the tears of a lonely book

this is inspired by Karissa's blog entry:

in a certain book and school supplies store in a certain mall, there lay in wait a thick book that no one understands.
everyday, it'll wait patiently for someone to finally pick it up. days passed. at some point during its wait, it saw a young boy who often stood in front of it; reading the titles of the books near it. it hoped that he'll be the one. for 2 years straight, that boy went to the bookshop and browsed the titles again and again. after that he never came back to that part of the store again.
the book only saw glimpses of that boy. only glimpses.
the book thought that it'll never again feel hope.
all seemed lost.
the book got transferred to another part of the store a year later. it met new books there and never the ones it was once with. the book felt lonely.
when will i get over this hopelessness? it often find itself asking.
as if answered, a smiling little boy, a bit younger than the first, came and looked through the shelves. his eyes stopped on the book and a smile appeared wider than ever.
the book wanted to smile at the little boy, if only he could see it.
the boy flipped the first page and started reading.
imagine! someone was reading the book! it could have died away of happiness. if only it could.
"Ran," an older man called out from the counter, "you're going to be late. put that book down."
with that, the little boy named Ran placed the book carefully back to its place.
"i'll come back later," the boy told the man.
he'll come back and read me again. the book thought hopefully. if only Ran could know how that meant for the book.
but there was a little pang of sadness that welled inside the thick book: what if he won't come back?
the boy did come back the next day and the day after that. the book was so happy. the boy kept on reading the book: there were moments that the boy would laugh so hard and there were times that his eyes showed concern and sympathy.
please buy me. the book thought as the boy read nearly half of the book. if only it could reach the boy's ears.
"so," the owner of the store approached him,"did you find the book you wanted?"
Ran smiled that most innocent smile, "yes, i did."
finally, he's going to buy me!
"okay," the owner went back to the counter, "bring it here so that i can wrap it for you."
with that, Ran closed the book with a smile.
the book could have cried of happiness. finally, someone understands.
but the book was puzzled when the little boy placed the book back to the shelf and took the one beside it towards the counter.
the book could have been heart-broken if it had a heart. it could have jumped off the shelf if only it had a life to waste.

it was only wishful thinking that someone would understand, enjoy and, probably later, buy the book. the lonely book titled, "if only i could".