A Flash Fiction Short Story by Trudy Storm
You need to read this story. You’re probably thinking reading a book about a Library sounds pretty boring, am I right? Well, not this library. Read about The Library that bows to the one book that holds it’s secrets close. Are you sure you want to go to the library today?
I zipped up my rain jacket, hoisted my bag into the front basket on the bike and then headed down the tree-lined street to my favorite neighborhood library.
It’s time for another date with my lifelong romance with libraries, the feel of the books and the stories they hold. A rainstorm or not, I am going.
I locked my bicycle in the library bike rack and headed inside as I worked out my library date. A book on French cooking would be first, on to cosmology and astronomy, and definitely a short stop at physics, my favorite section. I daydreamed and let my creativity wander with each shelf bound discovery. By the time I reached physics I had composed a beautiful world on a far-flung planet with a red sun and a purple moon. A vibrant jungle in brilliant colors populated the planet and left little room for human inhabitants. I turned the corner in the physics section and reached for one of Stephen Hawking’s books when a book resting in a beam of sunlight at the end of the shelf drew my attention. I think the book even sparkled a little bit. On a dreamy day like this one, I had no choice. Stephen Hawking’s book went back to the shelf for the day and I picked up the book that lay in the sunbeam.
I stepped sideways into the sunbeam with my whimsical choice in my hands. The cover is leather, worn smooth with time, and dotted with water spots from its eternal battle with the elements. The pages feel crisp and smooth. I put my colorful jungle dream on pause as I investigated this unique find. My fingers buzzed with anticipation as I turned to the title page. It said The Book and nothing more.
The Book? There’s no author or publisher, wait, these pages are blank.
My vibrant jungle came back to mind for a moment as I paused to decide if the blank book warranted further exploration. When I returned my attention to The Book in my hands. I thought I saw a small flicker in the lower right page corner.
That page corner is moving, The Book wants me to turn the page.
My hand shook as I flipped the page and there, in a vibrant and detailed illustration, is my jungle in all its colorful glory.
I stood there with my mouth wide open, my eyes unable to leave the page, then a flash of red caught my eye. I looked up and saw the librarian, dressed in a tan skirt and matching blazer, a red scarf carefully knotted around her thin neck. A squeaky wheel protested each turn as she pushed her cart down the book aisles. Her head turned and just for a split second, I thought I saw a tentative smile. She disappeared into the book aisles and I looked down at The Book again. The Book trembled and the page corner flickered again. I turned the page.
A very detailed drawing of the librarian and her smile now occupied the next page of The Book. She looked back at me with that slight smile from beside her cart. In that moment I thought I could hear the squeaky wheel of the library cart. I froze.
How could this happen?
Just then, a flash of light brighter than the sun surprised me and in an instant, I stood next to the librarian and her cart. I looked for The Book and saw it upside down and open where I had stood. I tried to talk and she smiled, grabbed my hand and looked me straight in the eye.
“You have to listen to me. I’m a Custodian of The Book,” the librarian said. “I watch over The Book and keep its mystery alive and protect the people who are drawn to it. If you desire The Book, it will take your life. If I let that happen I will be punished by The Society of The Book Custodians and there will be no one to guard The Book and its secrets.
“A book can do that?”
The Book learns fast and in just a few minutes it creates drawings from the future. The drawings are always about the one who last held The Book.”
“I think this book is worth the risk.”
“Go pick up The Book and look at it.”
I walked over to The Book and picked it up. The Book quivered as I reached for it. I turned the page and in vivid color and detail, I found a picture of an old oak tree that lay on the ground, its branches still shaking from the fall. I saw a hand protrude from underneath the tree. On the hand, there is a ring. I looked down at my hand, at the identical ring I had placed there this morning. My bicycle is still locked into the bike rack just a few feet from the hand.
The librarian said to me, “If you desire The Book,” well, I sure don’t want this book anymore.
Galvanized into action, I threw The Book on the floor and ran out of the building. At full speed, I ran for the bike rack to grab my bicycle. The rain blew sideways and I could feel its sting on my face. By the time I reached the bike rack the trees shimmied in the wind and the ground danced with them. I reached for my bicycle and the world went dark.
(Originally published October of 2023)
