CHERUB

            My first experience reading books was when I was in the fourth grade. When I came to Arkansas, I barely knew any English words except the basics. Thus making new friends was a bit difficult for me due to the large language barrier and also found myself craving my old, best friends' crazy "pep talks". However, as time passed, I quickly learned how to expressed myself to others especially my old neighbors, who taught me to be myself, using crazy hand gestures and convey my emotions through capricious, and hilarius expressions.
             When we moved out of our apartment to a brand-new house, it greatly impacted my life due to the fact that I spent most of my childhood days playfully sneaking to the nearby golf course that occupied near our old home picking up abandoned balls that was scattered across the lawn. At that time of my life, sitting down and reading books didn't really interested me because I was too engrossed trying out new things that wasn't readily available in my previous life like patiently waiting for the snow to come.
               However, as I grew older, I became more aware of my surroundings especially when I finally had to register to a school that was so strange and extrinsic to me. Furthermore, this caused me to retreat to my own solitude, barely making small conversation or eye contacts with my peers. Then out of the blue, I vaguely remembered picking up a small, paperback book just out of curiosity and flipping it to the first page. By then I was suddenly captured to the world of Peter Pan and the Starcatchers finding myself battling fierce pirates on the open ocean, and racing to uncover the mysterious treasure chest. All of the sudden, I was hooked. Reading abruptly became a part of my daily routine rather than causing mischievous deeds throughout my neighborhood. It kept me grounded and a way to escape my nagging mother locking myself in the attic with a freshly, mystery book tucked under my arm along with a flashlight, and blankets.
               My vocabulary gradually increased similar to the stacked of books that was displayed along my nightstand. My confidence also grew that I find myself casually chatting to my classmates about interests that my old, timid self would never do. Most of the books that I was attracted too was fantasy books especially the Charlie Bone and the Percy Jackson series. It caused me sleepless nights as I kept making predictions of what would happen next because the following book wasn't published yet.
                As I grew into an adolescence, my perspective of books changed from an addictive substance to a distant and unfamiliar idea. I don't really know what effectively caused the bizarre transition but it deprived me from my love for reading. Like my old, childish self, I became engrossed in other things like my increasingly infatuations with soap operas, and sleeping. However, reading will always be a large chunk of my life whether being obsessibly dependent on the subscribed magazines that I eagerly waited to update me the latest gossips or a forgotten fictional, paperback series that has been gathering dusts bunnies under my bed ever since.