Lost In A Story

The days when books offered me joy and companionship have long been over. People had once considered me a bookworm, but now they’d be surprised to see me hold a book. It’s hard to read when I can watch a movie or a show, which takes less effort and time. For me, time is everything. I don’t have much of it, so I watch movies instead of reading. I feel like an outsider, observing a 2nd world, comparing how their lives are better or worse than mine. However, there is a major flaw that movies and shows have compared to books.

Whenever I used to read books, I imagined myself as the main character. I am transported into a world that is not my own, a world where my daily problems are lost and adventure awaits. I transform into a wizard, an athlete, a killing machine, and anything in between. After reading, I fall asleep and have passionate dreams about how my adventure will continue. Excitement fills my body as I pick up the book the next day, seeing if the next chapter plays out like it had in my dream the night before.

On Saturday night, I had the urge to read for the first time in years. I don’t know what sparked this idea, but I was itching to read. I grab the first novel from my favorite series, Percy Jackson, and wipe the dust off the cover. The beat-up pages are turning a dark brown from years of use. I flip to the first page and gaze at the first word. I begin to read, slowly picking up steam as I go. Eyes darting from left to right, the chapters begin to fly by. The book starts to play in my head like a movie where I am the director, actor, and background artist. Soon, I flip through the first 100 pages and I'm starting to feel my spark for reading again. I begin to wonder what caused me to stop all those years ago. I've never wanted to finish a book so fast. As the sky turns into a midnight purple, the moon is the only light I'm using to read. Huddled up under all my blankets in the corner of my window, I finished the first book a few hours after I started it. But something felt different about reading now, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. However, I put that feeling aside and my drowsiness took over as I passed out for the night.

The next morning, I woke up and immediately continued my task from the previous night. I grabbed the second Percy Jackson book, opened the cover, and began reading again. The second book flies by. But by the end, I’m still not seeing the story from the character's perspective. I grab the third book and read its entirety, but still, I feel like a spectator. I begin to worry if I’ll ever feel what I used to when I read. But then, I opened the fourth book, and a switch flipped in my head. Rather than being my current self reading the novel, I transform into my old body from elementary school. Back when I used to read Percy Jackson every day. Back when finishing a book in a single day was a notable achievement. That’s when I realized I wouldn’t feel how I used to when I read, but rather I’d feel like my younger self. Filled with a child’s curiosity, I quickly finished the fourth book. As I grab the last book from my shelf, I’m excited to finish what I had started. I realized that I hadn’t left my room the whole day, but that didn’t matter. Whatever physical hunger I had turned into a hunger for knowledge. I tear through the final book, and as I finish the final page, my mind fills with joy. As someone who never reads, I finished a whole series in a single weekend, for the first time. Will I ever try it again? That’s for another weekend’s adventure.