Читать книгу Help Me Hold Onto This - Zachary Leonard - Страница 2

When I met Zachary Leonard, it was through a mutual friend. At the time our friend worked for a since-closed pie shop in Denver, Colorado and it was at the bar there that we were first acquainted. I remember him hard at work typing on his laptop, a beer set in front of him, doing the familiar mental gymnastics that come with writing. I had come in to chat and luckily he welcomed a distraction in the form of my company, and I will always be grateful that he did. Almost immediately, it was clear to me that he was a storyteller. I remember sipping whiskey, my eyes wide open, in awe of some of the stories he told of his travels and his everyday life. Highlighting the chaos that can arise from the mundane and excitement of experiencing new places, he was the personification, for me, of what it meant to live a well-traveled, dramatic life, always prepared to keep on moving through hard times and never afraid to share.

A few years have passed now since that meeting, and I have come to hear so many more of Zachary’s stories, both real and imagined, and can not say how much of a pleasure it is to introduce this collection of them to you. I have heard what drives the ideas, discussed ways to develop them further, read drafts, and have been fortunate enough to be present for some of the events that inspired them. I can say, too, that this experience has truly helped me grow. Zachary’s words have given me an enhanced understanding of the depths that lie behind the tiny gestures and the nuances of our lives when they involve people that we love. We each, I believe, have a set of tiny somethings that mean the world to us, and you would be hard-pressed, reader, to finish this book without relating to it.

To put into words the little victories and the little deaths that make up characters with intimate, fulfilling, and, at times, troubled personal lives requires not only a deft craftsman but also an emotionally generous mind. Fiction, at its best, is here to take us through the experience of being someone else and then leave us feeling more connected to our worlds. With this volume, that is exactly what you can expect. These stories will place you behind the eyes of their characters and guide you through stories that underline the significance of moments both large and small, both good and bad. Whether from a gentle kiss on the forehead, an unexpected display of affection, an unwelcome diagnosis, or the process of learning to trust, it is through these stories I have come to understand that every aspect of our lives, every blip on the radar, is so much more meaningful than we may initially realize.

When you flip through these next few pages and dive into the experiences and imaginings of my dearest friend, I ask that you keep both your mind and your heart open. Since the first day I met Zachary, I knew I had to do the same that I ask of you, and he has only ever led me to a better understanding of him, of myself, and of the world around me. And truly, reader, when we sit down to enjoy fiction, isn’t that the point?