Lost for Someone's Imagination

Are you someone who hopes to escape the reality world through books?

Do you love books? I'm Willow, the kind of "bookworm", who hopes to escape real world. If you ever wonder what I look like: ginger hair, skinny, kind of tall, wearing academia outfits. Daydream is the correct word for me. Especially when it is related to "Harry Potter". Yes, I'm a great fan.

Have you ever had traumas in your life? Because I do. It all happened this year. My dear Grandpa passed out exactly on the day of my birthday. Tears that were supposed to be from laughing, carried the deepest sadness. Another was Callan's disappearance. He's my best friend at school, considering that the both of us are into imaginations than reality.

Anyway, those things are not to be told right now. I'm already feeling depression, though I didn't tell anyone. I want to escape to books. I can't breath under-pressure...I'm done with this reality mess.

One day I was walking alone around my house, trying to find a place to read. That's when the adventure begins. I spotted an old house, made of wooden bricks. I stared hard. Hard enough that my eyes were hurting.

The front door was decorated with a wooden plaque saying "Page-Turning Bookstore". I entered the store, with a quiet knock. I smelled vintage book pages, and the most gorgeous library appears in front. Here's a brief description. In case you need to picture it in your head:

There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves of hard-cover books with the most elegant looks. A wooden "bridge" connects both sides of the library, with wooden carvings of flowers. Stained glass windows decorate the vault roof, coloring the sun light illuminating the dim room. The smell, the smell was what attracted me the most. It smelled like pine-tree forest covered in snow in December; Like the muddy grassland after the rain in April; Like roasted chestnuts on a cloudy October day.

"Good morning young lady. Can I help you?" A middle-aged man's deep voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, but I am able to know who the person is by listening to their voice. I turned, and indeed, a tall, middle-aged man with a black suit and gray curly hair stands by the staircase.

I said I came here by accident. I was wearing a navy-blue academia style top and skirt. Since I love this clothing type, though it was a chill Saturday afternoon. I tried to catch any surprising expression from his face while looking at me. But he was suddenly lost in a thought, with a suspicious smile that I felt questionable for this kind-looking gentleman. Before I could continue my "book-hunting" activity, he "whispered" to me loudly ('cause, you know, I have good ears), "Have you ever wanted to...live in a fictional life?"

I know this may sound weird, or even offensive, for most people. But not exactly me at the moment. I wanted, so badly, to. To escape all the conflicts and troubles I have in this real life. I wanted to tell this man all the trauma and sadness that's filling up my life, the loss of two of my dearest companions. But I simply managed a "Yes".

He made this whole speech about a machine he invented that could allow people to travel to books, offering me a free chance. He emphasized the safety of the machine for a million times (as if I would care if it was safe at that moment, after all that had happened), that my ears were starting to ache. I accepted the challenge (adventure, I mean...), without considering too much. But I asked for a request: I wanted him to deliver a note to my mom, saying that I would be back for dinner, don't worry. And then, I sat on a chair, while he has to hypnotize me (it will be alright, because something tells me I could trust him).

When I first opened my eyes, I thought I was watching a movie. Except that the movie was 3D and surrounding me. The characters from the "live movie" were starting to notice me, I don't know how. My vision was blurred, and I can only hear them whispering to each other, as if I'm an alien. One of them was brave enough to come and ask me the weirdest question I've ever heard, "Which book do you come from?". I ignored the girl, who's wearing a red hood.

Wait...She was wearing a crimson-red little hood, beige colored summer dress, and holding a branch-made basket, covered by a plaid pattern. Her expression is somehow...creepy, because that girl does not remind me of the typical "Little-Red-Hood". She does not seem innocent for a child, but indeed, like a school popular girl who's vain and gossips around.

I was very confused. Because even without looking at her, I knew that that girl cannot be anyone else. I touched around, hoping to find a huge screen. But no, all I found was air, and accidentally, someone's face. I felt amazed , there I was, in the middle of the world of stories. But I'm still very cautious, because I don't feel it was as safe as the man had told me...