Begin your story with a librarian searching for something.

Posted in Fiction on Aug 11, 2023

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✍️ 70 stories

“The Librarian’s Search” by Louise Rebecca

Submitted to Contest #211

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. One by one another book hit the floor. “Oh where is it?” Fiona muttered angrily to herself. A very unsteady pile grew next to her as she clumsily pulled books from the shelves, her hair falling across her face as sweat trickled down her brow. Outside, rain beat hard on the windows, and flickering candle light illuminated each pane in a warm, orange hue. It was dusk, and Fiona had closed the library and locked the heavy oak front doors, but the day's work was far from over. The library was old, with stone, whit...

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“The Unicorn in the Library” by Angela Grout

Submitted to Contest #211

The woman standing at the counter reminded me of Jessica, approximately the same age, with the same curly hair. I had known Jessica when she visited the library during her high school years. Editor of the school magazine and an avid researcher. This woman wasn’t Jessica but she was requesting something Jessica wrote and since I was working at the circulation counter, it became my request to fulfill. It’s really unbelievable that I’m searching for Jessica’s articles in the alcoves of the library. The magazine had only existed for the las...

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“A Knitworthy Noel ” by Malina Hubler

Submitted to Contest #211

For once, Holly wasn't looking for a misplaced book in her closet."Hurry up, I already promised Kenzie we'd see the tree lighting. Grab your sweater, let's go", her brother Sean yelled from the kitchen.The exact sweater she was looking for wasn't in her pile of handmade sweaters or in her dresser. Yes, she was a librarian, knitter and had a cat. Don't all line up at once boys!It was the very holiday sweater she'd made for her fiancé she wanted. The one she'd spent countless hours and months, hundred plus dollars on. Fine weight yarn in four ...

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“Silence, Please” by Amanda Ellison

Submitted to Contest #211

Well, that had not gone to plan. A private detective – one she could afford on her pension and part-time librarian’s pittance – had been her last resort. Her manuscript was now gone forever. Lost. Correction: stolen. She was sure of it. Probably in the clutches of one of those bitter wretches at the writing group. So to hear the smug “Sorry, madam, that’s not the kind of work we take on here” (accompanied by a nasty little smirk) made Hilda want to gouge the investigator’s eyes out, so frustrated was she. As if sensing her wintry mood...

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“Lefty Loosey ” by Sean McDonnell

Submitted to Contest #211

In the wee small hours of the morning, before much of the world sleepily muddles about looking for pancake syrup, Collin Tuttle can be found lacing up his walking shoes. For the last twenty-odd years, he’s walked the same route; he’s strode down the network of hidden pathways, as coastal folk share a propensity to travel by, then, over ‘The Bump’ (unnecessary local slang for hill), to a soon to be waking downtown.On Main Street, he’d wave to the baker through the window of Happy Glaze, often thinking about going in for a fritter or donut, bu...

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“The Princess's Amulet” by Daniella Awani

Submitted to Contest #211

I can’t believe that I’m locked in a wrestling match with my computer's mouse, as I search desperately for a new job. The screen is frozen, refusing to let the silly little arrow budge, disallowing me to continue my miserable search in peace. The library I've poured my heart and soul into for the past decade is getting the boot, making room for yet another mall. You know, because the world definitely needs more places to buy discounted socks. Disgruntled, I push myself off the chair to pour myself a glass of wine. I look around my shoebo...

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“Nana” by Chuck Thompson

Submitted to Contest #211

It was the mewling that caught her ear. Outside the normal range of library vocals, it was haunting and slightly sad. It set her on a hunt. Connie woke this morning rested and with a sense of anticipation. It was a great way to start the day! Life and work became a tad stale lately and she questioned her purpose, her possibilities and all her decisions in life. It was a recurring theme for her. So many questions and virtually no answers. At least, no answers that satisfied her desire for meaning and tangible goal...

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“Lost Pages” by Buddy Calvo

Submitted to Contest #211

Jane Klee was on her knees desperately searching for a book that doesn’t want to be found. She’s been looking for nearly an hour now, pulling rows and rows of dusty hardbacks off the old wooden shelves in the small sorting room, looking for a one of a kind, handwritten, matte black, 1st edition but she’s having no luck locating it. She’s older, mid-sixties, thin, tall with stringy dyed brown hair, fair skin, and a bad back. Today Jane wore her light pink blouse and black skirt, tights and flat black shoes. Her clothes were worn and old ...

