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Personal Narrative: Booked Solid

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Using the word never is a dangerous thing. It congers up the spirits of all things possible to confront the spirits of absolutes, who think they rule the world. If you think about the times you have said an emphatic “Never,” it actually comes to pass when least expected. A common never, that easily slips off the tongue is, “Things can never get worse than they are now.” Those words are a direct challenge to the fates, distant relatives of the spirts, and equally challenged by absolutes. Not only can things get worse, they usually do if denial is the attitude of the day. I was having just such a day, on a Saturday in November of 1996. I was sitting at the counter of my book store, “Booked Solid.” It was the culmination of my dreams and my place of joy. I had opened up the store, arranged my seasonal bulletin board, and brewed fresh coffee and tea for any customer who wanted a warm drink while browsing through the 15,000 books the store offered. I had a sense of elation and anticipation, a common state of mind when I was alone with my thoughts and the beauty of my store. To some it might have seemed a modest if not simple 900 square- foot space, but to me it represented my independence and achievement against the barriers of working full time as a nurse, the lack of husband support, and raising three demanding boys. It was my haven. 1. …show more content…

The bell rang as two little girls entered. They went immediately to the animal bookmarks and began to chatter about which adorable creature each wanted. Finally, they reached a decision and asked the price, they had one dollar. The bookmarks were one dollar each, but I smiled and said it was a deal. They left

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