An excerpt of "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end?"

by Titus Villanueva

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future. She couldn't wait so she began to read:

The chapter began:

Sally was bored after she studied for her English exam on the works of William Shakespeare. It included details on his plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. She was sitting on her bed which was made of pine wood, a goose feather mattress and included a blue blanket, a green bed sheet and two normal sized pillows all made of cotton fabric.

She began reading the piece on her reading:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks

That Flesh is heir to?

'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep...

To sleep indeed... She couldn't take it anymore so she got up on her wooden tiled floor which was made of six by six inch square tiles composed of three equal sized pieces of pine. She felt the cold wooden floor touch her feet as she stepped down; right foot first then the left. It was a cold night, and she felt like she needed to read a good book to keep her awake. One chapter would do the trick. She walked exactly one meter to her bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. It was made of black plastic bolted to the wall with steel screws. She looked at her collection as she moved her finger across the titles.

Her finger traced through Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, seven Stephen King titles: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The Wastelands, Wizard and Glass, The Wolves of The Calla, The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, five Dan Brown titles: Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Deception point then one book that wasn't there before. It was the biggest and heaviest book in her collection. She picked it up with all her might and placed it on her desk. The title read: "If someone handed you a book that was a detailed account of your life... Would you read it til the end? by Titus Villanueva.". She had never seen that book before and nowhere had she ever seen a book as heavy and thick. She flipped it over and saw the synopsis.

It read:

Sally, this is a book that chronicles your entire life in complete detail. All your memories since your birth until all future events that will lead to your death. It's up to you if you want to continue reading this book. Think of it as my gift to you, you've been quite a character. I thought this could be the least I could do for you for helping me alleviate my boredom. It is a record of everything you have tasted, felt, read and spoken as well as those of your future. I have tried to be as detailed as I could in recording everything you have and will experience. You may open it on any page you like. -The Author

Sally didn't know what to think. She could learn anything from this book. Who she would marry, how she would die and even recall things she had long forgotten. She turned to the first page:

Sally was born in a hospital room on the 7th floor of the St. Stephen's Hospital in Maine to Martha and Daniel. The room was small, but clean. The bed was made of...

She stopped reading from that point. As she closed the book, she wondered what she could do with such knowledge. This truly was a detailed record of her life. Every book she ever read and every song she ever heard, recorded as detailed as detailed could be. Her fingers turned the book to the middle of the book. She was surprised to find that the book's narrative fell on the very day she found the book; today. The idea was clear. All she needed to do now was to read the book from that point forward and she'd know everything that would happen to her in the when she got older. She had always been obsessed with her future-

Sally died.