Out in the Wind

Chapter 4

Mandy didn't do anything to make me feel better. Her stories about her holiday just made me even more depressed about mine. She seemed to have had the time of her life, whereas I just lost everything I ever had. I knew I was just jealous and that I should have been happy for her, but in the end it took everything inside me not to yell out to her to stop talking about how wonderful her life was. I know she did not mean it that way at all, but in the end when she finally left and promised to text me that night I was left feeling even worse than when I came to the mall. I had no idea what I was expecting her to do about the way I felt, but maybe if she had a bit more sympathy for my situation I would have felt better.

In the end I walked back down to Bookstairs even though I knew I could not afford anything inside. I just needed beyond anything to be in a place that reminded me that every story has some kind of happy ending. A place where my father once walked and tried to pick out all these life lessons and pages of hope for me to read. I needed to be there and just remind myself that in the end everything would be okay.

"Back again?" Mister Graham asked as I walked through the door, looking up from behind the purple cover of his book.

"Yeah. I just need to be around some books for a while," I answered, not knowing what else to say. I knew it sounded stupid, but maybe he would understand and just let me be for a while.

Mister Graham didn't reply. He just smiled as I disappeared toward the fantasy section that I knew off by heart. The section where anything and everything could happen to you and it could still be okay.

I could not help myself from stroking the spines on the shelves, here and there pulling a book from its place and reading the blurb on the back. I didn't really fancy any of them. I knew there was no way I would find a book in here I would like as much as the books my dad gave me. They were special. Not just because of their stories, but because of the heart it was given with.

"Hmmm... Treasure Island hey?"

Mister Graham's voice startled me. I didn't even hear him walk closer. I didn't even realize which book I had in my hands. I looked down at the green cover, the back of the book showing a map.

"Yeah... Seems interesting," I answered.

"It is. It's a classic," Mister Graham said with a smile as he took the chair right in front of me. "You've always been into good books. Some new, some classics. It's rare nowadays seeing a kid in a bookshop so much." The smile was still there. Somehow Mister Graham made me think of a gentle grandfather. Or maybe even Santa Claus.

"I don't really know about that. My dad used to pick most of the books I read," I said trying to keep the sadness out of my voice as much as I could.

"You know that your dad came in here the first time when he was around your age?" Mister Graham asked.

I felt a bit startled. Somehow I had never really pictured my dad being my age. Sure I have seen pictures, but I have never imagined what he might have been doing in his free time or where he went. I knew he grew up in this town, but apart from that there wasn't that much I actually knew about him.

"No Sir. I didn't know. I didn't even know the bookstore has been here for so long..."

Truly I couldn't. It wasn't like the mall was that old at all.

"Bookstairs was owned by my father. I started working in the store when I was around 21. That was in... 1964 if memory serves me right..."

Mister Graham sat there stroking his beard for a few minutes before he continued. "Yes, I am certain it was around 1964. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory just came out. It sold like sweet cakes. Yes. That was actually the first book I sold to your father when he walked into my store for the very first time."