Yopu the Typo

        There are many words in Storyland - too many to even count!  Some words have lots of letters, some have only a few.  Some words are used over and over, especially the younger ones, others are used hardly at all. One thing all words have in common is that they have a definition. They mean something.

    Whenever a story is about to be written, there is much excitement among all the words.  They want to be chosen for the story and strut about trying to look important or pretty or mean or sweet, so the storywriter will choose them.

    Some of the big words try to push aside the smaller words, feeling that because they have more letters they are somehow more important.  Other words, called Archaic, are old and slow and rarely included in any stories.  But they don't mind; they realize that their time has passed and are quite content to stay put and let the younger words take over.

       But there was one word that was NEVER used.  That word was Yopu.  It had no meaning - in fact it wasn't a real word at all.  It was called a typographical error, a mistake.

     Yopu wanted to be in a story just like all the others, and because he didn't hear very well, he often thought he heard his name called and would be filled with excitement as he rushed to the storywriter's paper.  But alas, Yopu was always erased and replaced with a real word.

     He tried so hard to make friends with the other words and was envious of bread & butter, bacon & eggs, meat & potatoes - words that had been together for a long, long time.  But the other words only laughed at him and told him he was silly for thinking anyone would choose him for a story.  “You are MEANINGLESS,” they would say and laugh.

     The words that made life quite miserable for poor Yopu were the Obscenities.  They are rude and crude and SELDOM included in stories of any merit. These dark words were the WORST at bullying the other words as they pushed and shoved - sometimes they even held onto them to prevent them from answering a writer's call! 

    These words made it particularly difficult for Yopu.  They were mean and ugly and yet even THEY were occasionally written in a story.

    The only words that left Yopu alone were the Slang.  Of course nobody paid much attention to them because nobody UNDERSTOOD them.  But they seemed harmless and pretty much kept to themselves.  They wore dark glasses and listened to very loud music.

   One night while listening to the others tell about the exciting stories they had been in and the adventurous places they had seen, Yopu could stand it no longer and he crept to a dark corner, far away from all the other words.  Then he cried and cried; so sad was he that no one would include him in a story. He stayed in that corner for a long, long time.

      No one even noticed that poor Yopu was gone.

    Then one day a magical thing happened!  All the words were chattering among themselves because they knew a certain lady was about to write a very special story.  They stood up straighter than they ever had before and pushed and shoved harder than ever trying to be first in line.

      But Yopu didn't even bother to get up.  He stayed in his corner and watched the others fight among themselves. Yopu had never felt so low in all  his life. His heart was broken and he felt worthless.

     The lady finally sat down to write.  Everyone waited anxiously to see which would be chosen. She sat still for a very long time,  and occasionally, she would smile to herself.

       But Yopu hardly noticed.

     Suddenly, he heard a voice softly say his name, “Yopu.”  He shook his head in wonderment, thinking he must have fallen asleep and only dreamed he had heard his name.  Then the lady spoke his name again, “Yopu!”  Yopu was SURE he was dreaming, but he managed to squeak “Me?” in a very small voice.

       “Yes, Yopu,” the lady said with a smile.  “I need a very special word - one that's never been used before - so none of the other ordinary words will do at all!”

     The other words were shocked and didn't quite believe what they had heard.  “Ordinary?????  What is she talking about???” And what kind of a story could have a word that had never been used before, especially one that had no meaning?!!

     The other words were not at all happy. You never heard so much grumbling and carrying on! This was nothing short of scandalous, as far as they were concerned.

     They all muttered and complained, especially the Obscenities, for they were rudest of all - but as Yopu stood up very tall and straight and dusted himself off, they all stood aside as he walked right straight to the front of the line.

       He wore a great big smile as he jumped onto the lady's paper as she began to write her story.  Yopu was not only IN the story, he was the title and main character.  It was a dream come true!  He was very proud and thanked the lady for her kindness with all his heart.

      Finally the story about Yopu was finished.  It didn't make any difference that he had no definition - everyone who read the story had their own idea of what the word meant.  So, unlike the other words that had only one or two meanings, Yopu had HUNDREDS!  He was a very happy word indeed and never hid in the corner again!

The End

(While chatting online with a friend, I repeatedly typed "yopu" instead of "you," and thought: Hey, I can write a story about this typographical error! Thus, Yopu was born.)