Spell Checker

In elementary school we each had a dictionary assigned to us, or at least there were enough for everybody to use at once. They had red hard covers, the kind with the semi-rough canvas feel to them. We would use them to look up words whenever the teacher told us to. Sometimes we used them on our own. Oh, but we knew how to use them. They were set up in alphabetical order and even had those semicircular fingertip shaped cutouts on the side of the pages to mark the sections. "A", "B", and "C" had their own cutout while "DE" shared one, and so on. If you could guess the first letter of the word, you were on your way.

How do I spell 'reliable'? That starts with 'R'. Here we go. I pull a dictionary off of the very low shelf below the windows and find a nice clean one. While I return to my desk, and without thinking, I feel the texture of the cover with my hand flat. In my seat I look to the cutouts for "R", find it has its own cutout, and slide my left thumb in there to open the book and see "ravage" in the upper left corner. Yes, we have been taught to use those page headers to narrow our search. I know reliable must have an 'e' next, so I am happy to see "readably" on the upper right of the facing page. I'm already close. Now I turn one thin page at a time, enjoying the page flip sound that signals work being done. I'm watching the upper right as I go - "rebellion" - "reciprocity" - "recourse". Ok, there are more "re" words than I thought, I grab a small stack of pages - "reincur". Another small stack - "resile". Too far - "repulsive" on the left. Back a bit - "reminiscence". Now flinging the pages more to make the noise louder as I close in, back one page - "relic", one more - "reindeer" on the left (with a picture), "reliantly" on the right! Scan down the page "relay" "relay race" "release" "relegate" "relent" "relentless" "relevant" "reliable"! Actually "re li a ble". It's all here. Everything I need. Just as advertised. That's how I thought it was probably spelled, but now I'm sure. It feels good. I don't want to put the dictionary away, but it will never fit in my desk. Besides, putting it away is a legitimate reason to stroll across the classroom and stare out the window at the courtyard for a few seconds.