Card

For an early holiday present to herself, Albertina walked to the library on a crisp late autumn day; in her pocket, she'd remembered her identification card and two utility bills for proof of a local address. "I hope that I don't cry when they hand me my card," she whispered on her way. "When I imagine it, it's very moving." She would not be greedy and take the maximum number of books (if there was a limit); Albertina would take her time, get two or three books she could read in her chair by the window at home ... and then one more in English (just to look at the shape of the words and become familiar). "That's it?" her brother had asked. "You're giving yourself a library card for Christmas?" "No," she'd replied with a big smile. "I am giving myself all of the magic in the whole world - at a price I can easily afford." Albertina would ask for help finding a book that could teach her how to knit; it seemed to her that a magic card holder should have a soft cardigan with patches on the elbows.