Finding the Concrete in Abstracts

I actually finished this week's assignment early! The point of this exercise was to take an abstract idea (jealousy, loneliness, love, joy, laziness) and describe it in concrete terms. We weren't supposed to mention the abstract at all, so hopefully the idea comes across.

Dione glided between the perilous book towers with her softly bent arms hovering just above her hips.  Occasionally the tip of one of her pianist fingers dusted a leathery book cover and she would pause, lift the book from its Grecian structure, and examine the title. Theo watched through a hole framed by Salinger and Steinback and his breathing slowed to a pace matching the dust particles floating in and out of rays of sun.

She opened the front cover and her eyes skipped across the page, making an impressive show of actual reading. The steadiness of her movements and the picking up of the books were mere attempts to counteract the heart running amok in her temple of coolness. Though she didn’t know which shelf he wandered behind, Dione was sure she felt the power of those miniature oceans Theo called eyes upon her. It was difficult to avoid swaying in their currents, and Dione never swayed. 

Setting down the book she continued her gliding in the direction of the shelves, stirring up aromas of freshly-opened book, day-old coffee, and newly-fallen rain as she went. Her arms now were straight by her sides, making it easier to clench and unclench her sweating palm around a handful of her cotton dress. Instead of watching well structured sentences conjure up an imaginary man, she longed to watch lines melt into sweet puddles in the landscape of Theo’s face. Just as she paused in between the shelves of Dickens and Orwell she felt ink-stained fingers perch on her shoulder. She turned slowly, found those miniature oceans, and for the first time gave way to the undertow.