The Name He Had to Ask Again

Chapter 1Four Names at the Door

When the visiting cousins arrived, the hallway filled with coats, bags, and introductions.

"This is Nachum, and this is Nochum," Uncle Dovid said.

Mendy heard almost the same sound twice.

The boys were close in age. One carried a small wooden puzzle; the other held the bag that had been under the puzzle.

Then Mendy's little brother knocked a coat off its hook. Mendy picked it up, and the introductions moved into the dining room without him.

By the time he followed, he had already forgotten which name went with which boy.

Chapter 2The Wrong One

After lunch, the visiting boys joined Mendy at the low table.

"Nachum, can I see your puzzle?" Mendy asked the boy holding it.

"I'm Nochum," the boy said. "Yes."

He slid the puzzle across.

Mendy felt his face warm. He had made the mistake immediately.

He fitted one wooden shape into the frame, then removed it. The other cousin leaned forward to watch.

Mendy wanted to ask him whether he liked puzzles, too. Instead, he said, "Do you like these?"

No name. No chance of getting it wrong.

Chapter 3A Careful Silence

For a while, Mendy managed without either name.

He pointed. He said "you." He waited until a cousin looked at him before speaking.

But when he needed to ask the boy beside the shelf to pass a piece, both boys were looking away.

Mendy reached across the table himself. His sleeve nudged the frame, and two fitted pieces slid out.

"Oh," he said.

Nochum steadied the frame.

"I could have passed it."

Mendy stared at the loose shapes. Avoiding another name mistake had made the puzzle harder for everyone.

Chapter 4Asking Again

"Can you tell me your names again?" Mendy asked. "I got muddled at the door."

The boy beside the shelf smiled.

"I'm Nachum. This is Nochum. Our names muddle grownups, too."

"Especially Uncle Dovid," Nochum said.

"He is our uncle," Nachum added, "so he has had plenty of practice."

Mendy laughed.

"Nachum, could you pass that long piece?"

"This one?"

"Yes, thank you."

The frame stayed where it belonged.

Chapter 5More Than Two Names

Nachum helped find a place for the long piece. Nochum liked trying the corners first.

"Did you make the puzzle?" Mendy asked Nochum.

"My older brother made it. I sanded these edges with him."

Nachum had been watching the paper birds on the shelf.

"Who folded those?"

"I did. I can show you."

Soon the wooden puzzle rested on one side of the table, and squares of paper lay on the other.

Nachum's first bird tipped forward. Mendy helped him widen its base. Nochum folded one so small that its beak disappeared under his finger.

Chapter 6One More Mix-Up

Mendy turned to ask for a fresh paper square.

"Nochum - I mean Nachum. Could you pass the blue one?"

Nachum handed it over.

Nothing else happened. Nobody left. Nobody said that Mendy should have remembered by now.

Nochum held his tiny bird beside the big one.

"Mine wants a ride."

Mendy made a small fold in the big bird's back so the little one could sit there.

Nachum wanted to try it, too.

This time Mendy said his name without stopping first.

Chapter 7At the Door Again

Before leaving, the cousins packed the puzzle. Mendy put their paper birds into a shallow box so the wings would not bend.

"Thank you, Mendy," Nochum said.

"He remembered your name," Nachum told his brother.

"It is easier. He is only one Mendy."

Mendy grinned.

At the door, he handed the box to Nachum and the puzzle to Nochum. Then he said goodbye to each of them.

He might mix the names up again at another busy doorway. If he did, he knew he could ask. The afternoon had room for more than a perfect introduction.