Week 3 Story: Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster Logo (Wikimedia)

Once upon a time, there was a large library located in the heart of the United States. In this library, there was a dusty, old reference book. His name was Merriam-Webster's Dictionary 1988 Edition. Back when he was first shelved, he was often picked up and looked at, then he was put back on the shelf. This made him feel good, for he enjoyed getting used. Now, in the present day, nobody cared to pick him up or even acknowledge his presence on the shelf. He sat there day after day, gathering dust on that old shelf.
Now, Merriam looked over to the fiction section of the library. He saw all kinds of people in the fiction section. Everybody looked so happy to pick out a book and take it away. After a few days or weeks, Merriam would see those books returned to their shelves and hear all about how the books got read, held, and looked at. When Merriam heard these books talking to each other, he got sad. Nobody wanted to read Merriam or even pick him up.
One day, Merriam came up with a plan. Merriam decided he didn't want to wait any longer. He wanted to be read, held, and looked at. Merriam's plan was to inch himself off of his shelf everyday until somebody noticed him and got curious enough to decide to pick him up. So, he began his plan. Now, Merriam wasn't very strong, so it took him a lot of strength and energy to be able to move himself closer to the edge of the shelf.
After a few weeks, Merriam was nearing the edge of the shelf, but nobody had picked him up yet. Not even the librarians came to adjust him or even look at him. Merriam was distraught. He didn't know what to do. Finally, Merriam thought to himself, "Just one more inch, and someone will surely look at me!" So, Merriam used the last of his strength and thrust himself forward, but with this last thrust, he threw himself off of the shelf.

Author's Note: The original story saw the pride of an old frog aid his self-destruction, but I felt that theme was too common and an overused trope. So, I looked deeper into the story and I saw it wasn't necessarily a matter of pride but rather it was a matter of comparing oneself to others. In the original story, the frog was trying to compare himself to the ox and become as big as the ox, but ultimately he couldn't, and as a result, he exploded. I feel that we often compare ourselves to others even though we're all different. We're all in different situations, come from different families, and have different experiences, yet we decide to compare ourselves to other people and make ourselves feel bad in the process. So, we are just like Merriam in this story. Merriam, a reference book, is nothing like a fiction book, so he shouldn't compare himself to the fiction section.

Bibliography: The Frog and the Ox Joseph Jacobs