The Girl at Bookstore


By: Saima Hassan

It was a lazy Sunday morning and I woke up at 9 am, even though I want more sleep. However, managed to come out of the warm bed.
I made a quick tea and scrambled eggs for my breakfast. Usually, my Sundays start with scrolling through Facebook feeds, but this was different, as I had decided earlier that I would hunt for good classic books at a local bookstore.

I quickly finished my breakfast and took a shower and dressed up casually and headed towards the bookstore.

“Good morning sir, how can I help you,” a gentle lady welcomed me with a beautiful smile when I stepped into the bookstore
I explained to her that I was searching for a good classic novel. “Go towards the left side of the store and browse the bookshelf,” she instructed me. “Shall I help you,” she added before completing her sentence.
Resisting her I moved forward to the left.

While I was browsing novels, I was a novice in the field of reading and was the first time at a place like this. I could feel the peace; I could feel like I could get dissolve in these books and can spend hours here.

Keeping pace with my tsunami of thoughts, I moved towards the corner of the third self in the classic section of books, while I was searching for the books, I heard a strange ‘hmm’ sound. I checked for the source of the sound and went towards and took my feet towards that sound.
A saw a girl producing that sound, from her action, I got to know she was not able to decide which one to buy between two books she was holding in her hands.

It took almost 10 minutes for her to decide which book to buy finally. I did not know who she was and where she lives in.
Her simple act and beauty had left an unforgettable touch over my life, and how I got frozen for those 10 minutes.

Three years passed since I encountered her, I still get Goosebumps while thinking about that day.