the magic of reading

Tess was a reader. She read so that she could escape the painful life she's lived. Her books weren't perfect either. There was always a loss similar to what she'd experienced. But the journey and the ending of the book made her feel as if reading was her escape. Whenever she opened a book, she would be removed from the world she walks and implanted into the land where her book took place. Every day, a new character with a different story and fantastic love life. Her books made her feel what she couldn't in real life. They provided her security. They offered her happiness. They were an escape. She zoned out the yelling in her house by reading till her eyes shut—three hundred pages a day and still not enough time to read all the books she wanted. But one day, the escape stopped working. Instead of providing Tess with what she was missing, it just reminded her of what she was missing. The family that didn't support her, the love life she's never had, the growth the characters experienced that she longed for. Reading became a distant memory. Something she always craved to do but never got around to doing it. Her love for reading remained, but the energy she used to put towards it was gone.

A flame burned out in the wind.