History

My fingers trail down the old yellowed pages filled with calligraphy letters, filing perfectly straight across the pages, row by row. The damaged hard cover has water stains splotched in imperfect circles and the cloth cover had a worn-out texture. I turn to the next page, and the stiffness of the paper, cracks. I held the book up to my nose and breathed in, taking in the different scents. That ancient smell. The one I search for in every used bookstore. This book, in the history section, was probably the oldest of them all. I can't see something more interesting to me. People say they don't like History, but they like stories don't they? Who doesn't like stories? History is just that, a story. One story after another. Maybe it's because the stories are old and nonfiction, but instead of thinking that way, think of it as an adventure. Put yourself in the shoes of the characters and yourself in the settings. Ask questions, and think of what you would do in that situation. Agree or disagree with what has been happening around you, and explain why. History is a beautiful thing that made you the person you are, through either reading it or because you would not be living the way you are now without the past events that has changed all of us forever. For me, it's both. I love to read history, letting the words overflow inside me. Keeping the quotes in my mind, remembering why that person wrote that quote in the first place. Letting their words inspire me, and help me in my choices and thoughts, letting them live through me. I will never take for granted the lives that were lost, the sacrifices made, the pain and suffering that others went through, so that I could have the life I live today. I put down the crisp twenty dollar bill on the counter in front of me. That bill is brand new and straight from the bank. Nothing like the book I'm holding. Not as significant now, but later, that twenty dollar bill will be older than this book. It's history in the making. Not far from now, someone will be talking about that twenty dollar bill, the same way I am talking about this very book.