Places To Read, An Unintentional Multipart Short Story Series – Part 1

On A Bus

A bus journey – it takes double the time that a car journey does, it is crowded and, most of the time, there is some sort of smell and you don't really want to know what is making it. After the anxiety of telling the bus driver where exactly it is you're going, and then the awkward walk to your seat, knowing that the driver is waiting for you and everyone is judging you, you find an empty seat, check it's at least semi-clean, and sit down. Your bag rests by your feet as the bus pulls away, and you lean down, opening the bag, and pulling out your saviour – a book.

The hustle and bustle of chatter fades away as you focus in on the words, leaning your head against the window and then quickly removing it when you feel the buzzing of the window vibrating from the bus's movement. It would take half an hour to drive. You have an hour. After a few minutes, when you're settled in and invested in the story, you almost don't want to get off the bus to meet your friend.

Maybe you could just stay on the bus all day, reading, because the smell isn't all that bad and no one bothers you when you're hiding behind a book...

The bus pulls to a stop and you look up, tears running down your cheeks. They can't have died! Why did they have to die? They were your favourite character. Why is life so unfair?

Why did they have to die just as you reached your stop?

You wipe your face with the sleeves of your jumper, hoping your eyes aren't too red. If you had been at home, you would've been sobbing, but you're in public. You didn't want to be the crazy person crying over a book on a bus.

You tuck the book away in your bag, picking it up and ducking your head as you walk to the front of the bus, thanking the driver in a voice that is gritty with the dryness of your throat after trying to control your emotions.

Your friend is waiting, you plaster on a smile and wave to get their attention. They spot you and wave back, unbeknownst to your woes, or of the fact that you would actually rather be reading than hanging out with them. 

Hi!

So I was going to make this a post about the different places I read, but, of course, that would constitute as a plan and, therefore, it did not go ahead. Instead, it turned into a bunch of (very short) short stories about reading in different places.

And I thought 'wow this would make a good series'.

And then I thought 'wow this could be multiple posts and I wouldn't have to brainstorm as many ideas'.

Yes, I'm lazy.

But I don't really care!

So I hope you enjoyed reading On A Bus and the next instalment in Places To Read will be out at some point. (When I can be bothered to post it!)

Bye!

Movies Verses Books - my attempt at starting arguments

Movies Vs. Books

So, my first post. Should be exciting. Should be something important and meaningful, right? Nope. I'm going to talk about a topic covered by the entire world so many times already that it's almost boring now. 

HOWEVER!

I love the idea that everyone has their own opinion and I love causing arguments so I'm going to talk about this over done topic and hopefully some people will either agree with me or will hate me with all their heart and will, therefore cause some drama to entertain me. Either way, I'm entertained, so I don't really care!

BOOKS ARE BETTER!

This is a very strong opinion and it is very popular amongst book lovers worldwide. This type of person is a hardcore supporter of their beliefs and will argue with practically everyone. (These are the type of people I want to start arguments with for the fun!)

This type of person knows who they are and are proud of it. More often than not, they have a book in their hand or bag. They own more books than they know what to do with. If anyone says that the movie was better than the book, they will start a fight. 

This type of person refuses to admit when a movie is better than a book. They might think a movie was brilliant, while the book was sub par, but they refuse to admit so, even to themselves. They will, instead, pretend that the movie was terrible and the book was amazing. This is a leading factor in the cause of arguments. 

MOVIES ARE BETTER!

The very worst thing you can say to a bookworm. They will disown you, block your number and shun you in the street. (These types of people are generally more laid back and don't start arguments about their preferences, unfortunately.)

This type of person believes that reading a book is a waste of time, for it might take you two hours to watch a movie, but it might take days to finish a book. Why waste the extra time when all the important bits are narrowed down into a movie that you can put on and then sit down and watch with a bowl of popcorn and a hot chocolate. You don't even need to turn a page!

This type of person may be socially rejected by anyone with a love for books. These people, however, are not nearly as vocal about their love for movies as the BOOKS ARE BETTER people are. They may or may not have a very large collection of DVDs, they may or may not be signed up to five different movie streaming platforms and they may or may not be using a fake name to stream movies illegally. 

This type of person also divides into many subcategories. Some will watch anything, some will only watch action movies and some will only watch movies with specific actors in, which were released in the 1980s and no one has ever actually heard of them. 

EITHER CAN BE BETTER!

Many of the previous two categories actually fall into this category, they just can't admit it to themselves. (These people may argue, but they will not argue that they fall into this category, but into one of the first two!)

This type of person doesn't believe that books or movies are automatically better because of the format, but save their opinion until after they have watched the movie and read the book. This may be done in either order, although a large majority prefer to read the book first. 

Some of these people find books because they have watched the movie (me!) They love a movie and then read the book because of their love for the movie. They may hate the book, but continue to love the movie, or they may have read the book first and watched the movie because of the book and found it to be a mockery of the book's excellence.

They will, of course, make their opinions as to whether the book or the movie is better known to the world and will argue their opinion until the other person gives up.

NEITHER ARE BETTER!

This type of person believes that neither movies or books are worth their time. If they have access to both of these things and continue to live this lie, they are an uncultured swine and you should avoid them at all costs. (I don't want to argue with these people, they scare me...)

However, if you have the time and patience, you may be able to educate them otherwise. Be gentle with these people, for they have not know the pure joy or heartbreak of a book, nor have they abandoned popcorn because of how engrossed they were in the movie. This means that they may become an emotional wreck when they experience these things for the first time. They are likely to take this out on you, for you were the one to introduce them to such things. It is your fault and you must take the blame.

They may either submit and become one of the first three categories, or they may remain this way forever, preferring to carry out activities like exercise rather than do something worthwhile.

Which one are you? I think I am a part of the EITHER CAN BE BETTER category. I love books, but sometimes you just want to sit down and watch as Brad Pitt fights zombies or Tom Holland swings between buildings with his spider webs, with a massive bowl of popcorn (which has to be at least two or more servings per person) and a hot drink that will inevitably be forgotten about and get cold. (A little bit of advice, you can microwave a cup of coffee at least twice before it no longer tastes like coffee!)

Bye for now!