The Library Door
I tied my shoelaces tight; I didn’t want to trip on them while walking to the library. Today was a special day. Today instead of Grandma getting her stack of books, and one for me on her library card. I was finally old enough to get my own card!
We walked down the sidewalk, passing the old brick school, with its very tall yellow pine trees that grew straight along the sidewalk. The school was closed. It had been for many years. No children went in or out, no bells rang in the halls to call students to classes. Although it was empty, it still had that stately look that demanded respect from those who passed by. The lawns were cut short, the bushes kept trimmed, and the windowpanes were sparkling clean in the sunlight.
I read the names of the streets as we crossed them. Elm, Pine, Maple, Oak. “Why do all the streets have names of trees?” I asked Grandma.
She smiled down and me. “Let me ask you a riddle first.”
“OK. I like riddles.” I replied.
“Beech, Birch, Maple, and Elm, all begins, with A.” she recited to me.
“No, they don’t!”
“You must pay attention to the words in the rhyme. Listen closer. Beech, Birch, Maple, and Elm, all begins with A.”
I stopped walking, pulling Grandma’s hand until she stopped too. “Beech. Not an A, Birch, not an A, Maple, not an A, Elm, not an A, all begins, with A. OH! It does begin with A! All Begins with A. Because it said the s on the end of begin. I get it now.” I started skipping, very pleased with myself. “Now, why do all the streets have tree names?”
Grandma laughed, “You have a mind like a steel trap my dear. The streets are named after trees because that is a very common way to name them. I think originally, they were named for the trees that grew on the streets. But there aren’t a lot of Oak trees around here anymore. Besides, I think the names are nice. They remind me we live near the forest.”
“Ok, that’s a good answer. I like it.” I could see the library building now and started to pull on Grandma’s hand, trying to hurry her up. “Come on. I want my new card, so I can get my own books!”
She didn’t walk a single bit faster. We got there anyway.