I’m taking part in the weekly Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by  Two Writing Teachers, where teachers write and share each Tuesday. Join in yourself or head over to check out what’s happening with other slicers. If you’re taking part in the SOL, leave a link to your post. I’d love to read it.

The Village Lights Bookstore was filled with early morning quiet.  Even the bells on the door jangled softly as I pushed it open.  Soft strains of classical music floated through the air.  The few people in the store spoke in whispers, including us.  A  woman sat in the rocking chair in the front window, turning the pages of her book.  Soon I would take her place for my part in the Rock ‘N Read Around the Clock celebration (part of NEA’s Read Across America).

I wandered through the shelves while I waited for my turn to read in the window.  I was drawn to the young adult shelves first, but branched out to discover other titles, too.  I was hoping to find Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy (Am I the only person left who hasn’t read them?), but they didn’t have it in.  No worries, the bookstore could order it for me, and I came prepared with my own book to read–Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

A bell chimed, signaling the time to switch readers.  I stepped into the window and settled into the rocking chair.  It was an old-fashioned rocking chair with a cushioned seat and back.  Behind me were shelves displaying books by Dr. Seuss. (This read-a-thon was in honor of Dr. Seuss,  of course.)  Large window panes framed two sides in front of me, giving me a view of pedestrians passing by on the street outside.  Many of them smiled and waved if I happened to look up from my book at the right time.  A couple of the bookstore cats came by to sniff my fingers that I let dangle by my side when I glimpsed their approach.  But most of all I went along for the ride as Becca and her mother flee the infamy caused by the arrest and trial of Becca’s dad.  They hope to start over with an anonymous life in small-town Ohio, but the secrets of their past threaten to overtake them.

Too soon the bell chimed again, and my time was up.  How could that be?  I still had pages to go in my book.  At least I left with an invitation to take part in World Book Night.