3 of 13

Write now Article Tools

I loved to read. I was averaging a book a week. It was relaxing, entertaining, an escape from reality. It did not interfere with any other part of my full life. I worked, I did community service, I had an active social life, I spent time with my parents and sister, and I had been dating the same guy for just under a year. I considered myself an averagely normal person with no major disorders or quirks. I read leisurely in my spare time - until I picked up her story.

I nearly didn't buy the book because it barely interested me. Still, something about it made me oddly curious. She was remarkably similar to myself at that sensitive age, but I didn't immediately identify with her. The subject matter was along the lines of my favorite kind, so I decided to purchase it. I started reading, hoping only that the book would not be a waste of my time.

I unknowingly immersed myself in her absorbing world. Not long into the story, I became completely entranced. When she started reluctantly falling for him, my heart was trapped in the same snare. The same internal conversations she had, I had with myself when I wasn't able to read. I found myself consciously thinking through her decisions and always arriving at the same crazy conclusion she would.

Whatever happened in the story directly affected my emotions and my mood. If I had to walk away during a sad part of the story, I was depressed until I could come back to see what happened. Oh God - and when something good occurred - it was the happiest I ever remember being.

Her story completely took over my life. At work I drifted off into her world when I was in a meeting or at my desk. I realized once that I had walked through the entire grocery store without picking up a single purchase because I was thinking through her dilemmas. I started making poor excuses when friends asked me to go to dinner because I was desperate to get back to her. In the middle of a conversation I would completely zone out and start thinking about him and what his 'current' mood might mean.

I was seeing through her eyes even more clearly than my own. As far as I was concerned, I was her. I urgently wanted to be with him more than anything - more than life itself. I truly cared about him more than I had ever cared about any actual human being. The same tortuous feelings that made her cry made me cry. The exact same feelings that made her smile also made me smile.

It wasn't simple understanding or identifying I experienced every instant of elation, passion,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Short stories: The awakening?
We want to hear your view. Write now!