Yonder

A young student came along, nervous about a fork in the path. "I don't know what's ahead," she said.

"Then let's guess," Yonder said brightly. "Look at the clues. The ground's getting sandy. I hear water. There's a gull feather on the path." He leaned forward, eager. "I predict the trail leads to a beach, just past that bend. I'm not certain — but the clues point that way." They walked on, and round the bend... was a wide, sparkling shore. "I guessed it from the signs," Yonder grinned. "And even if I'd been wrong, I'd have learned something new."

Margin smiled. This, she thought, is what readers do with a story. "Yonder," she said, "you've just done with a trail what a good reader does with a book."

"Have I?" Yonder's ears swiveled.

"A good reader is always leaning a little into the future of the story," Margin said. "Using what's happened so far to guess what's coming. The dark clouds gathered as the hero stepped onto the old bridge..." She paused. "What do you predict?"

The young student's eyes widened. "Something bad's about to happen on the bridge! A storm — or the bridge breaks!"

"You predicted," Yonder said. "From the clues — the dark clouds, the old bridge — you leaned into what's coming. Now you'll read on to find out if you're right. And that's the thing —" his ears perked "— predicting makes you want to read on. You're checking your guess. The story's pulling you forward."

Margin asked Yonder to join the academy. "Our readers drift through stories without ever guessing what's next," she said. "Would you teach them to lean ahead?"

Yonder agreed, ears high. When he teaches, he gives readers one eager habit: "As you read, keep guessing what'll happen next. Use the clues so far. Say your prediction out loud. Then read on and check it. Right or wrong, you win — if you're right, you feel clever; if you're wrong, the story surprised you, which is even better."

A young reader predicted a story's lost dog would never be found — and read on, anxious, to check. When the dog turned up asleep in the laundry basket, she laughed out loud with relief. "Your prediction was wrong," Yonder said, "and wasn't that the best part? The story surprised you. That's the joy of guessing."