person could read something from two hundred feet away that I’d have to be twenty feet from in order to read I know I know You’re making the bad cheese face for me Please stop The point is I can read I just have to be really close Soon after making the gaspy voice the librarian came out from behind the desk My lenses were clearing up She stood way too close to me so I could make out that her lipstick was gloppy and pink and that her yel low hair was gray at the roots She smelled like lavender mixed with a little rotting eggs I wonder if that was the paper mill stink on her I am Mrs Dexter the librarian said slowly and loudly James snickered beside me quickly turning it into a cough I’m Alice I answered She stared hard at my eyes which made me nervous And that in turn made my eyes move faster So I guess I should just go ahead and say it I’m blind because I have albinism You know like an albino It just means my skin is about the color of paper my hair is too and my eyes are blue Everyone who has albinism is visually impaired We have something called nystagmus which makes our eyes always move back and forth A lot of albinos aren’t blind like me though they are just visually impaired 6
Service animals are welcome in the M H Bartel Library as are any individuals with special needs Welcome Alice Mrs Dexter said all of this with long Pauses Between Each Word Welcome she said again James now openly grinned at me He handed me Tooter’s leash The dumb dog was scooting his butt along the carpet but seemed a little peppier in the air conditioned building Text me when you’re ready for me to pick you up James said The traitor turned to leave Wait Mrs Dexter stole my line Does the Seeing Eye dog know where the large print section is or do I need to tell it Oh he’ll figure it out James answered and all three of us looked down at Tooter who took the opportunity to sniff his own butt with one stubby leg in the air Just let Tooter dig right in Well Tooter Mrs Dexter patted Tooter’s head Let me know if you need anything Where’s the children’s section I asked Mrs Dexter seemed surprised that I spoke It’s to the left Tooter glanced up at her so she pointed in that direction But we don’t have Braille children’s books here Actually I can read I said walking purposefully to the left I just need to get closer And I think it all 7
would’ve made a good impression on Bad Cheese Face Librarian had I not tripped i the Ah The children’s section I stopped at entranceway and breathed in the smell of books and chaos From the back of the vast room I heard giggles and chattering as a preschool program let out Beside me to the right tables were set up And all in front of me rows and rows and rows of books Someday I’m going to have a library in my own house I think I could go ahead and skip the living room and just put in a reading room with piles of books where the television should be Tooter pushed ahead of me and jumped onto a chair that was shaped like an open hand I scooped him up and sat down in his place holding him to my lap The chair was pretty cool but it felt a little strange to be lean ing back on a thumb I reached out grabbed a book at random and opened it I think I would’ve read the dic tionary at that point I was just so happy to be someplace comfortable And just so you know I can read regular books I just have to hold the book a couple inches from my face and hope there aren’t italics Nystagmus makes a mess of italics I use a magnifier to help me read too 8
It’s small and sort of looks like a credit card so I simply keep it in my back pocket Um you’re not actually allowed to bring pets in here I glanced over the cover of the book which ended up being Because of Winn-Dixie in the direction of the voice That’s the rule even if you are reading a dog book In front of me was a girl about my age maybe eleven or twelve Her arms were crossed and her voice was super quiet maybe because we were in a library but mostly she seemed like the type to always have a quiet voice She leaned forward to rub Tooter’s fluff-ball head The girl’s dark brown skin made my milky white skin look even more like Oreo stuffing Tooter tilted his head into her hand and let his tongue roll out of his open mouth Kate DiCamillo the author of your book writes that it’s hard not to fall in love with a dog with a great sense of humor she said with a slight laugh He’s my Seeing Eye dog I said The girl laughed Sure he is I smiled back The lady up front fell for it So now Tooter is here Mrs Dexter isn’t all there you know what I mean The girl twirled her finger next to her ear and then sat in the other hand chair next to mine I’m Kerica by 9
