Letters in the Mail

“This year I’m turning over a new leaf,” said Matilda. “From now on I am going to write to Grandma Beanie every week.”

The first week, she wrote her letter and mailed it off. Matilda filled it with riddles and fun jokes. Grandma Beanie sent back a letter full of more riddles and jokes.

The second week, she sent Grandma Beanie a beautiful picture of the beach and a story she had written at school. Grandma Beanie sent her a picture or herself as a child on the beach and a story she had written.

Each week, Matilda tried to send different types of things to Grandma, and Grandma always sent back the same type of things.

One day, she asked, “Mom, what could I send Grandma Beanie that would be very unusual?”

“Why don’t you send her a puzzle and your school picture this year?”

“What a great idea!” The week before Thanksgiving, Matilda sent Grandma Beanie a puzzle and a picture of herself at age 9. However, she did not realize that several pieces of the puzzle fell under her bed when she slipped it into the envelope. Matilda licked the envelope, sealed it, and stuffed it in the mailbox.

The next week, she got the surprise of her life. When she came home from school, there were three letters waiting for her. Each one was from Grandma Beanie. Each envelope had 10 puzzle pieces inside. None of them fit together into a complete puzzle.

“What’s this all about?” she wondered. Matilda ran to the phone and called Grandma Beanie.

“My dear,” said Grandma. “Some of the pieces are missing from my puzzle, so I decided to play a trick on you. Each day you get three envelopes. Each envelope has 10 pieces. At the end of 10 days, put the puzzle together and see what you have!”