ONE FOR THE BOOKS

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

 

Once upon a time there occurred a mighty, whole-earth conflagration. Most of civilization was destroyed. The earth’s population was a mere half-million survivors!

A vicious dictator arose from the ruins to inflict his harsh rule over what was left of the world.

One of his first acts was to ban all books and any other written material. – an easy law to enforce as most, if not all, written works were presumed destroyed in the horror of war.

Ernesdine Sepulveda was one of the few to survive. While shifting what was left of her belongings, she discovered two books which she carefully secreted from the secret police.

Only when she thought it would be completely safe, she returned to the hiding place to retrieve the books.

The first book was severely burnt. She could not make out a single word. The other book was in amazingly good shape – just a bit of singing here and there.

She opened the book with the utmost care, lest it crumble in her hands.

The book turned out to be a first-grade primer from the flattened school a block from where she once lived.

She excitedly started to read. Her hands were shaking in anticipation. The first few pages were not decipherable. The first readable page (page four) showed a picture of a boy, a girl and a dog:

 

“Look”, said Dick.

See it go,

See it go up.”

 

Jane said, “Oh, look!

See it go

See it go up.”

“Up, up”, said Sally.

Up, up, up.”

 

Ernesdine cried herself to sleep…