The Library

by Bella Osborne

Books provided a secret door to escape through – something she had often been grateful for in her life.

Many a time she’d needed somewhere safe and quiet to run to and the library had never let her down.

Reading was her other escape. Another world she could step into and be surrounded by characters brought to life on the page. She could meet untold people and live a thousand exciting lives

She’d found a kindred spirit in the most unlikely place and she was going to hang on to him as if her life depended on it.

There was something oddly isolating about being surrounded by people and yet completely alone.

‘We often think of the oddest, most irrelevant things, at difficult times. We seek out the little things we can cope with while we process the things we can’t.’

She remembered thinking that a hearse was most likely the poshest car most people would ever ride in and yet they’d not get any enjoyment out of it.

‘Friends aren’t merely the tumbleweed of faces that roll in and out of your life. Friends are the ones you connect with and who last a lifetime. You’ll pass a million people on your path and just a few will be worth spending time with.’

Every book is a key that unlocks another world, leads us down the path of a different life and offers the chance to explore an unexpected adventure. Every one is a gift of either knowledge, entertainment or pure escapism and goodness knows we all need that from time to time.