(Just a few simple thoughts of what will happen to the books I mailed out to winners of my Goodreads’ giveaway.)

I packed and sealed you in a cardboard box,

Love and time and tears and patience constructed the story between your covers,

I post you to a new destination,

but what will become of you, my book?

A cardboard box inside a mail box waiting for a hand to pull it out.

A look of curiosity will strike the face first, “What is this?”

She’ll read the label and remember the giveaway.  A slight smile settles on her face, but is it a foretaste of what is to come?

What will happen when she opens the package?

Will she laugh with delight and marvel at the colorful tones of the cover?

Will he fan the pages over his face to take the new book for its first ride?

Will it sit on the kitchen counter throughout the day for all family members to flip through to see the new edition?

Will it end up on a nightstand for some pre-snooze reading and will the pages awaken the weary-eyed heart, keeping her up until the wee hours of dawn trying to decipher  the motives of mean Mr. Frick from Manhattan?

I sent you off in good faith. Hoping to share a little joy, a jaunt of adventure to help one escape the mundane qualities of another Monday.

I hope laughter comes and excitement builds. I hope frustration mounts when book one climaxes. Perhaps it even falls off the bed as she mutters “Ahhh, what’s going to happen? When does book two come out?”

Will a helping hand hold out the book and offer it to a friend, “You should read this. I never heard of this author, but I really enjoyed it. The second book is coming out soon.”

Can one book’s lifespan become two or multiply to more?

You have much potential, sitting inside a cardboard box, riding in the back of a postal truck. Limitless in hope.

Or

will

it …

be thrown on a book shelf, sandwiched between 75 Recipes from Tuscany and an unread Louis L’amour?

What will become of you, my book?