By LING LIN
Staff Writer
There was a dad who took his 4-year-old daughter to the library every afternoon. On this day, he picked out a children’s book with a hand-drawn fairy on its cover.
“Today our story will be… Fairy Mary! Do you want Daddy to read it for you?”
The girl took her thumb out of her mouth and nodded.
“Once upon a time…”
The storytelling proceeded.
“… The fairy waves her magic wand and makes Iris’s stuffed animals dance on her bed…”
“I want my Monkey George to dance for me too,” the girl interrupted.
“George dances on TV, right?”
“No, I mean the George on my bed.”
“Your little George can’t dance.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s not r-e-a-”
“Daddy, I want to have this book!”
“You can borrow it.”
“I want to buy it!”
The dad saw the price on the back cover and thought of making it a birthday gift.
“Daddy will think about it, okay? Now, let’s see how Iris reacts. Iris is amazed…”
They stayed for a while after the story finished, and the dad led his daughter home.
“Dad, can I get the book? I love it.” The daughter pressed her face against Daddy’s elbow.
“You love it? What about let’s go to the secondhand bookstore behind the library. Maybe you’ll love other books too, right?”
“Okay!”
Dada pulled the door open for his princess.
“Good afternoon!” There was a white-haired lady sitting in the front.
The bookstore was small but crowded with books. Most books here had folded covers and written words inside, yet if there was no extra price marked, every book only cost 1 dollar.
The dad looked carefully at each of the books on the top row of the children’s bookshelf while his daughter started from the bottom.
“Fairy Mary… Fairy Mary… Fairy Mary…” He mumbled.
“Daddy! Fairy Mary! Daddy!” The girl was pulling out a book but her head was held up. “Daddy!”
They examined the book and were surprised that it was untouched, like a brand new book.
The dad held the book in the air and asked the lady for the price.
“Anything here without further notice is only 1 dollar.”
Happily, the girl grabbed her dad’s hand. “Maybe Fairy Mary made this book for me.”