Pink

The gift was roughly covered in newspaper and the tape holding it together wrapped around the whole thing a dozen or so times. Bowen raised an eyebrow at his little sister. He knew it would take some doing to open the present.

"I wrapped it myself!" Emory gushed.

"Looks like a great opportunity to try out your new pocket knife," Dad winked. Bowen's face lit up as he dug into his jean pockets and whipped out the knife.

"Remember," Mom frowned, "It's a tool, not a toy."

Bowen fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he carefully cut away the tape from Emory's gift and pulled aside the newspaper.

"It's...it's a guitar," Bowen blinked.

"Sissy Anderson sold it to me!" Emory squealed. "I know how much you wanted one. Sissy says this one is so rare, it cost me a whole five dollars!"

Bowen lifted the palm-sized guitar by its neck and let it dangle between his thumb and index finger. Dad cleared his throat and gave a quick shake of his head. Bowen shrugged away the warning.

"It sure is...pink," Bowen swallowed back a laugh, "And, uh, sparkly."

Emory beamed, "Isn't it pretty, Bowen?"

Bowen ruffled her hair, "And small like you, squirt."

Emory frowned, "I know it's not as big as the one you wanted but it still plays music. See the little strings?"

"Uh, yeah..." he squinted at the nearly invisible lines of string as his mom brought in a cake alight with blazing candles.

After filling up on sugar Bowen escaped to his room. Flopping on his bed, he chuckled as he examined the tiny pink guitar.

"So it really plays, huh?" he muttered to himself. With one dirty nail, he thrummed the minuscule strings. The guitar began to glow, sending Bowen lurching back against his pillow. There was a flash of sparkling, pink light that nearly blinded him. He squeezed his eyes shut and lifted a hand to block the brightness. Peeking past the glare, he felt his jaw drop as a crowd of people appeared before him.

"Where...where am I ?" Bowen whispered, unnerved by the thousands of eyes fixed on his face.

"Dude!"

Bowen jerked around to find a man behind a set of drums, frowning at him. The man lifted a stick and pointed at him, "Dude, start playing before they boo us off the stage!"

Bowen glanced down to find the pink guitar, life sized now, in one hand. Tentatively he lifted the instrument. The crowd screamed as he ran his fingers over the strings, performing a number that reviewers later claimed was pure magic.