The next day was a Monday. The little boy's mother muttered to herself worriedly at the condition of the textbook, but realized there was not much else she could do. She had wiped off all the sticky finger marks she could find, and had straightened the spine as best she could, but the book was certainly looking a little worse for wear. Still, she knew someone would be looking for the book and hoped to find it's owner. The little boy was disappointed he could no longer keep the book with all the wonderful pictures of stars and planets and comets, but his mother and father promised him that they would find another astronomy book next weekend, just for him. He couldn't wait! The little boy waited at the bus stop with his mother, wondering when the bus would arrive. Now that his mother's car was fixed they didn't have to go on the bus, anymore, which was a shame. The little boy enjoyed riding on the bus. When the bus arrived, the little boy's mother walked up the steps and asked the bus driver if he knew of a student looking for an astronomy book. He smiled and pointed toward the back of the bus, where a lady was sitting. The way she was studying, it was obvious to them she was a student. The little boy and his mother returned the book to the student who was very glad to see her textbook. She had an astronomy test at the end of the week and thought she might have to buy another book. The little boy's mother apologized to the lady, explaining she hadn't realized her boy had picked up the book until they had got home. Not wanting to hold up the bus, the little boy and his mother said good by to the lady and stepped off the bus, waving as it drove away. She waved back and then took a good look at her book. She could see the spine of the book was a bit bent and squashed, and some of the pages were wrinkled, as if they had been wet. And if she wasn't mistaken, she was sure she could smell ice cream and candy. However, she didn't mind as she was glad to have her book back, despite it's worn condition. She said to the textbook it was obvious he had had some interesting adventures. The textbook, too tired to talk, just nodded in agreement, thinking to himself that his student had no idea! Once his student had him safely tucked away in her backpack the textbook closed his eyes and went to sleep. He was glad to be home again.



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