If I had a bookstore...maybe when Wynwidyn Press gets a bit bigger! :) |
If I were to have a bookstore it would have multiple levels disconnected from each other, circular staircases and odd places to curl up. I would have a cat to read over shoulders and tickle people with its whiskers, a fireplace that was always burning, and twinkle lights against a navy blue ceiling. I would encourage browsing putting Dr. Seuss next to Macbeth and C.S. Lewis next to Lewis Carroll. I'd mix Mara McBain, Kathryn Scott and Ann Rice together because I could. I;d have Alyndoria tucked inside a tree house guarded by a faery wearing a gown of orange leaves. There'd be a sleepy ole basset hound snoring near the fire as it shared its pillow with an equally sleepy child. I would have a wandering violinist playing the classics or an Irish jig depending upon my mood and an unending supply of coffee, smarties and, yes, life savers-- in case someone starts drowning in words. If I were to have a bookstore it would never close in case someone, somewhere, absolutely needed something to read. It would have growing trees and skylights, fairy doors and a secret tunnel to a reading nook. There would be chalkboards and colored chalks so people could scrawl their favorite quotes across the wall and a three story fish tank with seahorses galloping across seaweed mountains. We would have a 'name the cat and dog (maybe even the fish)' contest with a prize of free books. The only rule being the name must fit, be unusual and both the dog and cat must like it too. (For they would, you see--in my bookstore! If I had a bookstore I'd have paths of cobbled stone rather than aisles, daffodils peeking out of crooked shelves and a mouse (to amuse the cat). I'd have a hammock with mounds of turquoise and magenta pillows, at least one tarnished genii lamp with a polished place for rubbing, strings of wooden beads and hanging butterflies that would dance when someone opened the front door. If I were to have a bookstore magic would be the rule, conversations expected and unscheduled naps ignored. Owls would peer down from Eldertree branches, and children would try to find the hidden wizard. Antique trunks would overflow with written treasures, and ancient bottles would snatch the sun. If you listened carefully, you could hear all the words in the world spinning and tumbling from mind to mind. If I were to have a bookstore it would be halfway down a flower-lined alley with a number like 3 1/2 and a name like Forgotten Lane or Wysteria Way. No signs needed for everyone would know exactly how to get there and, if they didn't, they'd get lost until the Tome Patrol rescued them by hot air balloons with skyhooks. If I had me a bookstore Camelot would joust with Neverland, Scheherazade would whisper to Aesop and Copernicus would leap Vernian mountains to treat with Gandolf over croissants and slithy toves. Boxcar children would peek out from between the shelves and a grandmotherly clock would strike thirty-seven and three quarters. Mothers would rock sleepy children in over-sized rocking chairs while they read of Pernese dragons or Secret Gardens. If I had a bookstore, If I had a bookstore, I'd hope you'd come and meander while I would be somewhere on the third or possibly the eleventh floor hiding in plain sight lost in a book. |