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“In a New Light” by S. A. McNaughton

Submitted to Contest #211

Content warnings: Death of a parent, adoption “And then you hit return and there you go,” Deirdre explained to Mrs Booker, clicking the mouse to complete a Google search for her most helpless library patron. “If you need any help figuring out which results are reliable, just wave me down,” she added. She had no doubt that Mrs Booker would be raising her hand soon for more assistance. Deirdre had been the head of reference in the small library branch for the past year, and Mrs Booker had been spending more and more time there as the months...

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“The Shelves are Watching” by Sarah Jeong

Submitted to Contest #211

Two eyes peered up at Sheila from the bookshelf. She knelt down to inspect them. The pair of plastic googly eyes were stuck onto the shelf about a millimeter apart - just like the others. She glanced at the cover of the book that had been hiding the pair: Caroline’s No Nightshade Kitchen: Arthritis Diet. The eyes started appearing two weeks ago, when she returned from her annual lake trip with her daughters. The lake tradition began four years ago when she and her husband got divorced. At the start of each summer, she got a blissful ...

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“The Glimmer by the Fire” by Roan Clay

Submitted to Contest #211

I rang the bell on the counter three times. Brisk feet sounded on an upper level, and the librarian came down the stairs, eyes on me like two indignant spotlights out of the gloom. She wore green trousers, high boots and a belted caftan, in the style of the lower city intelligentsia. She had taken her place behind the desk before I realized she was artificial.“Yes?”I smiled “Sorry to bother you, but I need all the information available on Hilford Gibbons. Since he was involved in so many things, it would take too long for me to cross-referen...

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“Under the blue hardback” by Kit Spayd

Submitted to Contest #211

Juliette was working the late shift at the community library one evening, when she realized something, she was looking for was now missing. Earlier that week, she had found the most peculiar article, one from the Salem Witch Trials, that she had never seen before. She worked there for nearly ten years, and knew the library inside and out, along with its contents. So, when she happened upon this article, she knew it was very important. The importance would not come to be known until later. But she knew it was going to be one of the mos...

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“Goblin Cat ” by Hazel Carter

Submitted to Contest #211

Lillian had been working the closing shift at the Huntington grounds library for 25 years, but this night there seem to be something lurking in the air, a darkness she had never noticed.It was time to skedaddle everyone out the front door. “Good night, Ms. Lillian”said Nancy, who was a regular here at the library , a very sweet girl.“ Catch you later, Ms. L.” That was Stan, he was the high school football star. He only hung out at the library to check out Nancy, who wanted nothing to do with him. Lillian found it funny, to chase something an...

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“Our Marvellous Morris” by Tom Williams

Submitted to Contest #211

Morris Lamb rested his reading glasses back onto the bridge of his nose and uncurled his top lip. “So, Timothy, you’re saying that this book you’re looking for has a blue cover?” “Yes,” the boy replied. “And it has big, bold white lettering?” “Yes.” “And there is an illustration on the cover of a…” “I think it’s a centaur?” Timothy pondered with a twiddle of his fingers. “Or maybe a mermaid? Or a goblin? Something mythical anyway.” Morris Lamb brushed a loose white flyaway behind his ear. “Give me a moment,” he said. With that, h...

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“A Knight, a Toad, and a Cat, go into a Library” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #211

Margaret steadied herself on the ladder. She held on with one hand as the other was pressed against her white blouse trying to calm her heart against the height she had climbed. She lifted the same hand to run a finger along the heavy tomes stored up here. Coats of Arms. Heraldry. Gwynn-Jones. Emblems. Black, Farrel, Howells, Rowlands, Ward. Margaret looked down. At the foot the rolling library ladder was a knight, a toad, and a cat, looking up at her, expectantly. Of course, Margaret wasn’t sure it was a knig...

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Begin your story with a librarian searching for something.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 70 stories

“The Librarian’s Search” by Louise Rebecca

“The Unicorn in the Library” by Angela Grout

“A Knitworthy Noel ” by Malina Hubler

“Silence, Please” by Amanda Ellison

“Lefty Loosey ” by Sean McDonnell

“The Princess's Amulet” by Daniella Awani

“Nana” by Chuck Thompson

“Lost Pages” by Buddy Calvo

“In a New Light” by S. A. McNaughton

“The Shelves are Watching” by Sarah Jeong

“The Glimmer by the Fire” by Roan Clay

“Under the blue hardback” by Kit Spayd

“Goblin Cat ” by Hazel Carter

“Our Marvellous Morris” by Tom Williams

“A Knight, a Toad, and a Cat, go into a Library” by David B Fraser

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story starring an octogenarian who’s more than meets the eye.

Write a story involving a friendship with an adorable animal.

Set or begin your story in a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace.

End your story with two characters reconciling.

Contest #211

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

304

Contest entries

107

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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