Appearances

As you step into the room you notice the shelves. Cluttered and broken, you move your attention. You notice the books themselves.

The pages are all tattered, the words faded and worn. The binding is withered, the cover is torn.

Instead of stopping to read, you shift your gaze. Trapped within this complex, as though it's a maze.

How elegant is the furniture? Of the highest degree. How delicate are the curtains? Just touch them and you will see.

It's a shame to have these books in such a fancy palace, you pick them up and throw them in the trash. You never lose your balance, all you see around you are paintings made of cash.

Several years pass, you come back to this once marvelous castle. At first you notice the bookcase. Still sad and in shambles. Everything appears untouched, just as you left it. You walk through this maze once more, examine every item and check it. 

How lonely this palace has become. You stroke a once elegant painting and it crumbles under your thumb.

The furniture is decaying, the tile is cracked. The walls are peeling, the debris is stacked.

All that once shined now sits covered in layers of dust and despair. Where there once was prosperity, failure hangs in the air. Your heart is sunk, your smile is gone. Your treasures are now junk, the night seems long.

But in all this haze you notice some books. Cast aside as if trash, you take a closer look.

The pages are filled with knowledge, the love in the words fills your heart. You look around at the humble cottage, and an idea hits a spark. Your gather all the furniture and all the paintings. You place them in a pile full of trash. You pick up the gas, pour it out. And burn everything till it's ash.

You examine the burnt surroundings. Acknowledging that it's true. Everything in that room burned to the ground. Except for the tattered books that left with you.