Page 37 of Legends and Librarians
Roan wandered over, looking at the books over my shoulder. “Still sure you don’t want to take a break? Maybe read some books?”
“Tempting, so very tempting.” I trailed my finger along their pristine spines, wanting nothing more than to crack them open and be the first to read them. “But we still have work to do.”
“Taking time for yourself is important.” He gazed at the story spirits peeking over at us. “I think it would be good for everyone.”
He was right. I’d been pushing forward on my to-do list, but the story spirits weren’t acting normal. They said they had scared people for fun, but seeing those contractors run away from them in terror had obviously taken a toll. If I wanted to repair this library, keeping their spirits up was part of that. Plus, reading would help the book tree regain some magic.
Maybe a break really was exactly what we needed.
“Hey everyone,” I called out, holding some of the books up, “let’s get together and read each other’s stories. We can rechargethe library’s magic and get to know each other better. Who’s in?”
At first nobody really moved, but then I heard clanging metal as the knights marched over, the unmistakable chitter of Mochi, and even the flapping of dragon wings as they joined us.
Warmth blossomed in my chest seeing everyone grabbing different books, discussing who they wanted to read about most.
This was why I loved the library so much, why I had to bring people back to it.
No matter who you were or what problems you were having, books could bind us together and give two complete strangers common ground. They were magical and created such wonderful moments. It’s what made this library such a bright spot in my childhood. Even Oren pulled himself out of his research text to grab a book.
“What book are you going to read?” Roan asked as he sorted through a few, picking up the one about Cerbie.
“There’s so many options, I’m not sure,” I said, looking over all the books Lisa had kindly added to my list, pausing on one with a beautiful woman in a purple dress on the cover. “This one. It’s about time I got to know Lisa better.”
She was a librarian, just like me, and I had to start acting like that. I wasn’t alone in any of this.
I dragged various chairs underneath the book tree in a circle so we could all read together, as close to the tree as possible. When everyone was settled in, I relaxed into a cozy chair and read the back of Lisa’s book. It was a story about a dream library that you could only reach when you were sleeping and a woman in a coma who became its librarian.
Would she wake up and forget all about the library she’d come to love? Or would she stay asleep forever and make other people’s dreams come true?
Neither of those sounded like the right ending for Lisa, so I was curious to see what actually happened. The excitement ofstarting a new book swept over me as I opened it to chapter 1, a chapter full of possibilities.
If only I had a blanket and some tea, this would be perfect.
Roan scooted a chair close to mine. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” I said, motioning for him to sit down. “I hope you like Cerbie’s book.”
“I’d like anything we read together like this,” he said, grinning at me.
My face flushed.
He not only enjoyed reading, but he wanted to readwithme?
Maybe we could make reading a night time ritual, in the name of saving the library of course. More reading would help it recharge and maybe make falling asleep in the same bed a bit less awkward too...
A dragon’s roar followed by the clashing of metal made me spin around, catching the knights warring with the dragons again. If they weren’t careful, they’d set the new books on fire! A few dragons had even picked knights up, flying them high over the shelves. They better not drop them.
“Hey, knock it off,” I said, marching over. I loomed over their tiny three-inch selves. “Why do you keep fighting with the dragons?”
“They started it,” the knight commander said. “They’re always dive bombing us or shooting fire at us or plucking us up like we’re toys!” He motioned at the knights dangling from dragon claws above us. “Just look at poor Bob and Mikey.”
Bob and Mikey? I’d expected more knightly names if I was honest, but that wasn’t the point.
“Dragons, put the knights down and come over here,” I said firmly. They completely ignored me. “Come on, don’t make me get the golem.”
The image of a giant trying to swat flies came to mind. Probably not the best idea, but the dragons landed anyway,dropping the knights unceremoniously on the ground.
“Now, I need you all to start getting along,” I said. “We can’t make this library a success if you keep making it a warzone.”
