I was the kid who went to the library to read at lunch and got so caught up in the story I forgot to go to class when the bell rang.I would get caught up in the emotion and images in the story. I completely lost any sense of a point in time and space.

After lunch had ended, and the bell had rung, and the spaces between classrooms had emptied of kids, I would pull back from complete immersion in a created world, to back here in this one. The library would be completely empty, silent. Not much consequence when you rush to class late and your excuse is I was so caught up in a book I forgot… The focus and immersion was total.

When I’m lucky, it still is.

— spence