The mother of the little boy was intrigued. Her shy son, who liked more than anything else the company of only himself, had suddenly got attached to his grandfather. “He just loves going out with him!” she told her husband.

 “Maybe he buys him candy, and eats some himself!” chuckled her husband, and they both smiled knowing her father was diabetic, and that could be a possibility.

 “Well, if that’s what he’s doing, then let me catch him in the act,” she said to herself and decided to follow them the next evening, when hand in hand her son and his grandfather went for their daily evening stroll.

They seemed to be walking nowhere in particular and though they came very close to the candy store, and though she did see her father peer inside, they made no move to enter, and relieved, her curiosity was piqued all the more.

They seated themselves under a tree, near a river flowing in front of them, and had hardly sat, when her son asked, “What’s that boat called grandpa?”

 “That’s a barge,” explained the grandfather to his grandson.

 “Why does it move so slowly grandpa?”

 “It’s got a flat bottom!” said the grandfather.

 

“What’s a flat bottom?” asked the little boy, and the mother watching from behind the tree, saw her father bend down, draw a barge and explain to his grandson what a flat bottom was, “and do you know why they have a flat bottom?” asked the grandfather, as her son shook his head and leaned forward. “Because when the bottom is flat, it can take more weight and even if there are strong currents, and the weight shifts, the boat will not overturn!”

The mother held her breath as her son asked, “What is ‘overturn’ grandpa?”

She watched as her father stood up and showed the boy what it was to balance oneself, and how one could overturn, by suddenly moving to a side. She watched as her father pretended to fall, and they both laughed hysterically before they sat down.

 “What’s that noise grandpa?” asked the little fellow, just when his grandfather was going to have a small nap.

 “That!” said the grandfather, “is a snore! And before you ask me what a snore is, I’m going to tell you what it is, because you should always keep away from snorers especially in the night, as you may never sleep!”

 “I’ll never keep away from you grandpa!” said the little fellow, “Even if you have a snore like that barge’s horn!”

The mother returned home misty eyed, “It’s no candy store they go to,” she told her husband, “It’s to a vast library, that gives out it’s books with gentleness and patience that his grandfather takes him to..!”

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