The silent turning of pages and the musky smell of old books. A girl lost in a sea of towering bookshelves turning corner after corner getting further away from the reality she is a part of. The silence is a blanket of comfort and the incandescent beauty of thousands of books all trying to speak to her at once is a requiem to her soul. Filling it with longing and desire only many ink filled pages can cure. With every footstep she takes the more comfort she feels from the embrace of the words that greet her. Every bound volume seems to smile at her as she passes by. She runs her fingers lightly over each spine that faces her. Gliding through the forest of stories carefully considering each title, looking for the one that ensnares her minds curiosity. Once the colorful companion is found she carries it gingerly in her hand as she wanders deeper to find a resting place for them.
Finding a corner she sits in a molded chair where she feels so far away from anyone who may be watching. The taste of adventure and the allure of journeys yet to be taken is the only thought that fills her mind. Noticing the sun shining in through the window illuminating the air, reveling the dust mottes that float up from the pages. She feels as if she has found a place so secret and reverent, she can hear all her thoughts as if they were spoken aloud.
Opening the pages there is a musk that travels up from the book to her nose. The scent carries a history that she remembers well sparking memories of the many lives she has been a part of. The joy of this simple act calls up the excitement from within her from the knowledge that she is about to embark on a brand new journey. In response the parchment sighs in contentment ready to share its many words that have been waiting a long time to be read again.
The feeling of crisp paper between her fingers and the hidden notion she carries to never be found again. To remain lost in this world of hundreds of lives that can carry her beyond the borders of human reality. She knows that she must return once the light begins to fade and her corner starts to grow dim. This world she regretfully returns to, which seems so dull and colorless in comparison.
She slowly carefully closes her newfound friend as she tries to recognize this world she returns to, which within a few hours has become foreign to her. Placing her volume back in its home on the shelf she waves a small goodbye and whispers a promise to return. As she starts to leave she thinks that this place is for people much the same. For the people who stop and listen to the whispers in the silence surrounded by pages of light.
I thought this was very well written; it definitely keeps the attention of the reader the whole time. You did a really great job with your descriptions and made it really easy for me to picture the scene that was taking place. It was also interesting for me to read because it is something I can relate to! I think the length of your memoir was perfect- not too short or too long. As far as a suggestion that I could give you, I would say to maybe try to add a little bit as far as giving the reader some type of lesson. I can definitely see how you are showing that reading can be a great form of escape from reality, but maybe just try to add something on to that for the readers to learn and take with them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this! You're quite an amazing writer.
ReplyDeleteTo start with the positives, I find this very relatable because I too use books as form of escape. I really liked your use of detail, which gave your writing a visual. I particularly like when you wrote about the "feeling of crisp paper between [your] fingers" and the "musk that travels up from the book..." Even though e-books have become increasingly popular, there truly is nothing like holding a physical book in your hands. Your writing really does show as opposed to tell.
The only "negative" (which I'm putting in quotes because it might be more of a preference) for me is the point of view. I feel like writing in third person kind of creates a distance between you and the memoir. That being said, I think that writing in first person would have made your experience read more personal.