Reading is Fundamental

I have never in my twenty-seven years been interested in poetry, but somehow it has taken an interest in me over the last year. I don’t see how I haven’t been swept up in poetry sooner in my city poetry almost seems inescapable.

The craziest thing that has ever happened to me was surrounded by poetry. So, last summer I was looking to propose to my girlfriend Ashley. We were already dating for three years, living together for one and I had this feeling it was time to get more serious about our relationship. We work so well together it didn’t make sense to keep waiting. Ashley loves the simple things reading, flowers, and meaningful conversation. When I say I haven’t met anyone more low maintenance I mean it, but there is one thing she is pretty particular about, and she always quizzes me on it. Says “Caleb you know what ring I want” and I always reply “The one I can afford” we laugh for a second then she’ll cut her eyes playfully then I tell her exactly what she wants. A silver absolute round engagement ring placed in a floral halo setting just like the one her Nana got from her Pap Pap.

I had a whole plan; a long trip across town to the good jewelry store and recreating our first date. When I went to the store I only got as far as the display case when I realized her ring would be above budget. I even went to another store to see if I could get a similar ring for cheap. I saw a couple of nice ones but nothing got close enough to what my girl wanted.

So I’m sitting there weighing my options looking pitiful when the store clerk kept trying to sell me on the cheaper ring. I knew he was just trying to finalize the purchase but I decided to tell him the whole story; “If I wait to save up for the better ring I would have to wait another year to be able to propose on our anniversary, but if I get the wrong ring for time’s sake Ashley will think I don’t listen to her”. I told him all this so he knew why I couldn’t rush the decision. After about a half-hour of going back and forth over the options, the clerk suggested I sleep on it, and I agreed

While I was walking back to my car I kept replaying the perfect proposal over in my head. It would start with a bouquet of sunflowers, dinner off of Lake Montebello, and ends with a walk on the trail just like our first date did. The only difference the second time would be what kind of book she’d gets at the end of the night. The first time I gave her a black leather-bound book of poetry, that time it would be a black leather-bound journal with the first page reading Are you ready to write your vows? Halfway to the car, a bookstand caught my eye. It had a little black book on it sitting mid-shelf. It looked so much like the first book I gave Ashley. So, I went to see if it was. It wasn’t, it was even better! It was blank just how I seen it in my head. I knew this had to be a sign everything would work out. So, I bought the book in faith.

When I got home I spent more time fighting with myself. This time over whether or not I should write the proposal message now. I was a little scared I’d ruin everything if she found it early but I decided to write it anyway. This is where it gets crazy. I checked the book before I bought it and seen it was blank but when I went to write there were smudges on the first page. It was no big deal, I just ripped the first page out and move on to the second to find more smudging. At this point, I thumbed through all the pages to see if any were worth using. The journal didn’t cost that much I would have just bought a new one. I was midway through the book when I saw full writing. It read She won’t be ready to write her vows until you complete this mission. I was shook! I took some time just looking at the page though it then seemed just as blank as it did before, and Ashley was on her way home. I was wasting time by that time and had then only had45 minutes more alone. I locked our bedroom door and continued trying to write the message but the same smudges would appear followed by the first warning. I don't know why but I decided to read the airy writings. As I read each line the previous line would fade. It said:

Your mission is to make enough money to get Ashley’s ring. The only way to accomplish this in time is to follow each step in order without fail. You have but one chance to get this right.

At that point, I pulled out my phone and tried to capture the instructions before reading them but each picture came up blank.

You will be competing in a total of five poetry slams. The poems will be available at the time of each slam. The first one will give you all that you need to buy the ring but the failure to complete the other four will result in long-term misfortune.

There I was with only four months left before our first date anniversary a book of poems and no slam experience. It’s safe to say I was desperate. So I followed that daggon book across town to every poetry slam for a week and not only did I win every single one but won enough money for her ring our honeymoon. 20,000 dollars never came so easy. I wonder if I can find another book.