The Tenth Line

Ages 9-12

Shulamit writes TEN DIFFERENT BOOKS on a sheet of lined paper.

She numbers ten lines. Beside the first nine numbers she copies the titles of books she has read. Beside the tenth she draws only a straight line.

Then she lays the paper on her bedroom rug beside two stacked books.

The thicker book opens easily to a picture of folding stairs. A traveler stands at the top with a broom. He has put its wide brush end through the gap first, and now the broom is stuck across the steps.

Shulamit smiles. Then she looks at her list.

The book's title is beside number three.

She closes the book and sets it on the rug.

The thin book underneath is new. Its cover shows a little red cart beside a stone wall.

Shulamit opens it.

On the first page, two sisters load the cart with empty jars. One jar rolls beneath the wheel, and the younger sister puts it into a stocking so it cannot roll again.

Shulamit reads to the bottom. She rests her finger under the last sentence.

Beside her knee, the tenth line is empty.

She brings the list closer and picks up her pencil. Her pencil tip hovers above the line. She lays the thin book face up on the rug.

The thicker book opens to the folding stairs again.

This time she reads the next page all the way through.

The traveler backs up three steps and turns the broom handle first. He promises to bring a smaller broom next time.

Below the picture, the woman waiting at the bottom says, "Or a wider staircase."

Shulamit looks from the words to the woman's folded arms.

She turns another page, then another.

When she closes the thick book, she puts it on top of the thin one. A corner of the red cart shows underneath.

Her pencil lies beside the empty tenth line.