For couple of days, I sat in my room trying to finish the novel I started 2 years ago. I never had the chance to finish it. For some reason, it never works out. Whenever I sit down and start typing, something comes up. Always! This time I was not allowing anything to disturb me. I completely isolated myself from rest of the world and you never know, it was actually working. Other than going out to buy some cigarettes and get a new cell phone battery, I stayed inside. The past few days have been rainy and windy anyways. I hated rainy days since I was a child. I still remember that day of my childhood. One day, when I was playing outside as usual, a really bad thunderstorm struck my town. It was cold and dark and I was lost on the way from the play ground to my house. That never happened to me before, and I must have taken the wrong street. Nevertheless, I realized I was lost and I sat under a sun-shade for hours and hours. Eventually, I fell asleep and when I woke up it was dark and I was really sick. I had a high fever. I had no strength left. I was sitting against the cold brick wall ,scared. The storm had destroyed the power lines, and the town had no light at all. I remember then, I started crying. I wanted to shout for help, but my voice was dead. I have no idea how much time passed by, but I finally saw some light. I heard someone shouting and running. I tried to shout back, but no one could hear my voice. Not long after, I started hearing my name. It was my dad. He was running all over the place calling my name with a flashlight in his hand. I stood up. Dad saw me, and the last thing I remember is that he said "oh son, never ever run away like this". I faded. After the incident, I had to stay in bed for 4 months. The doctor said I was really sick and he told me that I can't get out of my bed. During the times spent in my bed, all I did was read books. I was in third grade that time so that I knew how to read. Once I heard my teacher telling my dad that I was the best reader in the class. My dad was proud of me. So was I. This was the first time that I actually felt I have done something in my life. The days where long. It seemed like time stopped. I read about monsters, warriors and dragons. Some of the books had nice pictures and some didn't. First I finished all the books that was on the bedroom shelf. My dad told me that he used to read these books when he was a child. I asked my dad to bring me more books. He took me to his work room. I was never allowed to enter the room before. Inside, he had lots of books. There was a big shelf with many many books in the middle of the room. Dad told me that he collected the books throughout his life and I could read any of the books. It made me happy. I remember I hugged dad and told him "You are the best dad ever." Every few days, I would enter the room, grabbed a new book and put the old one in place. Some of the books were really old and covered in dust. I remember reading about people, strange places, love and friendship. I didn't understand some of the books. Some books didn't make any sense. Some of them were written in strange languages. One day, I took a book called "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. I really liked the book. Ever since, I read the book over and over again. In the train, when going to see my girlfriend, when waiting in line or while flying over the Atlantic ocean. That book is always in my backpack. Each time I read the book again, it is always interesting and feel like I am reading something completely new. It never got old. Over that 4 months time when I was sick I read a lot of books. I decided I would become a writer. I loved reading. I was sure I would love writing as well. Every time I read a book, I wanted to write my own version of it. I didn't always like the ending or the characters. Time went on. I had a normal life like others. I grew up, I went to college, got a job as an analyst, but I never had the chance to write a book. About 2 years ago, I finally decided to write a book on my own. Ever since, I have been trying to finish this book. It took me about 5 months to finish most of the book, but the ending was still missing. Over the past couple of days, I have been working on the ending and I was about to finish it. I typed on the typewriter "...even though it was too late, John realized it was the greatest expectation of all time and with the great expectation a great responsibility came along." I was done. I grabbed all the papers, put it in one line and stapled it. I took a deep breath and put the stapled pile of paper on the table. On the front page, the title said "The Book Shelf". I opened my suitcase, grabbed the "Great Expectations" and put the book next to it.

2009-04-08
Amar