My eyes flutter open. The bright sun blinds me. I am in an endless field where golden wheat ripples like an ocean around me. Ahead of me, a massive book stands vertically, straight and tall. The cover opens and reluctantly I step in. Instantly, I am at the top of the John Hancock building, one hundred stories high, with the wind violently knocking me off balance. A boy next to me straps me into a harness, yelling, "Be brave, Tris." He pushes me off the building. My stomach flops in and out of my throat and the intensity of the wind knocks the breath out of me. Arms extended, I soar over Chicago. Excitement courses through me, awakening every nerve in my body. The words "I am dauntless" slowly carve into my being and an overwhelming sense of belonging washes over me. Among the clouds, I spot another open book and impatiently fly into it.
The scene around me suddenly subsides and the peaceful night conflicts with my rapidly beating heart. I am sitting beside a tall, handsome man with the dark starry night enclosing us. Staring into his eyes, I know I am in love and incandescently happy. He turns to me, and a smile stretches across my face as his fingertips lightly brush my cheek. Barely above a whisper, "Mrs. Darcy" escapes his lips as he closes the little distance between us. Suddenly, I am back in my rippling, golden ocean where a new book stands. Craving another adventure, another emotion, I dart towards the towering novel, ready to be taken into another world. I appear in a hospital room. It feels like the walls are closing in on me. Sobs rack my body and throbbing pain swells forcefully inside me. Thoughts torment me-it should have been me, but it's not. It is my sister, my Anna, my keeper who had life ripped from her. And I am left here feeling as empty as this hospital room. I hear doors closing, people leaving. People are always leaving. Arms shaking, the heavy weight of sadness wrenches me to my knees. I open my eyes and I am back in my infinite field and there is not one book, but thousands, shouting my name from every direction. I am in awe of how much I am about to experience. I only have to pick and enter.
I address those who yearn for adventure: it is out there. Limitless adventures, countless emotions, and a lifetime worth of experience await you. All you have to do is open the book and let the words carry you. George RR Martin says, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." Books hold one adventure after another. Let the setting engulf you, the characters become you, and the emotions run through you. Turn the thin, worn pages and dive into the adventure.
