"Billy's Box" is a short story by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...

. It appears in his short story collection Maps in a Mirror

Maps in a Mirror

Maps in a Mirror is a collection of short stories by Orson Scott Card. Like Card's novels, most of the stories have a science fiction or fantasy theme...

. Card originally published this story in the February 1978 issue of Friend

The Friend (LDS magazine)

The Friend is the monthly English language children's magazine published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is aimed at those of Primary age , approximately ages 3 through 12...

magazine under the pseudonym Byron Walley.

Plot summary

This story is about a little boy named Billy. When a new television set arrives a Billy’s house he decides that playing with the box it came in would be more fun than watching the TV. With the help of his imagination and his loving parents he turns the box into a store, a castle and a repair shop. When Billy goes to bed he thinks about how much fun it will be to turn the box into a zoo in the morning, if only he can find a tiger.

Characters

• Billy – Main character
• Billy’s Dad - unnamed
• Billy’s Mom - unnamed
• Annie - Billy’s sister
• Todd - Billy’s brother
• Dora - Billy’s sister

Byron Walley

In the Question and Answer section of his website Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...

 said that the first time he used the name Byron Walley was when he published the short story "Gert Fram

Gert Fram

"Gert Fram" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection Maps in a Mirror. This short story was the first piece of fiction Card ever published...

" in Ensign magazine. Card did this because he had a non-fiction article “Family Art”, a poem “Looking West” and a short play "The Rag Mission" (published under the name Brian Green) appearing in the same issue.

External links

• The official Orson Scott Card website
• "Billy’s Box" - available online from The Friend magazine.