A reader’s day starts with words.
They open their eyes in their beds with their first thought being how many pages they can get through today.
The reader sitting at their breakfast table, bright eyes scanning across the page of a hardcover with vigor. A new book, the same routine.
But if you could see inside the reader’s mind, you would understand what draws their attention. Words become pictures and make something brand new, laughter and joy and heartache of the ages. Kings and queens, murderers and jewel thieves.
Magic at their fingertips as they turn the page, ready to instantly dive in and create a new scene in their mental cinema.
The reader bites their lip, excitement in their every breath, in the shaky turn of a slim page. A new story in every letter, the characters fill their mind with a whole new adventure. Nothing can replace it.
A reader is always home in a bookstore or library. Something about the vanilla smell of pages and wonder that gives a sense of coming back to the place you most belong. They scan their fingers along the smooth or ridged spines, imagining the stories held inside. They take their time picking a tome, wanting to make sure it’s one that they’ll cherish. Once a lucky one is picked, they hold their breath as they slide it out, treating it like a precious child rather than a simple cluster of stitches, trees, and ink.
The hands of the reader tremble as they purchase it and drive home, their eyes revealing their wanton need for the words that the book contains. Anyone who knows the reader knows that for the next few hours, the reader does not exist except for in between the pages.
As soon as the reader opens the cover, they are lost. Lost to the mystery, the passion, the all-encompassing feeling of being transported to a whole new world without taking a single step.
Ah, what a wonderful life a reader lives.
Sydney Tatum is a sophomore at Metro Institute of Technology, and she has been writing since she was a little girl. When she’s not writing, she can be found drawing, singing, taking photos, or reading everything she can get her hands on. She’s an only child, so she has plenty of time to hone her skills.