I wrote this because the nanowrimo Dare Genorator gave me a dare to make my character read my favorite book, but since I love so many, I just made it so she met most of the character, sadly not all of them were mentioned. :D Enjoy!
The Perfect Library
(929 words)
I was wandering around my local library, looking for something that I hadn't read yet. Something that was adventures, interesting, and and true. I picked up and put down dozens of novels. Take Me There, Speak, and The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian were just a few of the choices that I saw, and had already read at least twice. I looked around, trying to make it obvious that I had read these before, because there was a really cute guy sitting in one of the reading chairs, wearing an Indiana 45 jersey, even though it was twenty five degrees outside and we lived in Colorado . Out of sheer nosiness I peered over to see what he was reading. Some book called The Fault In Our Stars. "Must be a space book." I accidentally said out loud. I cringed as he looked up and made eye contact wih me. His eyes were bloodshot and teary, he'd been crying. "It's not a space book, it's a life ruining book that you'll want to read over and over. I've read this six times this week. I already know the ending, and guess what? I still get sad, they were meant to be together!." He half shouted, half sobbed. He pushed back his brown hair and breathed out slowly. "I'm sorry, I just get pretty defensive about this book." I shrugged and walked away, thinking to myself
"How can someone get that upset over a book?"
After browsing the library for a while longer I got bored and just randomly grabbed a book, a Harry Potter book. "The Prisoner of Azkaban..hu." I flipped through it, taking in random words like "Grim." and "Lupin" and "chocolate" When suddenly a girl appeared out of nowhere and said "Do the words 'Sorcerers Stone' or 'Chamber of Secrets' mean anything to you?" I jumped at the sudden sound and looked at her. She had wild, curly hair and a bit of an overbite, a was wearing black flowing robes with a crest. She was clutching at a large leather-bound book that instead of a title had runes across the top and was wearing a very stern expression on her face. "Excuse me?" I asked
"Do the words read them in order mean NOTHING TO YOU? "
I was a bit put off by the sudden realization that she was speaking with a British accent, and even more put off by her bossy tone. I crossed my arms "Why no it doesn't. And it's just a stupid kids book, what would not reading them in order possibly harm?" Her eyes narrowed, and she clung to the large book just a bit tighter, and for a second I had the horrible fear she was going to smack me with it. "Well, I'm going home, before you get another clever idea." and with that she stomped away.
"Okay now this is getting weird. Just pick a book and leave." I commanded myself. I grabbed a small paperback and didn't even look at it. I didn't need anymore crazy people today. I was waiting in the longest line I'd ever seen at the library checkout when I heard the boy at the front of the line talking to the librarian. "I swear I didn't burn it on purpose! See I was climbing up the climbing wall at camp, and you know how the lava burns you if you don't reach the top in time? Well I forgot I had it in my pocket, as it is a very small book, and I reached the top but.." He chuckled nervously, "It..didn't.." The librarian laughed dryly , took the book from the boy and stamped something in red ink on the inside of what remained of the cover. The boy groaned and took the book from the counter. "I'll send the fine in a couple days." He called over his shoulder, as another boy trotted after him, saying in a bleating voice "I told you she wouldn't care.". I watched them walk by and noticed that they both wore bright yellow t-shirts that read 'Camp Half Blood.' I rolled my eyes. "Nerds" I thought to myself as the line moved forward. I glanced at the book in my hand, reading the title. "Into The Wild." An old broken down bus covered in snow graced the cover. Even though I wasn't a big reader it looked interesting.
As I checked out the book, I tried to strike up conversation with the librarian, who wore a name tag that read 'Mrs Who.' I just decided not to find that weird. I said hello and handed her my book, and as she ran it under the scanner she replied in a whispering voice "The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye. Jimmy Hendrix" I still decided to ignore it and I walked out, passing a girl with bright red hair, with ties and bracelets wrapped around her wrists and a too big mans shirt dwarfing her body. She was sitting with a skinny goth looking Asian kid on the steps of the library even though it was freezing out, and they were slowly reading a Batman comic, the girl every so often looking at the boy when she thought he wasn't looking. I smiled in spite of myself, maybe books did hold a certain magic about them. I found a corner outside the library on a park bench and started reading Into the Wild..
And you know what? I loved it.
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-Jessica Baker-
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