The Typewriter

Sydney is a bookworm. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone when I say that a visit to the infamous Latin Quarter bookstore, Shakespeare & Company, was on our list of "must see and do." Sydney of course could have spent the rest of the trip here. As we walked up the stairs to the children’s section, Larry planted himself in one of the smaller rooms - surrounded by walls of old dusty philosophy books, a beat-up twin bed, and an old desk. Sitting on that desk was an old-fashioned typewriter. As Quintin entered the room, he exclaimed, "What is that?!" I leave the room to check on Sydney who is now deeply engrossed in a book about fairies while Larry explains to Quintin the inner workings of a typewriter and what it does. Quintin quickly became fascinated and so deeply engrossed in this invention called the typewriter. He got such a tickle from the sound and the feel of the keys and the sound of the return handle’s bell. He was in love. He then needed paper and began to ask everyone in sight. He must have asked me five times. At one point he came running back to his dad, "I found another typewriter, with ribbon AND it has paper in it!" Quintin began to type:

quintin rules and sydney
rules and mom and dad rule
cool
now I’m in Paris and I think
it’s cool

Quintin Harris

Quintin was so inspired by the sheer act of seeing his words on paper that he was on fire! Was Hemingway’s spirit talking to him? We had to drag him out of the bookstore and ever since, has begged us to go back. He has been talking about being a writer someday. Guess what he wants for Christmas?