The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

2016 Composition Contest Winnners 31 help books from the foreign language guides. The finger-printed metal shelves tower above you and you look down the little lane to see my grandma once again. Only this time instead of a car, she is seated at a quaint, wooden table – one of many – with a stack of assorted books looming in front of her. She herself is reading a seemingly religious biographical novel. Past her is a row of gleaming desktop computers and little containers of midget pencils standing guard next to each screen. You get up and move towards her whilst dragging your fingertips across the bindings of the books at your side. The pile of books at her table comes almost to her chin, which is a bit impressive considering she is quite tall. You decide to sit at the table and my grandma barely even moves. “No more than 12 today, Whit; remember you’re grounded till next week.” You look up at her to see her chuckle to herself as she mumbles about how silly that concept is – grounded from books. Your eyes trail over to the stack of books to find nine sitting lopsided and waiting to be checked out. Their topics spanning from manga to poetry to vegan recipes. You tug your feet up to balance on the edge of the seat as you grab the top book and begin to read. Being a manga book, it takes a bit of concentration at first to follow the story right to left instead of the way you have culturally learned. You soon get the hang of it and are transported to a new universe where things that cannot physically happen can and the unreal becomes real. As you finish the book, you close your eyes and sigh with contentment. When you open your eyes again, you’re standing before a large, Adler desk that is littered with various pencils and pens, a large write-on calendar, a tall, green Thermos beside a large Star Wars mug, and a tall yet slim plank of wood covered in scribbles. Letting the environment soak in, you notice a healthy amount of teenagers sitting in light tan student desks to the right of you. Witty posters cover the walls behind them with different things to say about Literature and Grammar. “Did you hear me, Herbs?” a voice says, interrupting your deduction of this being an English classroom. You swivel back forward to see my English teacher with his Italian features, dark hair and beard, Spiderman tie and a semi- professional outfit. “Not at all.” “As I was saying,” he sighs heavily, “you should broaden your literary horizons instead of reading Christian Vampire Romance Novels all the time.” You laugh at the funny term and assumption being made. “I’m being serious. Look