What made you fall in love with literature?

This might sound unoriginal, but I love it so much when it rains. I was much too young when my aunt gifted me a thick book of Hans Christian Andersen’s compilation of fairytales. I remember loving it so much even when I barely understood anything at all. I sat on the couch with a dictionary beside me (English is not my native language), and read the whole thing while thunderstorms raged outside. It was chilly and cozy, it felt like I had the time of my life. It had illustrations too, so it certainly aided my inexperienced imagination. Over the years, I always came back to reread it, until some pages started to tear so my mom eventually had to dispose it.

As a twenty-year old college student, whenever it rains, I always sought the same experience. I don’t even have to actually think like I want to read right away when it rains, but sometimes I feel so giddy like something good is about to happen. And when I do read on a rainy day, I scour through numerous pieces of literature in my hope to feel just as fascinated when I first read about the snow queen, a nightingale, what vikings are, and a fir tree that is never satisfied. It was the first time that I learned that in some places, it snowed for months. I also learned then that previous empires built towering palaces with staircases so steep my naive, little mind wondered if the Emperor ever got tired of climbing these staircases. As I read in the confines of my home, it felt like there is a huge world out there that I have yet to see.

I am on my third paragraph that I wonder what I am writing this for. I am a sucker for idyllic, rainy afternoons that I crave it even in the stifling heat of April. Maybe I know that I may never get to experience the same magic I had when I was first discovering the wonders of the world, but I am still in love with literature I can’t help but devour when I read them.

I hope that you are enjoying your current read, just as I am!

by ayakas_forehead