“I thought about those talking leaves for a long time. If the white men could do such a thing, I should be able to do it, too. That was when I first began to try to use markings to hold words. Back then, our people would often come to my store to get things and then pay me for them later. It was not easy to remember everything they got. I saw how being able to hold on to memories without having to remember them in my head would be useful to a storekeeper such as myself.

“So I began making talking leaves of my own. I drew pictures of each of the people who traded with me on credit. Then beside their pictures I made marks to keep track of what they owed. I drew circles and lines that had different meanings for me. A big circle would mean a wagon wheel. A small circle would mean a cheese. A small thin line could stand for a needle while a big thick line could stand for an axle. A half circle was a horseshoe, while a curved line meant a scythe. It was all I could think about.

“At night I lay awake trying to think of other shapes and signs that could stand for things I sold such as packages of buttons and bolts of cloth. A button could be a small circle. But what if some of those buttons were made of glass and were more expensive while others were made of bone and were cheaper? How could I draw the difference with a simple shape? And what if some of the bolts of cloth I sold were blue and more costly than the cloth that was white?

“All of my circles and lines and other shapes helped, but I could not find a system that would work for everything. I grew more and more frustrated. Instead of paying attention to my customers, I spent my time trying to invent shapes that would stand for the items I sold while also being easy and quick to draw. Sometimes those who came to pick up things from my store would mutter under their breath about the way I was acting. Some would tap their heads and look at me with pity. Some looked worried and left without buying anything. I paid no attention to them. I had to figure out something. But I still did not know what that something was.

“One night I went to visit my cousin Agili. We sat outside with some friends around a fire.

“‘The Aniyonega have great magic,’ I said. ‘They can make leaves that talk.’

“‘That is true,’ one of the men said. ‘We can never match them.’

“‘No,’ I said. ‘That is not true. We can have our own talking leaves.’