They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. Throughout the years, I’ve discovered this to be true. I cannot remember the exact moment when I recognized that shaping stories is what I excel at, and what I have a bold desire for. However, I do faintly recall the fading memory of when my grandfather gifted me the notebook when I was so young. It sparked a greater thirst in my heart that could only be quenched with words, beautiful and wonderful.
The book was bound in rich, dark leather worn smooth from years of vigorous, passionate use. Shimmering words twirled across the cover in a gracefully intricate dance, each golden letter mischievously winking in the lamp light. A clinging, strong scent of pen ink was molded onto the pages of the book, overpowering the feeble smells of coffee and leather that also stuck to it. The thin, yellowing pages of the notebook were marvelous, each one filled with thick, swooping scrawls of elaborate vocabularies and imaginations.
I remember my grandfather passing the notebook to me in that slow and steady grandfather way until I had the heirloom resting cautiously in my lap. Suddenly I could feel something small and timid flutter inside me as my fingers traced the grooved leather bindings, fascinated by this one simple item.
“You have permission to open it up, silly girl.” My grandpa laughed his usual warm, teasing chuckle that always made my lips tug up into a smile.
Focused intently on the aged notebook, I gently turned the thick cover over and revealed the first magical, enchanting page. A list of carefully drawn names from our family’s past occupied the paper.
“Once you fill some of these blank pages,” he began, absentmindedly fingering through a few pages in the book, “you can sign your name in this front part, too.” He returned to the beginning section that hosted all of the elegant signatures.
Wide-eyed, I questioned, “Really?” The shy fluttering inside of my chest unexpectedly took flight and soared. I suddenly wanted to write, and never stop.
“Really,” was the satisfied response.
Still clutching my gift, I glanced up to meet my grandfather’s amused, wise gaze. His Oklahoma sun weathered face seemed to crinkle into a smile like the worn pages bound in the notebook. My notebook. I was suddenly overwhelmed with giddiness, and my face broke out into a childish grin as I gazed fondly at this newfound treasure. “Thank you so much,” I whispered.
However, just like my beloved grandpa, the notebook is just a memory now, its beautiful stories all sadly fleeting from my mind. Maybe one day I will rediscover my special book when the time is correct, and be able to treasure its contents once more.
Right after my signature is finally placed under my grandfather’s name, of course.
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137,476 Literary Works • 672,034 Reviews
sorry.. network problem..
hi there..
keep writing!!
its a good piece of writing,short and sweet.
it's a good emotional flow. is this like a flashback or something..?
the grandpa part gives a feeling like its real..
"i recognized that shaping stories is what I excel at, and what I have a bold desire for. "
that is a really inspiring start.
that is why we all are here in the YWS..!
"each golden letter mischievously winking in the lamp light"
"the feeble smells of coffee and leather"
"yellowing pages"
it is a beautiful and artistic description.
it has a clear picture and it is wonderful to read.
good luck
Hey Stormsy! This is a great piece. I love the imagery and feeling that you put into "Bound In Leather". I could picture everything so clearly.
Great job! Keep writing! I thought this is a beautiful short story.
Jack
Hey AfterTheStorm!
First of all - YWS Default Background members unite! Haha.
Anyway, this piece was an amazing read. The title is captivating, and the story just sucked me in further, even though it is short. Especially since everyone (I hope) on this site has a passion for writing, stories like these are greatly loved to bits.
I am a part of that group of people. So naturally, I liked this. I liked the beginning especially, where it started off just talking about how enchanted they are with writing. Then the whole notebook that the grandpa gave the protagonist. That was a cool little addition to the story.
Is it a true story? Just wondering. If so, that's amazing. If not, still amazing how you wrote it out. Now that I rambled aimlessly about how much I liked it, let's get into the critiquing.
I didn't find any grammar mistakes or anything. The only thing I want to mention is the ending.
~ I felt like this was a bit rushed. It went from her saying thank you to a few more sentences of sort of forced information. Maybe if/when you go in and edit this, you can expand it a little more and it won't be so rushed?
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. You don't have to change anything about what I critiqued if you don't want to. Sorry I wasn't of much help. But happy review day and keep writing!
Yours till the Chocolate Chips,
Snow
Yeah, sadly I had a word limit for this piece. The ending is a bit rushed, I agree, but now I can edit it and extend the conclusion.
Hey there! Happy review day fellow Defaulty.
I usually avoid short stories and novels when reviewing, and get to them towards the end of review day, but I kept noticing this one, and I liked the title and the description. And then I read it, and I am so glad I did.
I love the beginning. Right from the start you have me hooked because writing and a passion for writing are things that I can identify with very much. I love reading and writing about writing.
And notebooks. I love notebooks. Especially special ones like the one you write about. (Except if I had had that notebook, I would have filled all the leftover pages and my name would be the last one written.)
My biggest critique: I feel like the ending was abrupt. Like you were carrying the story and adding details and it was beautiful, but then you just kind of ended with no information. I mean, what happened to the notebook? The grandfather? (well, I guess you did mention that). Did the narrator keep writing? In the notebook? Did he or she find other notebooks to write in as well?
What happened? What was the point of the story?! I want more! The ending was too abrupt and the story was too good to end so suddenly.
So yeah. I love it, I didn't want it to end.
-Knight Cailey.
Hello there Storm! Cheetah here, ready to review your piece!
This was really good! It's definitely a short story, but it's so poetic- it's beautiful. I love the way you describe the pen and notebook. The wonderful feeling they give you is something I think every writer can relate to.
I also loved the way you expressed the relationship between the girl and her grandfather. You could tell that they truly cared for each other and I really liked that.
There were only a couple things I would change. In the second paragraph you mention "elaborate vocabularies and imaginations." To me this sounds a bit odd. I would say elaborate vocabulary instead of vocabularies and imagination instead of imaginations, but if the way you wrote it is part of your style, don't worry about it. That's uniquely your own.
It seems that in the ninth paragraph there's a small error. In the start of the third sentence it says "My". I don't know what it's supposed to be, but it didn't look like it belonged, so I thought I'd point it out.
All in all, this was really good, thank you for sharing! You're a very talented writer!