As I stood inside our apartment, reflecting on my first day of school and wishing it wasn't so cold outside, my mind wandered, searching for something to distract me from the loneliness beginning to crawl into my chest. It whispered:

Where is it?
That fulfilling food that feeds
my hungry, empty soul

Where is it?
The gift that takes all mundane words
and transforms them into wise wisps --
light blue and glowing in the dark.

Where is it?
The drop of water that will satiate
my incomprehensible thirst
for a tangible talent

There is a long, soul-searching pause
and then an answering whisper:
“It is in the pages of that book you clasp so tightly,
that closed book of memories in your heart.”