David Marks shifted nervously in his chair. The large man was studying him like he was a fish inside a fishbowl. It made him very uneasy. Unable to take the focused attention any longer, he blurted out, "My grandmother died and I'm so unhappy that I don't know what to do."
Magus continued studying the boy. He was four feet six inches tall with short blond hair that appeared to resist the best efforts of brush or comb to tame. His sneakers were worn from daily use but weren't filthy from playing extensively in the dirt. His clothes were generic mass market brands, but were clean and well fitting. All in all, the boy looked like a typical Midwestern boy except for the sadness that etched his young face making him look older than his actual age.
Magus said, "Before I help you with your problem there is a matter of payment."
"I don't have much money; just my allowance," David said with a worried expression on his face.
"How old are you?" Magus asked.
"Nine," David answered.
"Hmm," Magus said, "The fee for your first solution is one dollar and a favor."
"I think I have that," David said while reaching into his pocket. He hoped that this was going to be worth his money. Everyone else with whom he had discussed his problems had dismissed them out of hand or had told him that time would lessen his pain.
Magus watched patiently while the boy counted out a dollar's worth of change. When the boy placed the change on the desk, Magus swept the coins over to the side of his desk. He then made a large production of writing a receipt and handing it to the boy. Once that was done, he said, "Tell me about your problem."
"I already told you. My grandmother died and I'm very sad," David answered.
"Let me rephrase what you've told me so that we can focus on your problem. You are sad because your grandmother died. Your problem is that you don't want to be sad any longer," Magus said.
"Yeah, I guess so," David said. It seemed to him that Magus was actually listening to him.
"You are afraid that the only way to get past your sadness is to forget your grandmother," Magus said.
"Exactly," David said relieved that someone finally understood his problem.
"Before we can figure out how to deal with your sadness, I have a few questions to ask you," Magus said.
"Okay," David said.
Magus asked, "Does your mother know you are here?"
"No."
"Why not?" Magus asked.
"She's at work and I'm supposed to be at home alone," David answered.
Magus asked, "Have you always stayed at home alone?"
"I used to stay with my grandmother," David answered.
Magus nodded his head thoughtfully. He said, "I see. Now that your grandmother has passed away, you have no one to stay with. Is that right?"
"Right. I'm at home all alone until Mom comes home from work," David said.
"Tell me about your grandmother," Magus said.
"I loved my grandmother."
"She was a nice lady?" Magus asked.
David smiled and answered, "She was the nicest greatest grandmother in the whole world."
"That special, huh?" Magus said with a smile.
"Very special," David said. He sank into his chair thinking about his loss.
"That's very nice," Magus said. Pursing his lips he looked as if he was deep in thought. Startling David, he shouted, "Stephen! Get in here. I need you to give something to Claudia."
Claudia marched into his office and said, "I'm right here."
"Keep your distance," Magus said holding up a hand. She rolled her eyes.
"What do you want?" Claudia asked.
Magus wrote a quick note and handed it over to David. He said, "Give that to the lady."
Puzzled by the request, David handed the note to the woman. Claudia glanced down at the note and said, "This is a telephone number."
"Yes. Call Mrs. Marks and let her know that David will be spending his afterschool hours with us," Magus said.
"Anything else?" Claudia asked.
"After you've made the call send Stephen in here," Magus answered.
"There's no reason to involve Stephen. Just tell me what you need," Claudia said.
"I have an assignment for Stephen," Magus said. "Now get out of my office. You're standing too close to me and it is making me uncomfortable."
"Yes, Magus," Claudia said before turning and leaving the office.
"I'll be right back, David," Magus said getting up from behind his desk.
"Okay," David said. He watched Magus disappear into the room behind his desk. He was still waiting for Magus to solve his problem.
Magus returned carrying a notepad and a pencil. He handed the items to David and said, "I need you to do something for me."
"What?" David asked looking at the notepad.
"I need you to write down everything that you can remember about your grandmother. I want you to tell me every important thing that she did for you. I want you to write down the little things that she did that made you feel special. I need to know everything that you can remember," Magus said.
"That will take me a long time," David said. He had once had to write a one hundred word story in school. He had struggled with it for a whole evening. Getting it to one hundred words had been torture. He had counted each word making sure that it was exactly the right length.
Magus said, "You'll be coming here every afternoon after school. You can work on it while you are here. I imagine that you'll need more than that one little notebook."
Looking at the notebook, David couldn't imagine filling it up with words. He said, "That's a big notebook."
"You said that your grandmother was a special person," Magus said with a smile.
"She was!"
Magus said, "Special people have long stories."
"You're right," David said.
Stephen entered the room and said, "Claudia told me that you have another assignment for me."
"That is correct," Magus said.
"I still haven't finished the report on environmentally friendly practices in the chemical industry," Stephen said. Magus had assigned the topic and then told him to go forth and get the information necessary to complete the assignment.
"I'm expecting that report Thursday," Magus said.
"It has stopped being a report and has become a book," Stephen said.
"Excellent. That tells me that you are doing the assignment correctly!"
"I need more time," Stephen said.
"Nonsense. It sounds to me like you are making adequate progress," Magus said.
"What is this other assignment?" Stephen asked.
"I want you to work with Mr. David Marks here. He's writing a biography about his grandmother. Please help him with this extremely important project," Magus said.
"A biography?" Stephen asked.
"What's a biography?" Mark asked looking at Magus with a confused expression on his face.
"It is the story of a person's life," Stephen answered.
"Oh," David said. "That's what I'm doing."
Magus said, "David will need your help for the basic facts of her life: when she was born, where she lived, who she married, when she married, and all that stuff. You'll also need to help him organize the material and cleanup his writing. I'm sure that you can handle that."
