REACH YOUR IMPOSSIBLE DREAM!

7. THE BOOKSHOP OF HOPE

A true story by Elie Molly*

No one ever feels alone in a bookshop ~ P. Fitzgerald

[1]

Beijing, 25 January 2020

Last week I watched a nice and inspiring movie entitled The Bookshop (2017). The movie told about Florence Green, a beautiful widow who risked everything to open a bookshop in a small town in England. The obstacles that she faced in making her dream come true somehow reminded me of my little experience in the past that I'd like to share with my readers. I hope it can rest us for a while from the coldness of Beijing winter and Coronavirus news. Inshaa Allah.

When I was studying for my bachelor's degree in Indonesia, my elder brother, who was in the same university like mine, got a chance to join a business contest in Jakarta, the capital city. He asked me to help him in making a financial analysis for his business proposal. He was chosen as the first winner of the contest and given a reward amount of money by Indonesia's president, who attended the celebration. We were so lucky and happy; my brother gave me some money from the reward he got. It was not a very big amount but also not so little. I asked myself how I would spend the money wisely. Then I discussed with my two best friends about the possibility of starting a business. We saw people in the town liked reading books, but the book prices were too high to afford to buy it. At that time, e-books were not easy to be accessed on the internet. So, we decided to open a book-rental shop near our campus where people could come to read and rent their favorite books at low prices.

We three girls, all wearing Hijab (headscarf), worked with great enthusiasm. We traveled from our campus in Bogor to Senen Market in central Jakarta, where we bought cheap books in new and old conditions. Under Jakarta's crazy heat (29-33 degrees Celcius), we bargained hard with the shops' owners to get the lowest prices. We returned to our campus with liters of sweats in our skins and hundreds of books in our hands. People in the subway laughed at us, the three cute Hijab girls struggling with super huge boxes full of books that were even bigger than our bodies. Hahaha.

Soon I was drowning in our new business. It was exhilarating to unpack the books and put them on the bookshelves. I didn't feel lonely to be with piles of books around me. There were famous novels written by Indonesian authors such as Asma Nadia and Helvy Tiana Rosa; American authors such as John Grisham and James Patterson; and Japanese comics authors. Our first collection was less than 1000 titles, then continued to increase by time and demands. When I got my first customers, it was like the happiest moment of the year. He was a young man whose favorite novels were Sidney Sheldon's, the same as mine. We talked for hours about the former American author, and he ended up renting a stack of books that made my empty drawer suddenly filled. Alhamdulillah, I was so happy.

After we graduated and got a Bachelor's degree, my best friend Mimi got a job in east Jakarta, under the former Minister of Forestry. I was so happy for her; she was close to one of the greatest men in our country Indonesia. I never thought that one day she would call me, "Molly, my boss Mr. Minister has a brother who is looking for a staff." I was so amazed! I sent my CV to her office. Several days later, the brother of Mr. Minister called me. He recruited me to be the leader of the team to open a college for an undergraduate program. I was so happy, but also a bit sad because I had to leave my beloved bookshop. I would miss my customers.

Before leaving for the new office, I hired a new manager for the bookshop. Her name was Selly, a beautiful Hijabi girl who was my schoolmate. Every weekend I visited her to collect the money and to add some new books to the shelves. Everything was fine in the first months; the income was not high but enough to pay costs. However, a tragedy came and ruined everything.

[2]

My dream was to have a bookshop with huge numbers of best-selling reads. I spent most of my monthly salary to develop my little bookshop. I continued to increase the books' collection from only less than 1000 titles until they reached 5000. All was to satisfy my customers and myself, since we are the book worms. My little bookshop was my heaven of hope until a tragedy came to ruin my dream.

One of my customers was a middle-aged woman who was a big fan of Agatha Christie. She always came to rent the novels with her 10-year-old son, who also liked reading. One day the boy came without his mother; he grabbed scissors on the desk and attacked Selly,, who was in charge of the bookshop. When other customers came, Selly was found fallen on the floor with her blood spread everywhere. People took her to the hospital nearby. One of them called me because I was away at my work when the tragedy occurred.

The police asked the boy why he did such a crime to the person he knew so well, and he replied, "Because I saw Sally counted the money and put it in the drawer. I want that money." Everybody wondered why such a kid could think about the action. People blamed his mother, who was too busy reading crime novels that she didn't take care of the kid, that she was not available to stop her child from committing such crime.

After several days of being hospitalized, Selly got better. She and her family decided not to bring the case to court. Instead of hating the boy, she forgave him and missed him so much because he used to come to the bookshop every day and read the books before he turned into an aggressor. Her patience so touched me; thus, while she was still in the hospital, I matched her with my elder brother's friend, a handsome guy who worked as government staff. They liked each other and got married several months later. Alhamdulillah, it was a blessing in disguise.

I lost my customers. The bookshop was moved to the new location near my office in the capital city Jakarta, but not many people came to rent the books. I got it moved again to another location, which was still not far from my workplace. The income was low even though it was enough to cover the operational cost. After three years, my best friends and I planned to close the bookshop, but suddenly something happened. I fell ill. I got a sickness that made me resign from my job as a college manager. My dream was ruined once again.

I took a rest at home for around a year. Not losing hope, I started to write books and to focus on running the bookshop. Alhamdulillah, my two best friends, let me become the only owner. I moved the bookshop to Depok, a city near the capital. I separated from my elder brother and my best friends to live on my own. I rented a two-floor building; I used the first floor of the building for my bookshop and the 2nd floor for sleeping and writing. I was alone in the new place, yet I was not feeling lonely because whenever I woke up and stepped down to the 1st floor, thousands of books were there accompanying me. The 2017 movie was true when the old Christine said, "no one was ever lonely in a bookshop."

The business was going well, Alhamdulillah. I got money to start a new life, not very much but enough to fulfill my daily needs. Moreover, with the income I got from writing books, I was able to buy a little pink house nearby, Alhamdulillah. 

However, my happiness didn't last. A new book-rental shop was opened in the city, offering a much bigger space, a higher collection of reads, along with a cozy cafe. My customers moved to the new book cafe, and my business was getting slower until one day, I couldn't afford the operational cost anymore. Competition swept away my dream, and I was not capable of dealing with it. 

And that's the story goes. Just like Florence Green's in the film, I closed the bookshop and decided to go abroad in 2013, leaving all memories behind. I continued my education in Shanghai, the most developed and largest city in China. Alhamdulillah, I got a full Chinese Government Scholarship for three years of my Master's degree. After I graduated in 2016, I got a good job in a logistics company based in Hangzhou, a city near Shanghai. 

Life goes on. I set up a new dream, but the bookshop is always a part of my bittersweet memory, the old dream I had once in my life.

We never know where life will take us to. But wherever it will be, never stop dreaming.[]

*Elie Molly, author of the book "Dare To Dream."

To connect to the author and know more about her books, visit:

https://eliemolly.wixsite.com/website