KOFIKO VISITS THE LIBRARY
By David Berkowitz
Kofiko pushed hard on the door of his local library to no avail. A kind gentleman
observed the lad of sixteen years for a few minutes and then aided Kofiko in opening
the door. Kofiko always got confused between the words "push" and "pull." He was
almost sure he had gotten it right this time. Kofiko wondered why the words were so
similar.
Upon entering the library, Kofiko was astounded by the multitude of books.
Books, all arranged so neatly, all waiting to be read. Kofiko wondered who would have
time to read all of those books. He thought the library didn't really need that many. He
relayed his thoughts to a nearby person who was stacking books on the shelves.
"Excuse me, son?" scoffed the balding librarian.
"Uh oh! What's your name?" asked Kofiko.
"My name is Mrs. Atlas and I'm the libarian."
The woman was no longer a stranger. "My name's Kofiko and now that I know
you, you're not a stranger. I never talk to strangers."
"Pathetic lad, you! What is all this nonsense about there being too many books?
This is a library and there are supposed to be books in a library. Do you need some
help finding a book?" Mrs. Atlas was desperately trying to get this boy off of her back.
"Too many books. People can never read this many books."
"Thank you, lad. I'll go out and burn a few Chaucers. Do you need help finding
a book?"
"Do you have any periwinkle books, Mrs. Atlas?" Kofiko loved periwinkle. He
sometimes dreamed of a world where the only color was periwinkle. Periwinkle and
magenta. He liked magenta, but not as much as periwinkle.
The librarian ignored Kofiko's question, dropped her books and briskly walked to
the front desk. She warned her fellow librarians about the boy in the periwinkle pants.
"Mrs. Atlas, have you gone mad?" asked one librarian.
"The boy's a charming, good-looking lad of sixteen! What harm could he be?"
questioned another.
"And by God, he's wearing periwinkle! What could be wrong with a charming,
handsome boy in periwinkle pants?" asked a third.
"But he's so STUPID!" yelled Mrs Atlas. She grabbed the rubber stamp which
marked the due date on books, pressed it firmly on the burgundy ink pad and stamped
her forehead. "I'm checking out, everybody! I'm checking out!" hollared Mrs. Atlas.
"And I won't be returning on time. Good-bye, everybody!" She pushed some books off
the front desk, gave raspberries to all of her fellow librarians and made a mad dash for
the door. Kofiko watched her and continued to watch as she pushed the door open and
ran into the street where she was hit by an oncoming bus. "Pull from the outside, push
from the inside," thought Kofiko. He felt proud of himself for learning something new.
(
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