The Rainbow Loom Set Wanted to Be Used

The Rainbow Loom set arrived in a box that was too big for what was inside. The thing itself—the plastic loom, the rainbow of tiny rubber bands, the two little hooks that looked like dental tools—fit in a space the size of a lunchbox. The rest was air and a booklet with pictures of bracelets no child would ever finish.

The child asked for it. “Everyone at school has one,” she said, and she promised she’d use it every day. BW heard the word “every day” and nodded. I heard the word “promised” and knew where this was going. (The child has promised many things. She has kept exactly none of them.)

The loom sat on the coffee table for a week. It was a gray plastic rectangle with pegs. It looked like a tiny city grid waiting for construction. The child built exactly one bracelet—a green-and-yellow loop that looked like a distressed caterpillar—and then she discovered that the neighbor’s trampoline existed. The loom never saw her again.

**The rubber bands live in a zipper bag now.** The bag lives in the bottom of a bin that also holds a half-eaten bag of goldfish crackers and a doll whose hair has been cut off. The loom itself is under the couch. I found it last week when I was looking for the TV remote. It had a car key on top of it. The loom did not ask to be a key holder. It wanted to be a loom. (It wanted to be USED, which is the saddest thing a product can want in this house.)

BW says we should donate it. “Some kid would love that,” she says. But the zipper bag is missing thirty percent of the bands. The hooks are stuck together with juice residue. The child’s name is not on any of the pieces, which means the child has already forgotten she ever owned it. The loom will sit under the couch until we move, and then I will find it again and throw it away, and I will feel bad for it. (I feel bad for everything that ends up under the couch. It’s a graveyard of intentions.)

The rainbow bands are still bright. They do not fade. They do not break. They wait, in the dark, for a hook that never comes. The loom does not make a sound. But it knows.

If you liked this story about the Rainbow Loom Original Loombands Set, you can buy your own on Amazon. Remember, we're BFF if you do.