“How the Adventures Began”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “You get a book at a used bookstore and there’s a note inside…” — suggested by E. L. Stew

You walk down the sidewalk, absentmindedly kicking the snow at your feet. The sun is just beginning to set, creating a beautiful sheen on the snow all around you.

The streets are relatively peaceful. Very few cars pass you, letting you enjoy your thoughts in silence.

As you continue walking, a quiet tinkle of a bell breaks the silence. You look up to see that you’re standing in front of a used bookstore. Something about this quaint little shop draws you in.

You push the door open slowly, hearing the bell chime once again. Immediately, the familiar smell of paper and ink hits you and you breathe it in deeply. Until this moment, you forgot how much you love the smell of books.

The shopkeeper stands up behind his counter and greets you warmly. He tells you to just shout if you should need any help. You thank him and begin to browse the shelves.

Every single inch of space seems to be occupied by a book. The only empty spaces are the narrow pathways between the bookcases. Stacks of books teeter at the end of every shelf. You knock one slightly and swoop down to catch it before all the books come tumbling down.

As you scan the titles for something that catches your eye, the bell jingles again. You glance up to see a tall woman entering the shop, a snow-covered, wide-brimmed hat shadowing her face. She brushes the snow off and gives the shopkeeper a handshake before walking down the aisles.

You continue looking around, murmuring the titles to yourself as you read them. As you walk, you pull books from the shelves, and before you know it, you have a stack of books balanced precariously in your arms, not unlike the one you almost knocked over before.

You round the corner to enter the next aisle and crash into the woman. You begin apologizing profusely, but she shakes you off, telling you that it was no problem. She bends down to help you pick up the books that you dropped and loads them back up in your arms.

You finally manage to carefully–and awkwardly–shuffle around the woman to continue browsing. Finally, you’ve covered the entire store. Your arms are getting sore from carrying all these books, but you’re extremely happy with the selections you’ve made.

Ultimately, you decide to simply purchase all the books. You’ve been meaning to get back into reading after all.

After paying and saying good-bye to the jovial shopkeeper, you leave the shop, the light tinkle of the bell sending you off on all the adventures that are waiting for you…

Final Comments: I was so excited about this prompt. So excited, in fact, that I completely ignored the ten minute time limit and didn’t even get to the interesting part of the prompt… I’m seriously considering making this into a short story.

Overall Rating: 🙂