Once upon a time, there was a little teapot named Tessie. She lived in a magical world where everything was made of text. The walls were made of giant letters, the roads were made of sentences, and even the clouds were shaped like words!

One day, Tessie decided she wanted to explore the world beyond her teapot home. So, she set off on an adventure. As she was walking, she noticed that the surface she was walking on was not just any surface. It was a surface made of splines! Splines are like squiggly lines that can bend and curve in all sorts of directions.

Tessie was so fascinated by the splines that she didn't even realize she was moving at a very high speed! Before she knew it, she was flying through the air and headed straight for a giant sphere. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, but just before she hit the sphere, she suddenly stopped.

She opened her eyes and realized that she was now standing on the surface of the sphere! The sphere was covered in a speckled texture, and it was reflecting light in a way that made it look like it was on fire. This was because of something called specular reflection.

Tessie was having so much fun exploring the sphere that she didn't even notice that she was being followed by a tiny smoke monster. The smoke monster was jealous of Tessie's adventures and wanted to stop her from having any more fun.

Tessie was just about to try to touch the sphere's tangent (which is like a straight line that touches the sphere at just one point), when the smoke monster puffed up and blocked her path.

"Ha-ha!" cackled the smoke monster. "You will never touch the tangent! I will make sure of it!"

But little Tessie was not one to be stopped by a silly smoke monster. She thought and thought, and then she had an idea. She started to spin around on the surface of the sphere, faster and faster. The smoke monster couldn't keep up and before he knew it, Tessie had created a vortex that sucked him up into the sky!

Tessie finally touched the tangent, and she was so proud of herself. She realized that the smoke monster was not so scary after all, and that she was braver than she thought.

From that day on, Tessie continued to explore the magical world of text, always seeking out new adventures and new wonders. And whenever she encountered a problem, she simply remembered the speed of her spinning and the power of her vortex, and she knew that she could overcome anything!

Reflections

1. What is special about the world that Tessie lives in?
2. How did Tessie stop the smoke monster from ruining her adventure?
3. What did Tessie learn about herself during her adventure?
4. What is a spline and what is it used for in the story?
5. Can you describe the speckled sphere that Tessie landed on?
6. How did Tessie show her bravery in the story?
7. What is a tangent and why did Tessie want to touch it?
8. What was the most exciting part of Tessie's adventure for you?