Main Characters

I'm flipping pages backwards to remember a character's name

in a book I read while distracted by a pretty face

on the other end of a late night cell phone. 

Sometimes the plot gets dropped by tired eyes,

and sometimes these holes ruin the story

when the climax arrives.

When my gaze traverses the page

but retains nothing,

it's best to either close the book

or start the chapter over with renewed focus.

If the distractions are not dropped,

a story can be ruined.

An ending can be rendered lackluster.

I typically don't read more than one book

simultaneously; the stories interact too much

in dreams or casual

mental wanderings.

But it can help with the feeling of monotony,

that reluctance to pick up a story

that has taken overly long to finish.

I am considering reading more stories at once, though --

allowing multiple main characters to coexist, and interact,

and create something new and unique in a space

where no one else will ever be allowed.

Waiting to start a new story until the previous one has ended

seems almost constricting -- myopic, perhaps. 

I think I would prefer to avoid feeling that way.