The Phantom Tollbooth

Milo is a little boy who never knows what to do with himself. If he’s in school, he wants to be at home; when he’s home, he wants to be out. Nothing interests him, and he believes almost everything is a waste of time. One day, walking home from school, he laments that there’s no point to learning. Problems are “useless,” and he’ll never need to know where Ethiopia is. No one sets him straight, so he believes learning is a huge waste of time. As he hurries along, he thinks that there’s nothing to do—he doesn’t want to do or see anything. He sighs so loudly that he startles a sparrow nearby, and the bird flies home to its family.

Milo hurries through town, not even noticing the buildings and shops around him. Once at his apartment building, the elevator takes him to the eighth floor, where he hurries into his apartment and then his room. Milo flops on his bed and looks at all his things. His room is full of toys and books that he doesn’t care to look at or play with—he can’t remember the last time he used his little electric car.

But, as Milo looks around, he notices something he’s never seen before. It’s a huge package and a strange shape. There’s a note attached that reads: “FOR MILO, WHO HAS PLENTY OF TIME.” Milo is confused and excited, since he can’t figure out why he got it. (Christmas is months away, and he hasn’t even been all that good this year.) He decides it’d be rude to send it back, so he begins to unpack the box. There’s an envelope and inside, and the note in it reads that Milo has received “ONE GENUINE TURNPIKE TOLLBOOTH.” It’s supposedly easy to put together at home, and it’s for people who have “never traveled in lands beyond.”

Milo continues to read. The package supposedly contains a tollbooth, directions to put it together, three signs, coins, a map, and a rulebook. Milo follows the instructions and quickly puts the tollbooth together. It’s smaller than a real one and purple, and Milo mutters that it’s impractical—there’s no highway to go with it. But since Milo is bored, he sets up the signs, unfolds the map, and studies it. He hasn’t heard of any of the places on it, so he closes his eyes and stabs at the map. Since he has nothing else to do, he decides to visit the place he’s stabbed, Dictionopolis. Milo gets in his electric car, pays the toll, and hopes that this game will be interesting.