The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Narrative & Memoir 27 Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. Anthony Horowitz had redefined my identity by projecting me into his “Alex Rider” books. I don’t remember how I obtained the first book, but it didn’t matter, as soon as I read the first chapter of Stormbreaker, I was hooked. I devoured all nine of Alex’s missions as fast as I could. I felt the confusion when the Russian, Yassen, killed his loving uncle. I felt the adrenaline when Alex was chased by a shark into an underwater cave where he discovered the secret entrance to the fortress. I felt the depression that came with knowing his father used to be an assassin. And when tears stained his face with the death of his closest friend, my heart was broken. The Alex Rider series is one of the most memorable I’d ever read. He had the gadgets, he had the wit, and he had the adventurous life a young boy, like myself, dreamed of. As I grew older and life became busier, I fell away from the books that inspired me to write creatively. Life told me that reading takes too much time and isn’t beneficial in the “real world”. As a result, I stopped writing. Just a couple of days ago I was assigned the book The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read. I put it off like it was a chore, I don’t have time to read, but once I read the first two chapters, I once more became that little boy who couldn’t put his books down. I used to have a difficult time writing, but now, the emptiness of a blank page no longer begs the impossible, rather, it proposes a challenge. The challenge to let my creativity flow, to defeat the villain and take back the key to my imagination. I am no longer scared to write because I know there is no incorrect answer. I write, I read, and that little boy rejoices to be set free on every new adventure.