A Lost Treasure

Once, in the old days, the gift of reading was available only to those lucky ones. Today, most of us can read and can learn how to read. Unfortunately, people don’t want to read. Either they don’t have the time or they simply don’t want to. They would rather watch a movie or play a video game. Once, when I was but a boy, I read books day after day. While most of my friends played video games or watched movies, I wasn’t able to do so. Poverty didn’t allow me. All I had was the fresh air and the books, which I borrowed because I wasn’t able to buy them.

I loved reading books because they would take me away from this harsh world into worlds of fantasy like Middle Earth or worlds beyond our solar system like Coyote. I would read at my tiny home or at the forest and dream of being in them and exploring those incredible worlds crafted by humanity’s greatest gift; imagination. Our imagination is a god-like power. It is this gift that brought us all these wonders of today, all these worlds in which we can enjoy.

It was a beautiful summer’s day when I first read “The adventures of Tom Sawyer.” The book immediately became one of my favorite books. It was there and then that I have decided to become an adventurer and explore the world. That dream lasted for a short time, but while it lasted, it was great. I explored the forests near my town and would imagine there was buried treasure hiding there somewhere. I would hunt for that treasure with my imaginary friends, since I didn’t have real friends, and we would find it in the end, get rich, and live a life beyond our wildest imaginations.

The school’s library wasn’t a popular place. You could find me and a few others reading there sometimes and enjoying this haven. I liked hiding there from those who mocked me because I was poor. Don’t get me wrong, I am still poor, but my mind and soul are rich with words I gathered from all of those books. Those books raised me and changed my view of this world.

And now, as I am older, I still read. Yes, it’s less than before, but a man has to work. Time is something we can’t control. No matter how rich or poor you are, time won’t stop for you. But I can always find the time to swallow a few words.

I like to go to this park below the old town. There is a bench there, a solitary one, where I would sit and read, unaware of the time and the world surrounding me. When I would finish reading, I would observe people. They would walk and they would stare at their precious smartphones, constantly taking pictures of themselves and posting them on social networks.

Once, reading was a gift. Now, a lost treasure.