The Island of Broken Readers

The Magic Book

The ride home was treacherous like all car rides with mom. She is constantly whipping around corners and cutting out in front of cars. We've almost gotten in car crashes several times, but we've never been seriously injured. While mother was driving like the FBI was after her I stared silently at the book. The cover looked old and dusty and worn. I held the book firmly in my hands like if I were to let go it fly out of the car. Although with mothers driving it might. I noticed mother was staring at me sternly. 

"Hey!" she screamed.

"What?" I asked.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past three minutes! And all you've been doing is staring off into space." She fumed while making a hard left turn onto our block. 

"I...I'm sorry," I mumbled, not realizing I was gripping the book so much my hands were turning extremely white. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her glaring at me as if I had just stabbed her in the neck with a fork. 

"Well? Aren't you going to tell me what book you got?" She persisted. Mother doesn't usually ask me this unless she wants to make random conversation so she can call it "mother-daughter time."

"Oh... um yes, It's called." I flipped the book over both ways and checked the sides, there was no title. "How could a book have no title." I thought to myself.

"Well answer me would you!" mother demanded.

"It's called um A New Awakening ." This, of course, was a lie, I couldn't think of anything else to call it. 

"Sounds boring" she groaned while making another intense turn into our driveway. I sat in that front seat gazing into oblivion for another minute or two.

"Could father have really left something for me?" I couldn't exactly believe it but there it was an old hardcover book sitting on my lap. 

"Hey, nerd! Come to help me bring in groceries!" mother fussed while slamming one of the old car doors. I finally woke up form whatever trance I was in and got out of the car. I opened the rusted car door and pulled out the plastic Save Mart bags, the book still gripped tightly in hand. I begin to trot up the crumbling path behind mother and walked into our broken home. 

"Why don't you ever talk to me?" mother questioned while looking at me intently and setting the plastic bags on the counter.

"What? I'm talking to you right now?" I mumbled hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Hey!" She barked at me "don't be a smart ass." I kind of wanted to explode at her, we've had conversations like this before and they never end well. Meanwhile, I have the most important book I'll ever hold in my hands and I'm talking to the mole that crawled out of hell.

"Well answer me, would you!" her voice got louder. And I could feel heat begin to rise all over my body as if I were burning. 

"Well maybe if you actually acted like a decent human being who actually cared about me maybe I would!" I felt my heart beating faster in every breath, I had always thought that, but I would never even consider saying it out loud. 

"Well maybe if you weren't so stupid all the time I would talk to you!" she sneered while throwing groceries out of the bag. And now this argument was on. 

"Well maybe if you wouldn't be so arrogant all the time maybe I would." 

"Ugh you using big words, you sound like your father. He's the reason you're so quiet and dumb. Reading all those books in your room, I bet you don't even talk to anyone at school do you?" she hissed I could see it in her eyes, she was waiting for my next move.