The Hearth and the Salamander: Last breath of Curiosity(Part2)
“”Where do we begin?” He opened the book halfway and peered at it. “We begin by beginning I guess.”” - (Bradbury 65).
I inhale the smell of books.
They’re in my hands, not burning. The pages are soft and tactile: it tickles to touch them. I want to open the cover and see what’s inside. Something bubbles inside my chest. Is this what happiness feels like? When it burns like fire and you want it to continue burning your chest? If Clarisse would have asked me now if I was happy, I could say I am. Oh Clarisse. If she were here, I would have shared this moment with her. It’s a revelation. Kept so long in the dark I am finally shedding some light on the beauty of words. They call it nonsense; I call it beauty.
I tried to explain to Millie what it means, but she was too fearful of the consequence to listen to me. Listen. She never did. There is no escape now. I never want to hear the noise, only to see the letters and understand them. To see a history written on paper, the truth told by people long forgotten. Maybe erased from the history. The burning is getting stronger now. The urges awake. I want to know. I want to tell Clarisse. I want to find her, and I will. Speed the will. Bang! Bang!
