Upon returning home with his Dad, Sam decided to investigate his father!s library.
Oh, Sam had learned to read basic words, and for a boy of 5 he did have a good vocabulary. He picked up more than most boys his age, and he could sound out big words, but couldn't understand them or understand the full context.
One chapter illustrated how the shell could be removed carefully from an egg, and placed into a glass of liquid to study the effects of osmosis. The picture was enough to spark his curiosity, so he had brother read it and explain the words he was having trouble with.
After that, Sam re-read the whole chapter out loud and explained to his brother how it worked, and his brother confirmed that he was getting it.
On Sunday, Sam sat down with a spoon, and an egg, and carefully cracked away... he failed three times, but on the fourth try, he was successful at removing most of the shell. Then he dropped it into a glass of water, added salt, and waited...
There was a knock in the door, and a man asked to speak to the man of the house. Dad went to the door, and spoke to a man in a black suit and tie. Sam was told to wait in the other room. Sam tried to listen, but the echos and muffled sound from the other room made most of it incoherent.
Finally The man in black came into the room with Dad following behind,
"Now, wait a minute, you leave him alone, he is just a boy!"
Man, "I just want to see him for myself... Are you Sam?"
"Yes..."
The man studied the glass, and the book Sam had in front of him on the table... "Is this yours?"
"Yes... well... I cracked the egg... "
The man picked up the book,
"What are you studying?"
Sam, "Can't you read it? It is about osmosis..."
Man, "I know what this is... but how old are you?"
"Five..."
Dad, "Leave him alone... he is just pretending to be a scientist, emulating his father... getting his brothers to read stuff to him.... He doesn't know anything."
The man said, "Can you read this and understand it?"
"I can now, but yesterday I couldn't..."
Dad, "See? "
The man held up his hand as if to shush Dad. Dad's face turned red.
The man opened a black case, pulled out a camera, inserted a flash bulb, and took a picture of Sam with the egg experiment and the open book, then took another close-up ofthe egg and the book.