A Gift for my Son

      More Letters From Paradise
         A Gift For My Son
I thought it might be interesting to write the outline of a short story in the form of a dialogue.
" You asked me to come and see you, Sir."
"Yes, I don't believe that you knew your father."
"No, I didn't, my father died before I was born. All I have ever known is that he died in prison."
"He left some things for you.  I was to wait until you were old enough to understand.   Now I think the time has come.   I am very old, and my health is not good, and I don't know how much time I have left."
"What is it that my father left me?"
"I will show you.  They are in that metal box over there in the corner."
"What are these?"
"They are called books."
"I have heard about them, but I have never seen one before.  They were all destroyed in the "Great Burning."
"Yes, I know, but they were not all destroyed.   There were people like your father who cherished books."
"What happened to them?"
"They were sent to prison.  Your father's crime was that he had a  book. These books were his.  I promised I would keep them for you.  You may never have heard of these titles: "Walden," "War and Peace," Holy Bible,""Crime and Punishment," and several others are in the box.  I think you should start thinking about finding a secret place for your books.  There are many others hiding books, and they will contact you."
"I don't see why books are so important, I have my tablet."
"Yes, as long as it is charged.  But with a book, no one can tell you what to read or when you can read.  Don't your eyes grow tired staring at a lighted screen?  The choice is yours.  You can either hide and read your father's books, or turn them over to the police.  I hope that you will make the right choice."  END
This could, with uniforms, plastic, and stainless steel, become a short story.
Sci Fi, you say.  Maybe not.  Remember, in Nazi Germany books were burned. The idea for this story came about because of an article concerning the public library in San Antonio,Texas.  It is without a single book. Only tablets, and this idea seems to have generated great deal of outside interest.
I own two Kindles. On the first one, I have read a great number of books. The second has a lighted page. On it I am reading Nelson Mandela's "Conversations With Myself." I am also reading James Joyce "Ulysses," but not on a kindle.  I began reading it years ago, but gave up.  I know now that I wasn't old enough, nor well-educated. The book sings with the Irish tongue.
In spite of all the wonderful technology, I still prefer turning the pages of a BOOK.
          Aloha
          Grant