The Bookstore by S. G. Ricketts (people reading books txt) 📕

The door jingles softly behind me, the last noise I’ll hear from the world outside. The realities of life fade as the door closes. Kids’ messes, work issues, money pinches, they all begin to disappear. In the face of this new frontier, none of that is important.
I breathe in once, deeply, and realize I’d been holding my breath. How could I not, in the face of something so magnificent. Worlds clash before my eyes, planets and creatures and wars spinning through the air. I am encapsulated in a time machine with a million different possibilities. Dust motes catch in a beam of sunlight, and I wonder if my destination ought to be a dragon’s lair. Hundreds upon thousands of golden trinkets, each the bloody treasure of some long-crisped noble. Entranced, I take a step forward.
The floorboards creak beneath me as I walk, their wooden frames worn smooth from hundreds of other travelers like me. My feet easily slip into their familiar path. The worlds tower around me, their words beckoning, breathing across my face. The place seems to vibrate with their energy. The very air smells of them, a woody, earthy smell. I’m walking through a forest of life, a city of imagination. Invisible arms pull me towards them, some louder than others. Some have pictures of their promises, others merely words shoved underneath another possibility. And oh, how many possibilities there are...
My fingers trail along these trees of life. The worlds tingle up my arms and I realize that I never want to leave. Here in this cocoon of silence I am safe. The outside world cannot reach me here. It was shut out, along with all the pain and disappointment and disallusionment. Inside, I can dream. I can hope. I can live through the eyes of a thousand different people. Here, I’m not trapped in a small apartment, tied to a job I don’t want and a family I can’t please. Here I can go wherever I want. I am an Amazon, hair flowing wild with three men in chains at my feet. I am an exotic slave, dragged across the desert behind a prince’s caravan. I am a wizard, lightning bolts flashing from my fingertips and magic at my control. I am an explorer on a new planet. I am an orphan on the streets of Victorian England. I am a Jew hidden under the floorboards. I am a high school student attacked by zombies. I’m a mother and a duchess. And I never want to leave.
Time ticks by. My aimless walking has become purposeful. I have picked the fruit of the trees, devoured what this strange world and its mini-worlds has to offer. The smells are richer now, their textures deeper under my fingers. Leaves rustle as I flip through them. And finally, I accept that my time of solice is over. Resigned, I approach the time master, his glasses perched on a thin nose. For the ruler of this little domain of wonder, he surprises me. He looks almost bored as he swipes my treasures and bags them for me. Perhaps this place isn’t as free from outside as I had thought. Still...my hand hesitates on the doorknob. And then I open it.
The rush of life swallows me again as I walk down the street. The city square bustles with reality. A child screams as his mother pulls him away from the coffee shop. An elderly couple takes pictures in front of the historical courthouse. A couple meanders down the street, the man bored and the woman chattering away. I watch them all in a trance, knowing that I am one of them, yet I feel different. I know of a place outside of this one, a place of security and of dreams. I hug my bag of worlds to my chest, feeling their edges bite gently into my skin, and soldier on.
Soon, my dearest bookstore, I will be back. I have tasted heaven and will return, but for now I am once again part of the rat race called Life.

Publication Date: 09-20-2011

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