocheted off the wall, and impaled the TV screen, cracking it.
“So much for that,” Melissa said.
Milo pulled out the spare television and plugged in the game console while Zack pulled out another good luck charm.
“Is this a real rabbit’s foot?” Milo asked uncertainly, holding the charm by the tiny chain.
“According to my uncle, it is,” Zack said.
“I say we try the four-leaf clover,” Melissa said, passing Milo a bouquet of shamrocks. “I couldn’t find one with four leaves, but I think the shamrock itself is supposed to be good luck.”
“Worth a try!” Milo said, holding one charm in each hand. But as Zack started the video game, a whole fluffle of bunnies came into the living room and swarmed Milo, devouring the clovers he held before bouncing out the front door again.
“You okay?” Melissa asked.
“Yeah, they just nibbled on me a bit,” Milo said, sitting up and smoothing down his hair. His cowlick popped back up again a second later.
“Next!” Melissa gave Milo a horseshoe. “Hold it up this way, like a U.”
“No, no, you hold it upside-down, like an arch,” Zack insisted.
“What if I just hold onto it like this?” Milo balanced the horseshoe on his head, hooking the curved piece of metal on his hair flip. They managed to get the game started, and they chose their characters for the quest.
“Our goal is to find the magical Stone of Destiny and deliver it to the Wizard of Weirdness,” Melissa said. “I will be the sorceress with all the great magic stuff.”
“I want to be the knight!” Zack said.
“Then I’ll be the bard! I’m great at music!” Milo declared.
They played their game, hoping to get through to the final boss this time. But as they started the battle, the horseshoe slipped from Milo’s head and landed on a few buttons of his controller, causing them to lose the match.
“Dang it!” Milo groaned. “I was close, too! What other good luck charms do we have?”
“I got some acorns here,” Zack said. “According to my mom, these are a Norse good luck charm.”
Milo held the acorns for only three seconds before Diogee came by and snatched them, snacking on them happily. “Diogee! You know acorns make dogs sick to their stomachs!” Milo scolded. He sighed. “I hope he doesn’t puke on my shoes again.”
“Try this! It’s called a maneki-neko,” Melissa said, passing a small cat statue to Milo. “In Japan, they’re used to bring in good fortune and prosperity.”
They started the game again. On the one hand, they did end up gathering a lot more coins than in previous rounds. On the other hand, they never made it to the final boss as Diogee came by and decided to throw up on the cords behind the television. After being grossed out, the kids cleaned up the doggy puke, reconnected the game, and Melissa gave Milo a new outfit to change into.
“How exactly is this a good luck charm?” Milo asked, emerging from his bedroom wearing an old-fashioned chimney sweep outfit.
“Chimney sweeps are lucky, especially if they shake your hand,” Melissa said.
“Since we’re a little short on chimney sweeps, we figured it would work if you just dressed like one,” Zack said. “Here, shake my hand!”
“I don’t know if dressing like a chimney sweep makes me a chimney sweep,” Milo said. “Maybe I need to clean a chimney first. The only problem is we don’t have a traditional fireplace and chimney. Murphy’s and fire don’t mix well.”
“What about cleaning the oven? There’s bound to be soot in there,” Melissa suggested.
“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Zack said. He followed Milo and Melissa into the kitchen anyway. Zack and Melissa watched as Milo opened the oven and tried to use the chimney brush to clean it. Several seconds and a cloud of soot later, the interior of the oven burst into flames and Milo had to get the fire extinguisher.
“So, now what?” Milo asked after he changed into his normal clothes and they returned to the living room.
“I got the perfect lucky charm!” Zack declared. He pulled a few dollar bills from his wallet.
“Ooh, free money!” Melissa cheered.
“A two-dollar bill, huh? Don’t see these very often,” Milo said.
“My family always found these to be lucky. Whenever someone gets one, they tend to not spend it and just keep the bill in their wallet for luck,” Zack explained. “But, this time, I have a two-dollar bill for each of us! With three times the lucky charms, we have three times the luck, and we’re three times more likely to complete the game!”
“I don’t know about those odds, but I like the enthusiasm,” Melissa said.
“Let’s try it!” Milo urged. “Don’t fail us this time, tiny green portrait of Thomas Jefferson!”
The three of them restarted the game one last time. They focused hard, tensely waiting for the next moment of Murphy’s Law. They battled bad guys, collected coins, did all the side quests, and made it to the final boss without a problem. They strategized and laughed together as they battled the final boss. It took at least ten minutes of battling before the video game villain finally fell, and the game narrator declared the trio the winners.
“We did it!” Milo cheered.
“You actually finished a video game for once!” Melissa hugged Milo.
“We are video game masters!” Zack declared.
Once they calmed down, they let their Murphy’s Law-less victory settle in.
“That was really boring,” Milo said.
“So boring,” Zack agreed.
“Like, where was the chaos?” Melissa asked. The three of them jumped as the television tumbled off its stand and crashed to the ground. “Ah, there it is.”
“I guess no good luck charm can withstand the power of a Murphy’s brand of Murphy’s Law,” Milo said with a shrug.
The three of them heard the telltale chimes of the ice cream truck coming down the street.
“Want to spend our two-dollar bills on ice cream cones?” Zack suggested.
“Yeah!” Milo and Melissa agreed.