Whenever I am needing an escape I close my eyes and enter a world where I know I will have perfect peace and fellowship with the companions I love. I imagine the most private space with my friends, the books, surrounding me and who call out, ”choose me, choose me!”. Their clothes are multicolored yet elegant and although worn are perfect in their ageless beauty. Their birth names are unique and wonderful. I can smell their leather coats as I sit near the window looking out on the square. A perfect light and air surrounds me. The frenetic activity of the outside world recedes as I sink into a contemplative state where I could to stay for hours. Others walk down below but like a princess in a tower removed from the humdrum world, I watch and sit in a place where I am in a special place and those small people below are in the ordinary world. When the real world intrudes with the needs of the traumatized, I can close my eyes and sigh. The silent refuge of the library is precious because of them.
