Sweet Dreams
V.
The shop always smells like paper that’s lived too long, Not of just new books. The crisp clean kind people pretend to love but older ones too. Worn old books softened with time, the kind that carry time in their pages like it settled there and refused to leave. It clings to the air, mixing with the dust on the higher shelves I don’t bother reaching anymore, as the scent settles into the wood, the shelves, and my clothes.
It’s quiet here…