BURNABY —  A local 5-year old boy is on the verge of not receiving the cookie that he’s been looking forward to all day after reportedly freezing up on what “the magic word” is.

According to witnesses, little Johnny Parker had been waiting politely in line at Nelson Elementary’s annual cookie sale for almost 10 minutes before blowing his transaction at the very last moment.

“He seemed like a really considerate, good little boy,” explained Mrs. Linda Turner, an organizer of the sale and also Brian’s mom. “He had proper posture and didn’t raise his voice, but then when he got to the front of the line it all fell apart.”

While seemingly having a grasp on basic manners, Parker’s request for a chocolate cookie was met with more resistance than he had anticipated.

“When they came back at him with ‘what’s the magic word’, I could tell he was rattled”

– Stevie Harris, classmate

“He said ‘may I have a cookie’, which I thought was a pretty good way of putting it,” Parker’s friend Stevie Harris told The Peak. “But then they came back at him with ‘what’s the magic word’ and I could tell right away that he was rattled.”

It was at this point that witnesses say Parker went completely silent and just stared intently at the wall crinkling his face and clutching his forehead.

“They totally blindsided him and it was ugly to watch,” Harris explained as he watched his friend continue to struggle. “It was a sucker-punch, no doubt about it.”

After a couple seconds, Parker was told that unless he came up with the “magic word” he would not get his cookie despite being willing to pay full price for it.

Organizers say they gave him more than his fair chance and even started to mouth the first syllable “pl…” but that he was still drawing a blank.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me, I know this one,” Parker complained, looking to the sky. “I just said it when I borrowed a skipping rope this morning . . . gah what is it?”

While the sale’s organizers have come out on record stating that the cookie will be available whenever Parker is willing to come by and ask for it properly, at press time the “magic word” was still eluding the boy and most are predicting that the situation could continue well into recess.