Granny's Diary

Snoopy Part 12

Snoopy was a cute little dog, but Kayla wasn't impressed when she sneaked up and stole all her cookies from her pretty laid table.  When Kayla asked her what happened to the cookies, guilt was written all over her cute little face, only Kayla could stay cross with her.   Patsy and Jason took her for a walk to give Kayla time to get over it.

Your mom felt sorry for Kayla and gave her another packet of cookies to continue with her tea party.  You and Kayla had fun that day and even included me in your party.  I gave Kayla a recipe for easy to make teacakes and she made her mom promise that she would allow her to bake it.  On their next visit, she brought me some to taste.  I was so proud of her.

Kayla made us some sausage rolls and spinach quiches for our picnic on Saturday, that was so kind of her. Inola was already waiting at the pool, busy to build the more difficult words.   When I asked her how the reading went, she seemed to be a bit vague.

"What's the matter?" I asked concerned.

"One girl in our room told me the books are too childish for my age, she said she'll bring me a book that's more suitable for my age."

"So, why did that bother you?" I asked.

"What if I can't pronounce the words right or the book is too difficult for me to read at all."  She looked at me with fear in her eyes.

"Hey, you're doing a great job and you're not afraid of a challenge, are you?"

"I guess not," she said, a smile wavering on the corners of her mouth.

"Okay, here it is." I gave her a book that is meant for children between twelve and fourteen.

She took the book and started reading.  The next moment the two spaniels followed by James came running towards us.   The one called Sheila ran to Inola and licked her hand.

"Come, Sheila, it's storytime," James announced and looked at me questioningly: "Are you joining us, Beth?"   He patted with his hand next to him.  I accepted his invitation and sat down next to him.

Inola smiled and started reading, at first she was unsure and struggled with a few of the more difficult words.  I pronounced it for her and then she continued more fluently.  The more she read, the better she read and as James noticed that he softly squeezed my hand.  It felt as if a bolt of electricity hit me, a strange sensation of heat rushing through my entire body. I chastised myself, what's wrong with me? He was only impressed with his sister's performance.

When it was nearly time for me to leave, I stopped Inola and told her she did very well.

"That was awesome," James confirmed.

I gave her another even more difficult book to read the next week. "Keep on reading, don't allow anybody to stop you, and if you have difficulty with the spelling or pronouncing of words, ask your roommates to help you.  They might love it more than you think."  I said my goodbye's and left, still wondering about my stupid reaction when James squeezed my hand.