The i who lost his dot (part 2)

If you haven't read my introduction and the first part of the story, please do so here before continuing.

At this point, my dad and I usually were at a clearing where there was a big rock for me to climb on and a tree that was curved like a bench or a couch. We'd sit there and eat our lunch, then continue on around the lake.

After a little while, the i continued on his journey to find his lost dot. It wasn't at the beginning of the alphabet, so it must be the other way. He went next door to his neighbor j, who looked just like him except for longer, with a curve and his own dot.

"Hi," said the little i. "How are you today?"

"Just fine, thank you," said the little j.

"That's your dot, right?" asked the i.

"Yes, this one's mine," said the j. "What happened to yours?"

"I lost it," said the i sadly. "I was thinking it might have rolled this way."

"I haven't seen it, but if I do I'll let you know."

"Thank you," said the i, and he continued on.

Up ahead, the little i could see a cloud of dust. As he got closer, there was a letter kicking everything in sight: grass, dirt, rocks, leaves.

"Excuse me," said the little i, coughing.

"Oh, sorry," said the k, stopping his kicking. The dust settled somewhat.

"Have you seen my dot?" asked the i.

"Does it roll?" said the k.

"Yes," said the i.

"Well, I've been kicking so many things today; I might have kicked it down the alphabet," said the k, looking sad.

"It's all right, k," said the i. "If you see it, can you kick it back to my home, please?"

"Yes, I think I can give it a soft kick if I see it," said the k.

The little i thanked the little k, which went back to kicking the dirt.

Next, the i saw a line stretching almost all the way up to the sky.

"You must be l," said the i.

"Lovely to meet you," said the l.

"Same here," said the i. "I'm looking for my dot. Have you seen it?"

"No, I haven't seen it lately, but I'm so tall that I look more at things at my eye level than I do at things a long way away," said the l, looking down at him.

"That makes sense," said the i, as he waved goodbye.

Walking a little way further, the little i came across another letter that was stretching. It stretched up, then relaxed, stretched, then relaxed.

"What are you doing?" the i asked the m.

"I'm stretching my muscles," said the m.

"Have you seen my dot roll by?" said the i.

"No, I haven't," said the m, "but I was minding my muscle-building. I might've missed it."

"Ok, thank you," said the i, and left the m to his workout.

In the distance, he saw another letter that looked very similar to the m, except it only had one muscle instead of two.

"Hello," said the i. "I'm the little i from up the alphabet."

"Hi," said the n. "Nice to meet you."

"Have you seen my dot? I lost it, and I think it went rolling down this way."

"No, I haven't seen it, but I've been napping most of the day," said the n.

"Thank you," said the i.

The next letter was rolling around, but as the little i walked up to it, it stopped rolling.

"Hi," said the i.

"Hello," said the little o.

"I noticed you rolling," said the i. "Have you seen anything else roll by?"

"I haven't," said the o. "But sometimes when I roll, I close my eyes so I seem to go faster. If I see it, I'll hold onto it for you."

"Ok," said the i, doubtful that the o would notice anything with all that rolling.

On the i went. The next letter it saw looked like it was upside down and stuck in the ground. As he got closer, he realized what it was.

"Hello, p," said the i.

"Hi, i," said the p. "Pleasure to have you visit me."

"Same here," said the i, "except I'm actually not just visiting. I have a question for you. Have you seen my dot?"

"It has not passed by here," said the p. "If I see it, I will put it someplace for you."

"Thank you," said the i as he left the polite p.

P's neighbor looked quite a bit like him, but turned around.

"Hello," said i. "I'm the little i from up the alphabet."

"Hello," said the q. "Quite happy to meet you."

"Have you seen my dot? It might have rolled past you."

"No, I haven't seen it, but it may have gone by too quickly for me to notice," replied the q.

"Thank you," said the i, as he left, quietly thinking that the q was just as polite as the p.

The little i was sure his dot had rolled this way, but he was getting more and more discouraged as he went further and further away from home. He liked meeting all his neighbors, but he really missed his dot. But he continued on.

_{Copyright 2009 Karen Thompson, all rights reserved.}