Once upon a time in the bustling city of Metropolis, an architect named Oliver lived. He was a thin man, so gaunt and fragile that the mere sight of him could send a shiver down one’s spine. His figure was like a wisp of smoke and seemed to defy the laws of substance. Although he had a good earning and respectable job there was something that bothered him a lot, his dreams that were so impossible to be fulfilled in this fast-moving world. And because of this, he gave most of his time to his work. For numerous he had designed grand skyscrapers that reached the gate of heaven from the head of land, and this led him to many prestigious awards and honours. Despite all this, he was leading a very monotonous and boring life.
On one fateful day, when he strolled down the deserted labyrinthine streets thinking intensely about nothing and carrying his body forcefully, he came across an old shop on one of the strangest corners of the street. This was not a usual shop with a fancy name, boards, paints and location. His absent-minded body took him into the shop. He didn’t want to go, but it was the curiosity of his subconscious mind that led him to the shop. When he entered the shop he saw bookshelves that were made of oak wood. The shelves lost their shine but not their magnificence and strength, standing still like a wall. There were about 50 bookshelves in the shop. While he was trying to digest what he is looking at, he heard an old shaking voice of a woman. He turned towards his left following the source of the voice, he saw an old woman coming towards him with a pleasing smile. “How may I help you? ” asked the lady. This old woman was in her sixties wearing an old shirt and a full-length skirt. Her face, etched with a myriad of wrinkles and lines, told stories of a life richly lived not by money but by memories. Her joyous and happy tone mesmerised Oliver. Like ancient jewels, her eyes shimmered with depth that seemed to transcend the present moment. While Oliver was staring absently at her she asked again “How may I assist you? ” but this time her question broke the temporal hypnosis of Olvier. And with complete nervousness, he said “Actually I was just passing by and saw…… ” Before he could complete the old lady said, “Welcome to our book store we have numerous books, please have a look and select the book you want”. Something happened and Oliver decided to go through each shelf even though he was not a person who read books.
While he was walking into the store, he came across numerous genres of books like novels, history, fiction, poetry, novel, science, and so on. Apart from the genre it had some of the old books and comics whose publication was stopped a very long time ago. And while wandering through hundreds of books he came across a thick diary-like book. It was a leather-bound journal that caught the attention of his eyes. And when he took the book and opened it, he found handwritten stories that revealed the secret dreams and desires of its previous owner. And when he went through that book he got so much curious to read the content in the book. He got so impressed that he decided to buy it. He went to that lady and asked to buy it.
When he came back to his house he dived into the journey of literature and sailed into the ocean of dreams and words of its previous owners. The story of these dreams brought a whole new perspective towards the thought process of Oliver. He was so relaxed and enlightened by reading this book. The book contained all dreams and desires that were achieved and failed. Romanticism, happiness, and success gave him a positive point of view which was balanced by some sorrows of failure. But the failures were not the reason to demotivate the reader but to motivate him to run towards his/her dream. After completing the reading of his book, he returned to his desk, not with a dull face but with eyes that were screaming joy and motivation. And then he made very beautiful designs and changed the whole look of the city.
Positivity and motivation lie in the inner soul, sometimes we just need a reason to trigger this. Here, the book played the role of trigger for Oliver and motivated him to establish his dreams and desires.
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