Nastya went on a subway to drive to her work. It is crowded with people as usual. At the same time if you pay attention you might find something interesting. An elderly woman, a man in a strict coat, a group of students sitting on the sidelines - they are all united by one small detail. In this crowded underground world of fuss, the mix of train, music, and people sounds they read books. "St. Petersburg is still considered to be the cultural capital of Russia”, she thinks to herself. This is her world and she is glad that there are people who share it with her.
Nastya loves this part of her day. Under the melodic knock of the train wheels with a book in her hands, she gets into a new world - the one her imagination creates.
It all started when she was a kid and she smiles remembering that sweet and easy part what was her childhood. Mom always said that any children games, even family gatherings and celebrations Nastya was always ready to exchange for reading. She did not demand new toys and dresses like other girls, but then it comes to books it was a different story. She would ask a new one as soon as she finished the one she had been reading.
She would picture herself as being Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother one day. The other day she would be a Merlin giving advice to King Arthur or Sebastian who protects Ariel from “The Little Mermaid”. She would pick heroes who always were supportive to the main characters and it was good for her, she did not want to be the main hero. It just was enough to know that you would play your part.
The girl would never miss a chance to read a book, and wherever the family went, her Dad always had to find a place in suitcases for a couple of them. She smiles now remembering once saying to her father: “If the books were not going, then she would not go either”. Standing here in the subway car she smiles remembering these arguments. The childhood was fun and full of stories.
For her reading books was as if she opens the door to the wonderful and amazing world of magic. That was a world of heroes, Princesses and Kings where the events are so tempting and interesting and for sure magic is happening. As she grew the books changed into some more serious topics. It was not Princes and Princess and fairies, it were stories of people, who lived in different ages, who lived so different lives yet all this was so new and exciting to her.
It was books that taught her life. After reading thousands of them, she learned to recognize that life is an interesting yet not simple thing. And that in one book was very positive, within the framework of the another turned out to be completely different and almost having a negative connotation. Heroes and heroines of books, albeit with similar characters, always had different paths within their stories.
Books taught her to understand people. Every time a new person whether man or woman entering the doors of her spacious office in the Bolshaya Konushennay Street in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Nastya could tell a lot of them. She would be as her favorite character Sherlock Homes to notice details, make the hypothesis to find out later that she would not be that t much distanced from the truth. The pose, the style of speech, the behaviour they show to her while interacting - all that not hide from her sight as books thought her to pay attention to any detail. People might be still a mystery to her, but the one that she could "read."
How often in books she saw various reversals of the plot - where everything was developing very well, suddenly a catastrophe occurred and vice versa. Wherever there was chaos and irritation, a completely new and fascinating perspective would suddenly appear and make a completely new direction to go. Everything was relative, unpredictable and interesting in the world of books. And this was not much different in life.
For many years in the pages of her favourite books the characters lived different lives, made every choice and came to the point when the book was coming to an end. For Nasty that was the part where real fun would start. She would come up with further stories herself and even discuss that with some of her friends. This part perhaps fascinated her even more than the reading itself. After all, it turned out that in a book a hero or a heroine were puppet puppets of the author, at the same time as when the book ended they became free from restrictions and with the help of her imagination could live their lifes.
She would often compare the heroes of books with people from life. It hard to blame her for it. It is after all part of what she does for the living. When a man who has been thinking all his life about being a lawyer is his dream comes to you and after several sessions, it turns out that this is a dream, not his though, but his parents. When a woman comes in tears because instead of “ they would live long and happy” her family resembles a battlefield. Nastya lives their life stories with them, she teaches them to find the verge where their life was dictated by some invisible author, and where a new chapter will begin where they are free to write their own stories. It is a favorite part of her life - to see when the heroes of Life chose their own way and make first steps on it.
The world of books is interwoven with the world of people more than she could have imagined in childhood. But it was the world of books that became the basis of the magic that she now brings in the lives of many people. After all, it was booked who made her a magic Fairy Godmother for many people in her life as if they knew and listen to her secret wish from the childhood.
PS: This is the story I was inspired by books I recently read as well as fantastic book art I found browsing the Internet.
I support @ecotrain project, which also use #ecotrain. I want to believe that more and more people will start to think about things that help to make the world a better place. (с)@ecotrain. I also hope that more and more writers on Steemit will support the movement started by @eco-alexand @icmultitudes . As I truly believe that we are one and helping others means you are helping yourself.
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