"Am I going to get graded on that?" Stephen asked.
"Of course," Magus said.
Feeling like he was being overworked, Stephen said, "We didn't have any kind of assignments like that back when I was in regular high school."
"I know and you were bored. Are you bored now?" Magus replied.
"No," Stephen answered.
"I'm glad that we cleared that up," Magus said, "Leave a note for your mother to order a small work desk for David. We'll put it in your office."
"Okay," Stephen said.
Magus turned to David and said, "Go with Stephen. He's going to take you to your office so that you can work on your biography. Tomorrow afternoon you'll have your own desk."
"Okay," David said sitting up a little straighter. Having an office and a desk sounded like something a grownup would have.
"I'll talk to you later," Magus said.
"Okay," David said getting out of his chair. He followed Stephen out of the office and down the hall.
Magus shouted, "Claudia!"
Claudia appeared at his office door and asked, "What?"
"Call Mrs. Marks and find out what an appropriate afterschool snack would be for David. You know — find out if he's allowed milk and cookies. Then make arrangements for us to have snacks on hand," Magus said.
"I'm sure that milk and cookies would be just fine," Claudia said.
"Call her anyway," Magus said.
Claudia said, "By the way, Mrs. Marks wasn't too thrilled with the idea of David spending his afternoons here."
"If she has a problem with it, she can pay me ten dollars and then I will solve her problem. She is not my client," Magus said dismissively.
It was obvious to Claudia that fireworks could be expected in the near future. She also knew that Magus wouldn't listen to her opinion on the matter. Changing the subject, she said, "I think it is nice what you are doing for David."
"I'm looking forward to reading his biography once it gets published," Magus said.
Claudia said, "Published?"
"Yes."
"You think a little boy can write a book that can get published?"
"Definitely."
"I guess you know best," Claudia said returning to her desk to make the call to Mrs. Marks. She was not surprised when Mrs. Marks did not answer the phone.
Thirty minutes later a woman walked into the reception area of Solutions Incorporated. She asked, "Where is he?"
"In there," Claudia said gesturing towards the door of Magus' office.
The woman marched through the door and up to Magus' desk. She asked, "Where is my son?"
Magus looked up from his notepad and said, "Mrs. Ellen Marks, I presume."
"Yes."
"I am Magus."
"Where is David?" she demanded. She wanted to get her son and take him home. Young children did not belong in offices.
"David is working on the biography of his grandmother's life," Magus answered.
"What are you talking about?"
"David is in his office writing a biography about his grandmother's life," Magus answered.
"He's nine years old. He can't write a biography. He doesn't even know what a biography is."
"I disagree. He can write a biography. In fact, I have assigned someone to work with him to help develop his manuscript and get it in publishable form," Magus said.
"Manuscript? Publishable form?" Ellen asked. She stared at Magus and then asked, "What kind of game are you playing?"
"I am not playing a game," Magus said. "Your son hired me to solve a problem. I am delivering the very best solution that I can provide."
"He hired you?" Ellen asked.
Nodding his head, Magus answered, "Yes he did. He paid the full fee for a solution to his problem."
"What problem?" Ellen asked.
"I'm sure that you are aware that his grandmother recently passed away," Magus said.
"Of course I'm aware of that. She was my mother," Ellen said indignantly.
Magus said, "Your mother watched over David every day after he returned home from school. He and she did things together that occupied his time until you came home from work. He loved her and enjoyed the time he spent with her."
"I know that," Ellen said.
"Now he returns home from school to an empty house. There is nothing to fill his time until you get home from work. He misses his grandmother and the happy times that he shared with her. He is a sad lonely little boy," Magus said.
"I know, but I have to work and I can't afford a sitter," Ellen said defensively. It was impossible to hide the guilt that she felt about having to leave him alone at home. She felt like a failure as a mother.
Magus said, "Instead of returning to an empty house, David will be coming here. He shares an office with my protégé and will not be alone. He will be busy writing about his grandmother. That will help him work through his grief. He will be a busy little boy. Soon, he will become a happy little boy. At that point in time, I will have successfully delivered my solution to his problem."
Ellen was quiet thinking about what Magus had stated. Finally, she said, "I don't know anything about you."
"I am Magus and I provide solutions to problems. That is all you need to know about me."
Ellen didn't think that was all she needed to know and she was going to ask around. Opening her purse, Ellen said, "You told me that he paid your fee. How much was it?"
"One dollar and he owes me one favor," Magus answered.
"One dollar and he owes you a favor?"
Seeing the expression on Ellen's face, he said, "That is my standard fee for clients under the age of twelve."
Not liking the idea of a child owing an adult a favor, she said, "I'll pay his favor for him."
"No, I will not accept that. I also do not think that you should repay him the dollar he spent. You must allow him to retain ownership of his solution," Magus said.
"I don't like the idea of him owing you a favor."
"He came to me so he owes me the favor. If you had come to me then you would owe me the favor."
"He's just a little boy," Ellen said.
Magus said, "I wouldn't consider him just a little boy. He is smart. He recognized that he had a problem. He sought help and didn't find it from any of the usual sources. Rather than give up, he kept looking until he found someone who took his problem seriously and gave the help he needed."
"Okay."
Magus said, "If you go to the far end of the reception area you will be able to see him in his office. I'm sure that he'll be happy to tell you what he is doing."
"Thank you," Ellen said.
Looking down at his notepad, Magus absently said, "You're welcome."
Ellen said, "I have one last question."
"What?"
"How can you talk about publishing a biography about my mother? She didn't do anything of any great significance," Ellen said.
Magus said, "She raised you. She earned the love of your son. Is there any achievement of greater significance that a person can accomplish?"
"She's not famous."
"She will be," Magus replied.