You were always there...

I miss you.

When uprooted myself to a place which provided bread and butter to my family go for the past 20+ years,  I never thought I will have to miss you. At the age of six we became acquaintance and then best friends. When I joined a boarding school, you saved me from homesickness and tucked me safe from all those seniors/old boarders scenario. When they saw me with you, they tagged me as a quite girl for which they regretted very soon. Later on, even when homesickness rolled itself and went under the bed, you helped me to get through all those long boring study hours which were strictly monitored by the Bride's of God who reminded me of jail wardens.

Even when childhood days went far behind, you were beside me saying,  "There's still so much of myself for you to discover". We used to meet at the most sophisticated places, where I saw a very polished and shining version of yours and also among the street vendors where I saw an tired, worn out but yet an experienced side of yours. And till date I don't know which one I prefer cos I loved both.

But now, here where you could see skyscrapers and architectural wonders, where you get the best coffee/chocolates/anything or the original/duplicates of the most modern brands, I couldn't find you.

Oh! Dear Library, you can't even imagine how terribly I miss you. And that's when I was forced to turn to your grandchildren. Even thou they serve the purpose, I miss touching you. Miss getting drowned in your smell and going to sleep hugging you. The excitement of holding a new book, the ecstasy of the smell of old books, the pride of seeing a ever growing pile of books at the favourite corner of my house is something your new generation could never offer. But still I'm grateful that they are here to give me companionship like their ancestors.

Thank you so much for taking me to your world and gifting me yourself when I was kid and still pampering me as if I'm a child. You are the best thing that happened to me.

This post is written for Write Tribe's Wednesday Prompt: The Smell of Old books