It was a nice warm June afternoon so they took advantage of the weather and sat in the sun on the steps of the back porch. Once they were comfortable, Daniel put a sheaf of paper atop a thin, book-sized piece of wood, and began to print a series of letters. Belle watched. “What’s it say?” she asked curiously. “Belle Palmer,” he told her. He showed it to her, then pointed out each letter. “B-E-L-L-E P-A-L-M-E-R.” Belle took the wood from his hand and closely examined what he’d written on the paper. None of the curves and stick figures meant a thing. “I’ve never seen my name before.” When she looked up, Daniel wondered if she knew how beautiful she was. “Well, that’s what it looks like. Hand me the board back.” Belle did, then looked on as he made a lot more sticks and curves. He told her, “This is the alphabet. There are twenty-six letters, and they make up all the letters in all the words.” “Only twenty-six. For some reason, I imagined there’d be many more.”
