The Capital Letter

It is the geography test. The teacher asks the questions.

“What is the capital of France?” she asks.

A boy in the back thinks hard. “Is it… north or south?”

“It is a city,” the teacher says. “Not north or south.”

Then a small boy puts up his hand. “I know the capital!” he says. “It is the big letter at the start of France! Look — a big F!”

The class laughs. The teacher looks at her map, at the mountains, at the east and the west.

“Well,” she says, “that is one capital. But it is not on my test.”