An Angel, A Devil, and Another Day At My Favorite Bookstore

It’s a fun morning because I’m shopping for a good book. A really yummy book, even though I’ve put myself on a book buying diet. Because otherwise, I’ll gorge. And this is never pretty.

So, I’m standing in the children’s book department (where else?), drooling. One book today, I keep reminding myself. And I do, indeed, have one book in my grasp. A book that I must have. But then, in a moment of weakness, I reach for another.

“No, no,” a sweet-voiced angel on my right shoulder whispers in my ear as my fingers brush the binding. “Only one book. Remember?”

I pull my hand back.

“One? No way,” a little devil by my left ear screams. “Look at all those delicious titles,” he points out. “Ahhh, all those beautiful covers.”

True, I concede as I reach for the second book again.

“You can only read one at a time,” the angel reminds me.

The devil spits. “That’s crap. You can read multiple books. Be greedy. Indulge. Go for it. Take a few days off from writing and just read. Mmmmm.”

The angel shudders at this idea. I gasp. Days off from writing? Whoa.

“You know you want more books,” the devil prods.

I take one more. Just to look at it.

“That’s why God made libraries,” the angel counters.

Libraries. Yes, a good point, I decide as I return the third book to the shelf.

“But you can’t underline or write notes in library books,” says the devil. “You can’t keep them.”

I’m mulling this over when he adds, in a taunting tone: “You want people to buy DOG GONE, don’t you? BUCK FEVER, too? Eh? Return the favor. It’s only money.”

Well, um, sure, of course I want people to buy my books. But— Wow, now I’m feeling really uncomfortable. I lift another book. It trembles. Yet I love the feel of it in my hands. The clean, crisp pages. Yes, I feel better. I pick up another. Just one more.
The angel sighs. The devil snickers. I reach for my credit card. And so it goes. Another day at my favorite bookstore.