I need breathing as much as I need oxygen. I need the stories, the characters, and the sweet release from reality. I have truly lived a thousand lives, and I know a thousand more await me hidden between the pages of books. I have gone to space, traveled the world, felt joy and heart-wrenching sadness through books. I have made incredible friends, and lost them too. And I love it all. But what I love most is the magic. Some days I can hardly stand the white noise that is reality. How can I when I have fought dragons, visited castles, flied, and traveled through space and time? Reading is s long-needed breath. A break. An opportunity to shed your skin and become someone else. Reading is the much-looked for escape that I need from the tediousness of real life. Sometimes I think I'd rather be doing something extraordinary, like one of my favorite characters, than study for a topic I won't remember in a few days. But we only have this life, and so we must take what we can from it. And, because we ourselves don't get to save the world, we do it through the pages of books. And it is wonderful.