all about her

  The door opens by itself. Her gratitude is shown through a half hidden smile behind a thin curtain of hair, unbrushed and interlocked in loose, frantic curls. Luggage sways from her forearms, fingers sustaining the weight of  tote bags twisting around her strained knuckles. Shoelaces untied, skirt pleated like a paper fan spreading out against her legs, she crosses the border defined by the tender shadow casted by the door frame. She is early, yet the room is not empty. In fact, the room is filled with life.

The room is filled with books.

Her mind shifts through channels as her pupils focus on the spines of undressed novels, covers blushing, pages curling. A certain novel hooks her attention, each second passing reels her in until her nose is leveled with the book. Her bags connect with the floor, although, she does not dare reach for the book  before carefully considering her choice. Her eyes trail the outline of the shape, measuring the width – without judgement – and noting the worn creases along the tip of the book’s spine. Her fingerprint filled in the space perfectly as she catches the weight of the novel in her palms.

A Director’s Vision

She’s read it before, but the memory is misty – drenched in uncertainty and familiarity, like anticipating an event and being shocked when it plays out in front of you. Before opening the book, she stands with it under her arm- massaging  her knees with her knuckles. Without any hesitation, she maneuvers around the occupied shelves, twisting her hips through narrow pathways created by the desks congested within the room. Enlarged photographs of quotes positioned against landscape images of large, bodies of water and mountains decorated the room – creating a collage of destinations stretched along four, poorly painted walls. A pale, blue couch lay angled near the front of the room – vacant and welcoming. Clumsily, she tosses her legs over the back of the couch, and folds  into the worn cushion- criss crossed and content. Hesitation lingered in her as she grazed the navy, fabric jacket cloaked around pages of the book.

A Director’s Vision

“Why this title?” she thought. Anticipation sparks within her stomach – courage sending signals to her muscles to open the novel. She met with the epigraph, a few words from Ayn Rand ( A Russian- American writer and philosopher), “ The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” A voice other than her’s enters her conscience, wispy and tenacious as the words embedded on the page seep into the forefront of her brain – setting scenes in her head. Reading A Director’s Vision transcended her to the depths of her own creative spirit and mind. 

As she begins a new chapter, the door opens once again, and a presence crosses the threshold were I once dwelled.


feature image: https://tana-the-dreamchaser.tumblr.com/post/137614205027

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

6 thoughts on “all about her

  1. Dear Liza,
    I love your about me and it really allows someone to know a lot more about you. It is like the definition to define who you are and it is excellent. I can see you put a lot of hard work into this and I would love to see more of what you do. I do not believe there is much to fix and it is amazing.

    -Melody

  2. Dear Liza,

    Wow this piece was so enjoyable. I really love how you used metaphors to explain every little thing, it makes your work so eye-opening. One thing I really love about your About Me is the perspective in which you chose to write. It makes your piece unique and more interesting to read.

    In terms of any suggestions, I only found one error. In the last sentence I believe where it says “As she begin a new chapter,” it should be “As she begins a new chapter.”

    Other than that, your piece was amazing. I’m really excited to read more of your work. Good job!

    – Maira

    1. Thank you so much, Maira! This comment was so so kind and I’m flattered that you liked the style of my About Me. I didn’t even notice that GUMP so thank you for pointing it out.

      Gratefully,

      Liza

  3. Dear Liza,

    WOW! This piece took my breath away. It’s just amazing how much effort you put into this piece and how I can imagine what’s going on through the immense amount of detail.

    I really don’t think there is any punctuation errors besides one sentence mentioned. But overall I’m in awe with this piece and I look forward to reading this in the future!

    – Zainab.K

Leave a Reply