Flirtations and Quickies

Reading the most wonderful book is like a relationship; reading a novel is like an affair; reading a short story is like a flirtation; reading essays is similar to a quickie; and reading a poem is like a stolen kiss in the dark.

Who said that? You wonder if it comes from a brilliant mind of a writer or something your dark half has created. You suddenly found the phrases in the drain of your mind as residues. A fleeting emotion came as you read a sad story of defeat...of noble things started which ended to be futile... Indeed, villains would sometimes come out victorious.

A NOVEL AS AN AFFAIR. You go to a place where displays of covers and blurbs are available. You take time in ogling the color combinations, the teasers, the photographs and even the minute details of the cover. Like attraction, it starts with the physical level. Then you'd decide whether to buy the book or not. Some considerations are going to be made: Would I become better if I read this? Is this worth my time, and dough?

Then because of the lust for words and the mysteries to be learned, you decide to have that connection. Despite the sales representatives' suggestions of other books, you will take the one that catches your attention. Sometimes, it's really because of the cover and that carnal desire to own. But the true test is when the process of reading happens. First two chapters, you could either be hooked or get bored with the syntax. The prose might as well titillate or inject your mind with zombie juices. The aroused goes on, but the bored would just continue the drone...

Then, the realization happens. This is the time when the reader would either devour the contents of the book or the bored would put it at the back of his mind... The affair would either end at the epilogue of at Chapter 5... Minor discussions would be started from the inspired and from the regretful, it would be the words "Good riddance!"

FLIRTING WITH THE SHORT STORY. How will you flirt? Wouldn't you dress up and try to make yourself presentable? Aren't you trying to apply how those crustaceans would do when they'd want to mate? Yes. You have this desire to be noticed and once noticed, you'd snatch the chance and try to apply the predator-prey theory.

Then, through scanning, you find your prey which will be signaled by this unknown taste in your tongue. You see the length of the article like seeing the length of the hair or anything that could be measured and of preference. Then you start the reading...

Halfway, like a waft of sour underarms, you would sometimes repel to the text especially if you prefer sweet prose or Victoria's Secret scented armpits... Or, you could get hooked which could lead towards asking for a number or an e-mail....

QUICKIES FROM ESSAYS. If you're a product of a conservative brood, you won't understand this. If you were exposed to naughty peers and an advocate of the RH Bill for the sole purpose of "utilizing your body to the fullest", you might get a quick release.

Essays could sometimes perk up your temperature to the point that blood is pumped to the sensitive organs. They, too could sting like a red hot chili pepper. But there are ruptures of bliss even if fleeting after a good read. There are orgasmic interludes and there are "how dare he write this!" moments as well.

But that's it. A quickie is a quickie...

STOLEN KISSES IN THE DARK FROM POETRY. When erotica was introduced, it created a stir in the literati. But these short verses are indeed happening in daily activities. When haiku was imprinted in your system, sometimes, you want to wipe the grime off your face and flee. But these snatches of beauty, although would lead to become a distant memory, are still good experiences in life as a continuum.

RELATIONSHIPS. Atticus Finch seems to be your neighbor. You could sometimes hear him reason out that it's not good To Kill A Mockingbird. Then, there's Jean Valjean, Cosette, Marius, Eponine and Javert. You even wandered in the streets of Paris to the barricades. And when Jean Claude Boubil converted their words to music, you could hear them sing One More Day and that sad soliloquy of Marius when he wept in front of Empty Chairs At Empty Tables...Ah, the pathos of Les Miserables.

Yes. These are the things to happen once you get hooked with a good read. You will go deeper to the minutest details of the author and even the characters. You could even empathize with them as if you're one of the characters yourself.

But you are minority. A great percentage prefer to have quickies and premature ejaculations literally rather than figuratively. They would not care about the metaphors and similes. In fact, there are some wolves in sheep's clothing who would give Messianic promises to their hapless victims.

Still, you will dwell on the places books could only provide. You throw away those ones which are not worth the time and open new chapters which could lead to beautiful and meaningful relationships.

(image: inkymole.blogspot.com)