Chasing William Read Free Page B

when you follow the magic of the
fortune cookie, good quotes become like a kind of addiction. Every
profound one-line phrase seems to be something much more special
than it would be otherwise. People usually talk about how important
it is to talk about things in context, how everything’s different
once they explain what they meant. That’s true to some extent, like
how there’s such a big deal about Tom Sawyer being taught in
schools. Take one word out of context and it’s a hate crime; leave
it in context and it becomes a social commentary about a culture
and a lesson in change and progress. Sometimes that’s not always
the case though; some lines can be greatly improved by being taken
out of context. Like in The Great Gatsby when Nice describes
Daisy by saying “her voice had money in it”. It’s a great line. The
kind of line you could ponder for hours and create thousands of
scenarios surrounding it. There’s a whole world in that line, but
if you read it as a part of the whole book, you might not even
notice it. You could skim over all those worlds, all those
possibilities, and not even know it. I went through a Fitzgerald
stage a few years ago (who hasn’t gone through a Fitzgerald phase?)
and he has some fantastic, wondrous, one-liners. My favorite is
from The Beautiful and the Damned where he writes that
“people often choose inimitable people to imitate”. There’s a line
that doesn’t need context---it’s a story all on its own.
    I work at a bookstore so I have plenty of
time to feed my one line addiction. I usually carry a mini-notebook
and pen around with me so I can write down the good,
fortune-cookie-worthy lines, (At home I use a highlighter but
that’s frowned upon when you have to resell the books). I’ve been
working at my little bookstore since I started high school. It’s
buried in a strip mall and doesn’t do a very good business, but I
love it. I have plenty of time to look through books for lines that
could help make sense of things. The books haven’t been working
very well anymore either. I can understand that a little better.
Books require a little more effort than fortune cookies. You
actually have to hunt the lines down and I haven’t had much energy
for that recently. It’s still comforting to be around all those
words. I can re-shelve things, organize, price, read, and just stay
busy. It’s nice to breathe in the smell of books too; that is
another comfort. I’m not sure how I got my job at the bookstore.
The place didn’t have many employees and none of them were in high
school. In fact, I was the only real employee. The woman I worked
with, my boss, was also the owner and between the two of us we ran
a pretty great empty bookstore. We had plenty of regulars who came
in and bought lots. I guess those select few were the people who
kept me paid and the bookstore open.
    My boss is named Mel. She’s older than me
but younger than my parents and a single mother of two. Her life
had been pretty tough from what I’d heard, but she was keeping the
ends together with the bookstore somehow. Maybe it was all the good
energy from the fortune cookie one-liners hidden in the books. As
much as I love Mel, I never really told her about my life. I always
felt if I reached out to her she would be able to help me. We could
commiserate about how difficult life was and then she’d give me her
secrets about how she survived. I just can’t manage to open up to
her. I’m not sure why. Every time I tried my mouth went dry and I’d
ask some stupid question about inventory or a weekend sale.
    “Hey, Christine! It’s been awful not having
you around every day. With just me and the crazy customers I’ve
been starting to question my sanity.” Mel winks and I give the
obligatory smile. My heart’s not really in small talk this morning.
“There isn’t a whole lot for you to do today: a few carts to
re-shelve, just keep things looking neat and organized, you know
the drill.”
    “Sounds