Inky the Spot Finds Her Place

Inky lived alone on a notebook page. She lived among the blank blue and red lines and spaces. She was only allowed to move when the notebook cover shut and filled her home with darkness. These red and blue steps must lead to a magical place. Intent on exploring she climbed under and over the blue and red rungs of the ladder.

Inky climbed to the very top of the paper. She peered over the edge. There is nothing here. Nobody to play with. I am completely alone. Large tears fell down Inky's face. My trip has been wasted.

Just as she started to feel sorry for herself, Inky felt herself being pulled back to the bottom of the page. The notebook is open. Frozen again. I am so trapped and lonely. Make that very bored too. Inky listened to the teacher's chatter. Did I hear somebody say recess? Why is my place always frozen at the bottom of the page?

What is going on? Inky was suddenly stunned out of her boredom. New friends? Letters on the page? I can't wait to meet my new friends. A B C she could see written towards the top of the page. Close notebook cover. Isn't it time for darkness? Eventually the cover closed and the letters came to life under the safety of the darkness.

The letter 'A' strolled over first. "I am the first letter of the alphabet." he boasted to Inky. " B is for beautiful," B said as she slowly walked towards Inky. "Well ,"hello ink spot." C chimed in.

Inky did her best to stand as tall as she could. She didn't have the fancy lines or curves of the letters. They are giants. C'mon stand taller. Smile. Welcome your new friends."Hello." Inky replied with a wide smile trying not to be nervous.

"You aren't even a letter," B stated as she peered down at Inky. "I bet she is too short to play tag," laughed A."I wouldn't pick her for my team," shouted C.

The letters continued to play tag without Inky. I will never fit into this group. Finally company has arrived and they act like I am invisible. Sadness overwhelmed Inky as she watched the others from a distance.

When the notebook cover opened Inky felt relief. A, B and C were frozen on the page. At least I don't have much to worry about now. Oh no, not more letters!

Inky watched in horror as twenty-three more letters were added to the page and two new symbols. I am outnumbered. How am I going to escape this page? I will try to leave as soon as the cover closes.

The letters came to life and surrounded Inky as soon as they could. "Oh where do you think you are going?" exclaimed the letter X. I am in trouble . Keep climbing."Anyone want to play ball?" X asked as he grabbed Inky and took her into his arms. He smirked as he proceeded to toss Inky into the crooked arms of letter Z."Woosh." Inky continued to be tossed like a baseball. "My head hurts please stop," pleaded Inky. "

"Are you o.k.?' asked Question Mark. "Here you go!" shouted Exclamation Point as he picked Inky up from the ground. "I can't believe how mean Z and X are!" hollered Exclamation Point. The other letters continued to play as Inky rested alone. I can't wait for the cover to close. That will keep them from hurting me.

The next day her wish came true as the cover opened. She found herself in her usual place. She could see the teacher at the chalkboard. No more letters. Please, no more letters."Class this is a period," said the teacher. Inky couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. She watched the teacher draw a picture of a spot. The spot looked just like her! It was at the end of a sentence on the board. She even drew a large star pointing to Inky's likeness. "Without this star of punctuation, words and sentences would ramble on without ever stopping. "You can't make real sentences without the period," the teacher explained.

Inky gazed upon her picture on the board. Her heart was beating fast with excitement. Pride welled up in Inky as she finally knew her place. All of the other letters knew too. Just because I don't look like the other letters doesn't mean I am not important. I have a place on this page and nobody can tell me otherwise. Inky knew she was standing taller than she ever had been in her life.

When the notebook cover again brought darkness to the page the letters were unusually quiet. The letter 'A' slowly came up to Inky. "I am so sorry Inky," he stammered. " I might be first in the alphabet but you are part of our family."Can you forgive me?" X asked. Each and every letter took their turn to apologize to Inky.

Inky spent her days playing with the letters. Inky was happy knowing her place. Question Mark always spoke in riddles and Exclamation Point could never lower his voice. She welcomed the game of tag. Eventually other ink spots or periods joined her page. Even the Colon twins and their baby brother, Comma, came to join in the fun. From then on, they all lived on the same page and always worked together as part of the Writing family.