Book Uncle and Me

Book Uncle and Me — page 5 — He points to a thin book with a dark green cover I take a look It seems a little skinny I pick it up I open it And for the first time ever in all the time I've been getting books from Book Uncle I am not sure It looks too easy I say Short and sweet says Book Uncle Old Indian story You can read it three times in a day if you like I turn the book over and then over again I can read bigger books I say Book Uncle looks at me sideways He opens his mouth as if there is something he wants to say Then he closes it again as if he has changed his mind Finally when I think maybe he has forgotten I'm still there he says very softly Right book for the right person for the right day As you know well that is my motto He's right It is It's a good motto He has always given me the right book on the right day hasn't he I'll take it I tell him I waste no time As soon as I have stepped over the broken bits of pavement which I really wish the city would fix so I could walk and read without worrying about where to put my feet I start to read the book And I am sorry to say that I was right It is a story for little kids about a king of doves who gets himself and all

Book Uncle and Me — page 6 — his followers stuck in a trap set by a hunter At first I'm disappointed but then I think I'll keep going Might as well find out what happens to those doves There they are caught in a net I turn turn turn the pages No escape no escape Try try try Still no escape Will they save themselves Hmm This may be a book for little kids but still it's giving me something to think about It drives me crazy when a book does that All the way up the stairs to 3A I worry about those doves I read the dove book once straight through after homework and dinner and I find out that the dove king and all his followers do get free I know I know I'm giving away the ending But here's the thing The point of a story is not the ending The point is What does it mean While I'm still wondering about that my father calls me to see something on TV

Book Uncle and Me — page 7 — 3 Swirling T shirts IT'S A T SHIRT FOLDING contest Wapa says He makes room for me on the sofa They fold T shirts They do Have you ever heard of such a thing Wapa I say why would anyone want to take part in a T shirt folding contest See for yourself he says There are all kinds of crazy people in this crazy world my Minu My mother laughs Including those who sit around watching those crazy people fold T shirts A whistle tweets A dozen people on TV make a dozen rainbow colored piles of T shirts their hands flying as fast as Anil's karate punches It makes me dizzy to watch those swirling T shirts The room spins around me and the air is full of T shirts and there is no ground under my feet

Book Uncle and Me — page 8 — anymore I gasp and clutch at the sofa Wapa pats me on the shoulder and the room steadies The whistle blows again Everyone stops The winner has folded thirty T shirts in sixty seconds That is only two seconds per T shirt That is fast I say able to breathe again Blink of an eye says Wapa How long would it take me to do a thing like that Many many blinks I think Which reminds me of those doves and their king and the hunter Where were these T shirt folding people with their flying hands when the doves needed help Wait That is in a story and this is real Give me a story any day Umma says You people want to practice folding clothes There's a whole clothesline full on the terrace Wapa turns off the TV The phone rings I'll get it he says He picks up the receiver with a cheery Hello But in a minute his face changes so I know who that is When he hangs up he says You know who that was Wapa's big brother Rafiq Uncle always has that effect on us He's coming to visit us asks Umma

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