A Warning To All Who Read This:...

A warning to all who read this: the contents of this book may not be to your liking. Within these pages are all the conversations of other people that pertain to you, the reader.

This magic book may entice some, tempting them to read on and discover what opinion others have of them, but be cautious, for the words they speak about you could be painful to hear. But of course, they may also be kind words, speaking highly of you.

It is up to you. Will you turn the page, read the words spoken out of earshot, and reveal what your friends and family have said behind your back? Or will you not risk your relationships and close this book, living your life wondering what would’ve been revealed in these enchanted pages?

The chance to read this book will not be presented to everyone. If you are reading this, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you decide to close this book and walk away, you will never find it again. If you take the chance, well, who knows what could possibly happen?

Tyler

Tyler Maccabee strolled through library slowly, looking up and down the shelves. The Maccabee family all loved to read, so although they took weekly trips to the library, Tyler was always searching for new, interesting reading material. He liked sci-fi or fantasy fiction the best, but he could settle for a good mystery novel as well. Right now, he was just debating whether he should re-read something old or keep up the search for something new.

He had decided to turn back around and find his family again when an odd-looking book caught his eye. It was sticking out of the shelf like it was falling, and the leather cover was blank. He stopped to pull it out of the shelf, checking the back for a brief description. There was no title, author, or description on either side. Tyler opened the cover slowly. After reading the first words on the old, yellowing page, “A warning to all who dare to read this:…”, Tyler was immediately drawn in.  He added the new book the stack of others he had collected and walked back to the front of the library to find his parents and sister.

When the Maccabees got home, Tyler ran up to his room to set his books down and look at the mysterious book. Tyler, of course, didn’t believe in what it said about magic or enchantments, but he figured it would be a good story about a magical book. He was amazed when he turned the page and read words that were dated July 31, 1997, spoken by Timothy and Cassandra Maccabee, his parents.

Timothy: It’s a boy!

Cassandra: Oh! Let me see him!

Timothy: Tyler… what did we decide for his middle name?

Cassandra: Lucas. Tyler Lucas Maccabee.

            Tyler Lucas Maccabee sat on his bed. How could a book have this information? How did he even know it wasn’t some kind of joke? However, he didn’t have any reason to not believe it was real. (The obvious reason to doubt the book is that it would have to be an actual enchanted book, but Tyler had read enough science fiction and fantasy novels to be open to that idea.)

If he decided to believe the book was real, he had just read the first conversation about him in his life, spoken right after he was born. If this book shows what other people say about me, Tyler thought, who knows what I could read? He almost started reading ahead when he remembered what the first page said. Some words could be negative. Would he be able to handle that? Tyler, like many other people his age, worried about how he appeared to others, especially those he looked up to. Was he annoying? Did he come off as rude? In an instant, faces and names flashed through his head, people he liked and admired and people he didn’t like so much. His youth minister, his teachers, his friends, what did they think?