inside the rest of the story
he opened the oversized book halfway
and started to read midsentence
enunciating every single word perfectly
though the story had been told before
those wandering or lollygagging
suddenly stopped their senselessness
focused upon their sense of sound
it may not always be obvious but it is there
lingering in the background
muted or amplified or completely cut off
but whatever the circumstance
it will never leave your world
(but what of the rest of the story
all the little ones reiterated to the reader
their curious minds wanting to know
their voices quivering)
july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
Voices as quivers of arrows. Very clever.
This makes me think of the kid in The Neverending Story, reading in the attic of the school.
Someone like that is always surrounded by voices, even if they’re all inside his own head.
thank you for reading and commenting on this piece
so many ways to take this….hmmm
yes, indeed….
Nice
Thank you, Swapnil.
I have always tried to imagine if a story changes if you read it again.