Once there was a man in a village far away who loved to read books. This man had read every book he could find in his village and he was a wealth of wonderful knowledge to everyone living there.

Then one day an old man arrived in the town square with a cart full of beautifully bound books. One of the villagers ran to find the man who loved to read and told him about the old man who had brought so many books.

“Come quick! An old man is in the square and he has a cart full to overflowing with wonderfully bound books!” The villager told the man who loved to read.

So the man who loved to read ran as fast as he could and arrived in the town square to see a very long line leading up to the old man and his cart of books. The man who loved to read had to get in the very back of the line and wait his turn to see what the old man was offering.

The hours passed and the line got shorter and shorter. And then it was finally the man who loved to read’s turn to talk with the old man, but to his dismay there was only one book remaining in the very bottom of the cart.

“Hello my friend!” The old man said.

“Hello! There is only one left? Is that one for me?” The man who loved to read asked.

“Oh yes, this one is just for you. I’ve been saving it. It’s a special book and I’ve been told that out of all the villagers you love to read the most.” The old man said with a smile as he reached down to the bottom of his cart and picked up the last book. Its cover was worn and it looked very old. He handed it to the man who loved to read.

The man who loved to read took the book as if he was receiving the most valuable treasure in the world. He quickly opened it to the first page and discovered it was blank. No words. No sentences. No writing at all. So he turned the page and found the same… another blank page. He quickly flipped through the entire book to find that every single page was empty.

“What is this!” The man who loved to read cried, “All these pages are blank.”

The old man continued to smile and replied, “Yes, they are blank now. But you have stories and stories within you. And now you have a place to put them.”

And with that the old man left the village with his empty cart. The man who loved to read went home with his blank book and pondered what the old man had said.