The Waynesburg University Writing Center is proud to announce the winner of the Banned Books Writing Contest: Oksana Hastings. Oksana is a sophomore at Waynesburg and an English (creative writing) major. Congratulations, Oksana!
Reader’s Nation by Oksana Hastings
I was born with a wooden skin, that was carefully crafted into the Bookshelves. It was not painful. We do not have a nervous system before we install our libraries; we gain them afterward, making the shelves the source of our living emotions, including pain. We install wood panels that we fill with Books that the Great Masters of Judgment permit us to read, and that’s how our bodies are destined to live. Readers are creatures that are not only fed by words printed by publishing companies, but our hearts also depend on them.
I was a baby when I was fed my first word. My mom read fairytales that I cherish by carrying the same Book on my temple as if it were a part of my brain. Growing up, I felt proud to be a member of Reader Nation. I honorably carried all the books that I was consuming in my bodily library, wishing that I could get an upgrade and expand my capacity so I could fit more Books.
Every evening, I would stand in front of the mirror, touching my shelves, and counting the Books that I had gathered. I would always trace my fingers over the colorful spines, especially of those books that were shimmering with gold light—life-supporting ones. Those books created my spirit and were one of my favorites to reread. They always filled me with a special sense of human life, teaching me how to love, feel, and be alive.
One day everything changed. I was called to the hospital; my mom was dying from a Book deficiency that was crucial for a Reader. I rushed myself to the hospital, confused. How could this happen? No one has ever died from this since the Modern Age. All books were cherished, and Reader Nation was in its blooming period. But she was indeed dying. I saw her pale face and empty body. I shuddered. “They took my life-supporting books; the Great Master of Judgement decided that they were too dangerous for society” – were her last words that she spilled dying on the cold bed.
Disaster followed—Judgement police were ripping the books out of our bookshelves, taking our hearts, and burning them in the hellfire. I was hiding, fearing that my books would be next, and my heart would be ripped by the Great Masters. Many died in the fight to protect their life-supporting Books from being disposed of by Moral Priest. The act of eating Book by Book became unholy and forbidden. It led us to hide in old catacombs to fill ourselves up with needed literature. “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door... Who knows who the target of the well-read man might be?” - said Ray Bradbury in the book that I carry close to my heart. The Great Masters of Judgement fear that we are armed by words and will disrupt the order, but we will be fools to not protect what’s ours.
