Everyone grew up reading fiction books. There is no doubt you had memories running through bookshelves in your local library or sitting in the dark reading your favorite book way past your bedtime. I’ve always loved traveling to new places when reading a book, so here is a poem that I wrote as a thank you to fiction novels.

I cannot count the number of late nights I have spent flipping through your pages,

with just the fingers on my hands.

You have guided me through elementary school playgrounds sitting by the chain link fence,

and middle school lunch tables in the corner of the cafeteria.

You have taken me to faraway places with names nowhere printed on world maps,

and introduced me to people whose faces I have sketched out in my mind.

Sometimes I can almost hear their voices when you tell me about their stories,

as if they were here with me,

their lips spilling the secrets that you have printed within your pages.

Sometimes I wish their stories were mine.

That maybe I was the one who was able to save the family's business,

or go on a life changing road trip with a group of strangers.

Maybe I could've traveled around the world on a small sail boat,

or found the love of my life in my junior year chemistry class.

The problem with fiction books

is not because it is all make believe,

but because they make you believe.

Because with each page the plot becomes clearer and clearer,

you can basically expect what happens before you turn to the next one.

Fiction makes sense,

What doesn't is reality.

Because I've been turning the pages of countless books,

and I can never seem to get the ending right.

I've always been able to guess what the author will write next,

but my story has been filled with so many plot twists and characters falling off from its pages,

I'm not even sure where it's going anymore.

Why can't my life be like a fiction book?

That way I can reread my favorite parts over and over,

and skip through the parts that are too hard to read.

I can write out my life how I want it to play out.

I will know exactly how it ends,

instead of guessing what's going to happen next.

I have this fear,

that I'll get to the last chapter of my life

and I'll realize that I'm not going to get the happy ending that I wanted.

I’ll want to flip back and try again.

and maybe I will save the family business,

figure out what I was trying to find during my road trip,

or the love of my life from that junior year chemistry class will find me at the coffee shop downtown.

but I can't rewrite my life.

So once I get to the last page,

and I'm about to close the cover,

I hope the story I wrote is something someone will want to read

while they're sitting in the middle of the night,

with lights dimmed low in their bedroom.