The Witty Writer

When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.

“Damn, I felt that knife was in my heart though there was no pain”. Talked to himself Jake.
This is his 50th book, the Picture of Dorian Gray. Every time he reads a book, he lives the life of the protagonist.
Jake was a high school student. He was a brilliant and charming boy who aced in every exam. Although, he was always alone in school and he never tried to become friends with other students. He was quite popular due to his academic and sports achievements. Teachers always admired him and were glad that a genius is in their classes. He was attractive with chocolate boy’s features, long hair, white face, and sharp personality.
But he had a secret that he can live a life of protagonists of any book if he wants to. He has been living the lives of different characters since last 1 year and lived 50 lives. He told about this to his sister Nancy, the reason is that after living a few lives, he wanted to share because he became anxious for not sharing. The problem with this power is that if the book gets closed then, he will be stuck in that story for eternity. The physical body seems to be reading but mentally he is in book living a life of protagonist.
Every time he finishes a book, it becomes part of him. Jake thought all the time about diving into a book and became addicted.
“Jake”, his mother knocked on the door and entered into his room.
“Oh my god, Jake I have told you so many times that you should keep your books on shelves and what mess you have created here. And for god’s sake go out and enjoy” Cried his mother.
“I don’t want to go out mother” sighed Jake.
“You have to that’s an order and I don’t want you to be a book warm and lets come down for diner” scolded his mother.
His mother was right, the whole room looked like a library and books were everywhere. The curtains were always down and the room seemed to be a cell. He had more than 500 books scattered in the room. There were 5 books in his bed. Indeed he slept with the books.
“What is new, Jake?” asked Nancy while chewing food.
“Nothing new, sister” replied awkwardly.
“Let’s finish dinner first and Jake help with the dishes tonight” asked Mom.
“Not again” bawled Jake.
They finished dinner. When they were doing dishes Jake’s Mom whispered.
“I see, you made a girlfriend in school” Smiled.
“What”.
“I know about your little friend and she came today when you were in school. She was pretty though. So, you did not want your mother to know about her?” Chuckled Mom.
“I don’t have any girlfriend, Mom” disagreed Jake.
“I knew, you would say something like that” Smiled Mom.
She handed over a note to Jake.
“This is a letter that girl left and she specifically told me that please don’t open this letter and give it directly to Jake.” Chuckled Mom.
“I don’t know any girl and I hardly talk to anyone in school. Who is she?” thought curiously Jake.
“Go now and read your love letter” chuckled Mom.
Jake went upstairs and opened the letter.” My love Jake, I know you might feel surprised that I came to your home and left a letter instead of talking to you in person. My name is Penny. I am in love with you since you became Dorian Gray.
For a moment, Jake was shocked and could not believe what he was reading.
I know about your secret and I also have power just like yours. Can we meet tomorrow after school? By the way, I am in your class”
Jake read the letter twice but he was still in shock. I never told about the power to anyone, how did she know about it?
He hurried to his sister’s room.
“Did you tell anyone about my secret? Accused Jake.
“What the hell you are talking about and why would I say to anyone. No one was going to believe me anyway” snapped Nancy.
Jake handed over the letter to Nancy.
After reading the letter, Nancy became speechless and asked Jake to confront her. She suggested that meet her and ask for details, how she found out.
The next day, the first time in his class, he was paying attention to attendance, and finally he found that Penny was sitting right next to him.
He stared at her and wanted to ask something but words could not come out of his mouth.
“Don’t stare at my prince charming. I get nervous” whispered Penny.
Jake became anxious. He did not stare at her in the whole class and waited for class to get dismissed.
Finally, the sound of the bell dismissed the class.
“Let’s go” asked rudely Jake.
Penny followed Jake and they went into an empty classroom.
“How did you know about my secret and why did you come to my home” exposed Jake.
Penny went ahead and hugged Jake.
“You sound just like Dorian” whispered while hugging.
Jake removed her hands and stared at her in anguish.
“Can you answer first?” inquired Jake.
“This is typical Dorian and I like you more now” replied Penny.
I have known for a while about your secret. Destiny always makes people together when they have something in common. I wanted to make sure that you have similar power so I spied on you. When you were in the last book I was observing through the window. You were motionless for more than 2 hours and when you came back, you put your hand on your heart and gasped. Then, I knew for sure because I did the same when I read Lolita. I always wanted to share my secret but I knew no one would believe me.
“How many books have you gone through?” interrupted Jake.
“20 books” replied Penny.
“I know you must have lived more than 50 stories” asked Penny.
Yes.
“Now I must leave” insisted Jake.
“We should meet more often” asked Penny.
“Sure” smiled Jake.
They started meeting more frequently. Penny visited several times at Jake’s place. Jake could not keep away his love for Penny. They started living the stories together and their bond became stronger.
Jake told everything about Penny to Nancy. She was happy for his brother and finally, someone shared the same secret as his brother.
One day, Penny suggested that we should go for Norwegian Wood. You can be Toru Watanbe and I can be Naoka. Jake never read Japanese novels and always wanted to explore. They both decided that they would spend a night together and dive into Norwegian Wood.
The night arrived and Penny came to Jake’s place around 8 o’clock. They had dinner with Jake’s Mom and Nancy. They laughed a lot while having dinner and Penny even helped his mother in cleaning dishes.
“Mom, we are going to study the whole night so please don’t disturb us” asked Jake.
“Sure” Smiled Mom.
Jake wanted that Mom does not enter into his room while they were in the book. So, he told Nancy to look after his mother and don’t let her come in.
Jake and Penny went upstairs and without wasting time dived into the book.
After an hour, Jake’s Mom made some coffee for them. She went upstairs and knocked few times but no one answered. That made her worried. She opened the door with a spare key and found that both were sitting opposite to each other motionless and in front of a book.
The sound of key unlocking realized Nancy that Mom might have entered into Jake’s room. She ran upstairs.
She reached the door and screamed. “No”