THE "LOST" BOOK

A book fell down from the table. A little girl picked it up, put it back and ran away. “I did not see drawings at all.”  She said to herself. “I need to learn how to read, probably that is the reason why I do not understand anything. Just drawings, drawings, and drawings…jejeje” The girl is only five years old. Her name is Tibisay. She has an older brother, Ignacio, who is the owner of the book. 

After three days, a nightmare began to him. “-Where is my book?” yelled the boy after coming from school. “I do not know Ignacio, I haven’t seen it” replied Tibisay. He spent a whole week looking for his book.  He was really worried because it was a gift from his grandfather.  “Such a bad memory I have. I do not know where I could have left it”. Ignacio decided not to tell his parents, besides his grandfather, about the missing book because he felt embarrassed. So, he considered to talk with his friends at school. 

Meanwhile, Tibisay was decided to help his older brother to find the book from the beginning. She chose to look inside the house. Her grandfather, the one who was in charge of her, started to wonder about the possible location of his granddaughter, after finishing the newspaper of the day. “-Tibiiiiiii…Tibiiiiii…where are you?” he looked for minutes without knowing about her. “-Tibiiiii…come on! Where are you?” he asked once again with a little of fear around his tone. Then, out of nowhere, he heard a softly “-bussyyyy” from Tibisay. “Coming here, young lady! Tell me what you are doing.” But he heard a second “-busyyyyyyy”

While this was happening at home, during the day Ignacio asked his friends about the book. “-No, I am sorry”. He received this answer most of the time. Even those who were not totally friend of him, did not know anything about it. “-What am I going to do? My grandpa gave it to me for my birthday. How could I have lost it? ” As soon as he was saying that, someone in the distance said: -Keep looking pedestrian boy! A blurry shadow of a man swiping the floor with a broom appeared. It was Jeff, the Janitor. “-Hey, Janitor. How did you call me before?” “-Pedestrian boy” he replied with a big smile on his face.

-But..bu…wait a minute…how did you…where did you learn that word?– a little astonished the boy asked. “-From your book, of course! jajaja”.  The janitor explained to Ignacio that, last week, because he was running to classes after practicing sports, he forgot his book at the dining hall. “A peculiar book that you are reading, kid. I wish that more kids were readers like you.” Ignacio was completely excited about having his book on his hands.  “-Thank you for keeping safe, Jeff”  “-Do not worry! Thanks to you. I learned a new word!”

After this, Ignacio went home right away to share his happiness with his little sister.

When he got home, he realized that his little sister was with their grandfather. He was in shocked, since he did not know what to say about the awkward situation with the book. At the moment, his grandfather said to him…

-“So you found it. Where was it?  The book?” by the sense of tone, he was trying to say something to Ignacio.  –Tha...book? What, why? Why do you think something happ…

He not even finished what he was saying when his grandfather interrupted him.

 “-Because Tibi told me. Now…I’m not mad at you for not telling me the truth. In fact, I am happy! ” -Really? But, why? Said Ignacio surprised. “-Well, you showed me that you care about that gift. Not only that but also that you share it with your sister. That’s why I have a mission for you. You’re going to teach her how to read. Ok?” 

“–Sure grandpa! Tibisay, coming here.” He explained to his little sister about the book. “-This…is not a common book. This is a Dictionary.”  

As naive as young, she answered: “-Ahhhh, as the game that we play with our grandpa’ about drawing and then we have to…” “No. That is Pictionary. This is a Dictionary. We can use to look for words when do not know their meaning.” “-Mmm” replied the little girl.

“The next generation of readers and writers” said the grandfather to himself, smiling. 

  

 Reinaldo Martínez               

    June, 2014