Aki stopped at a small stationery shop after school.

She wanted a new pen for her English diary. On the bottom shelf, she found a blue fountain pen in a clear case.

The shop owner said, “That pen is cheap because it is a little strange.”

Aki laughed. “Strange is fine. My diary is strange too.”

At home, she opened her notebook and wrote, Today I bought a pen.

The pen moved by itself and added, Good choice.

Aki dropped it on the desk.

Her younger brother, Yuto, looked into the room. “Did your pen just compliment itself?”

“Maybe,” Aki said.

She picked it up again and wrote, What do you want?

The pen answered, Better paper and fewer sad sentences.

Aki felt annoyed, but she also smiled. She wrote about her math test. The pen corrected one spelling mistake, then drew a tiny flag beside the word effort.

The next day, Aki brought the pen to school. During lunch, her friend Sora asked to try it.

Sora wrote, I am hungry.

The pen added, This is not news.

They laughed so hard that Aki nearly spilled her tea.

After school, Aki wrote one more sentence: I think today was good.

The pen paused for a second. Then it wrote, Yes. Please notice days like this.