The Disappearing Books

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there. No this isn't he story about how I became the prince(ss) of a town called Bel-Air. This is a story about two books that turned my life upside down. 

Photo by Thomas

The first book was called "The Day The Clock Stopped" by  William Geldard, it was about a man who was in charge of the time and it was up to him to make sure the grandfather clock was always working but the four winds decided to play a trick on him and he fell asleep, which caused time to stop. Nobody could tell if it was night time or day time or when someone had a birthday. This book was a part of a collection of books I owned as a toddler and it was the first book I could read by myself. This book was also the first of many of my books to go missing. 

The second one was called out of a big book called "Bedtime Stories" and the one story I adored in this book was called "Would You?" by Nette Hilton. It was about a young boy and a doll which kept coming back to the shop he worked in because she was broken and no one wanted her but in the end this little boy gets her and they doll magically fixes herself. This book also use to go missing on the odd occasion. 

Photo by Thomas

As a toddler and a child my mum would always read me and my little brother a bedtime story and every second night it was my turn to choose the book. For me I loved reading books but only the ones I liked and I had very little interest in read new books. See where this is going!? Which meant every second night my mum was stuck reading the same book for weeks on end, even if she suggested and pleaded to read something different. Until the book would just disappear!! 

Mum never knew what happened to them. It was like they just got up and left, all by themselves, or so she would tell me, as I pulled all the books off the bookshelf. Acting as if my life had been turned upside down just because this one out of the hundreds of books we had, had disappeared! My only choice was to choose another book, one I hadn't read before. This made my mum quite happy, but this was way out of my comfort zone as a 4 or 5 year old. 

Then it would happen again!! The current book would disappear. Gone!! But it was like a miracle would happen. The first missing book would return, right where it should have been! No one knew how this kept happening. At least they never told toddler/small child me how it kept happening. I would be shattered every time my book disappeared. Mum would be rejoicing, but my small life had just got flipped upside down, much like the bookcase after I would look for the missing book. 

Nonetheless, this cycle went on for years and most of the time it was those two books. They were my first book obsessions, I don't know why I loved those stories so much, that I had to hear them ever night for most of my childhood. Despite my mum's attempts to make those books disappear over and over again, they are the two stories that, even right now as I type this, that I remember off by heart. 

Oh, don't worry though, I caught on eventually and I have them back in my possession so they will never disappear from me again, but I am looking forward to the day I can read them to my children so that they can start going missing once again. 

She Knew

We watched as you departed

It didn’t take too long, 

You were gone before we knew it, 

We just wanted one more song.

I know you watch us every day, 

As we look up for you.

I hope when you look down, 

It’s a wonderful view. 

We try to make you proud, 

With every step we take, 

But sometimes when things are tough,

We need to scream out loud. 

We always think of you,

Your salt n pepper hair,

Your big brown eyes,

And the way you care.

49 years, was all you got to have, 

17 with me. 3 less with your son.

If we had one wish, 

We would wish for a 101. 

I remember what you taught us 

You taught us all we know, 

You taught us how to walk, 

And how to love and how to grow. 

You taught how to share 

But we were extremely unaware,

As the one thing you didn’t teach us 

Was how to live without you there.

But before you left, you knew,

We had each other.

And we’d get through.

♥

More than a Tree

This Poem you are about to read was inspired by the "Poetry is Easy" workshop ran by Sue Gillett as a part of the Writer's in Action Subject at La Trobe University.

While you may have a story,

I will tell you mine.

I have longed for you to touch me,

And run your fingers down my spine.

I was excited when you picked me up,

Entwining in my sheets.

I’ll drag you in from the start.

Only a few words I’ll need.

You will love me ‘til the end.

But once we close this love affair,

You will move on without a care.

This will not matter much to you,

Though to me, it was simply true.

Watching your face twitch in the light,

As you trace each line oh so right,

The love, the laughter we shared within,

Unfortunately it must come to an end.

Alas, it was not meant to be,

Although I am more than a tree.

I am only another book to you, I see.