The Cleansing

Linda clicked the switch, turning off all the lights behind her. The emergency lights illuminating the shelves lining each wall, their contents lined up side by side like so many soldiers.

“I’ll see you all in the morning. Behave yourselves.” She said, her own brand of humor bringing a smile to her face. She glanced at all the books one last time before the glass door closed and she slid the key home clicking it confidently as she closed up for the night.

Her headlights lit up the library briefly before she backed out of her space and drove away. As the car lights cleared out and the first sign of moonlight filtered through the windows a faint blue glow sprung up in the corner of a bookshelf. If you were there to witness such a sight you would notice a slight tingling sound echo around you as they woke up from their daily slumber.

“Alright, up and at em!” Chief said as he stretched his aura around him, feeling out the books nearby. “We have plenty to do before morning, so let's get cracking.”

“Sounds good boss,” a pink sprite said off to his right. “I’ll get started on Locating books.”

“And I’ll clean!” Said a teal light bouncing up and down.

“You don’t need to announce what each of you are doing,” Chief replied, “I know you know what needs to be done. Off we go!” He shot off into the library whizzing between shelves getting stock of what was here and what had been checked out today.

A teal light bobbed along picking up dust and debris from today, tucking it away into the space where sprites hide during the day, a small tinkle accompanying the dirt as it disappears. It floated past the kids reading area, stopping to jump on the bean bag chairs and have some fun for a while. The quiet clicking of a zipper stopped it mid bounce as it watched the bean bag chair it was jumping on slowly open at the seams.

“Shadow! There’s a shadow attacking!” The teal sprite shot away like a gunshot to go warn the others.

The sprites gathered at the cry of warning to face down the threat to their domain, but arrival at the reading area was met with confusion and worry. “Where is the shadow?” A red sprite asked angrily rounding on his teal companion.

“Settle down,” Chief said, bobbling up to the two sprites. “You know they wouldn’t have raised the alarm if there was no cause for concern.”

“I know, sorry Chief.”

“It’s alright, my child. We are all worried about another shadow attack with so few of us to defend.”

A clatter of books caused the sprites to scatter in alarm as they looked behind them. A small child stood there, mouth agape staring at the floating lights.

“What are you?”

Chief floated up to the child, “You can see us?”

“Of course I can see you, you’re floating balls of light in a dark library.”

Chief chuckled, the sound like snowfall around the child, “Of course. Not many humans can see us, only children who haven’t lost their spark. That is a rare thing indeed, these days.”

“My name is Tim,” the child said, reaching out a hand.

“And I’m Chief, these are my sprites. We are the caretakers of this library.”

“I thought the librarians took care of the library?” Tim asked, looking around.

“They take care of the physical space it inhabits, but we make sure the incorporeal space is kept safe.” Chief explained.

“Incorporeal? What does that mean?”

“Incorporeal means the space that is next to the physical, it’s the space that gives libraries that safe, welcoming feeling to those who need it. A lot of people also call the incorporeal side the spiritual side.”

“Oh, like religion?”

“Kind of like that, yes.” Chief said, pride tingeing his voice at Tim’s curiosity. “What are you doing here so late Tim?”

“I had to get away, my mom got really angry again so I wanted to leave before she started throwing more stuff at me, I’ve always liked it here so I thought I would be safe.”

Chief’s light dimmed at Tim’s words, his spirit feeling the pain that was radiating off Tim. “It’s OK Tim. You can stay with us at least until morning, but then you should talk with the librarian. She can get you some help. OK?”

“Are you sure? Mom always said that I can’t go to anyone, no one would believe me if I did since she is so important.”

“I’m positive. Linda is a kind soul and would be more than happy to help you. I tell you what, you help my sprites tonight to keep busy. It will be morning before you know it!”

“OK!” Tim said gripping the pick backpack that was slung over his shoulder. “What can I help with?”

Chief said, “You can help Locate the books.”

The pink sprite slipped past the others and said, “that’s with me! Come along Tim! It’s probably one of the most important jobs we have here.”

The sprites slowly dispersed each going their own way to continue their vital tasks. Tim followed the pink sprite as they picked up book after book and slid them into different spots of the shelves.

“What are we doing?” Tim asked, taking out one of the newly placed books and glancing at it.

“We are Locating books. We make sure each book goes to where it needs to be to find the person it’s supposed to find.”

“But this book doesn’t go here, the organization sticker says it’s non-fiction, why is it in the science fiction section?”

“That’s because the person who needs to read this will find it here rather than over there. Sometimes a book knows who needs it the most, so they ask us to move them to where they will be found,” the pink sprite responded, hefting another book from the shelf.

“Wow, that’s amazing.” Tim said, placing the book back in its spot. He saw one of the books glow a faint pink light on a lower shelf and picked it up. 1000 Leagues Under the Sea. “Wow, my dad used to read this to me before he had to go.” A tear slid from Tim’s eye. “I miss him.”

“Where did he have to go?” the pink sprite asked, shelving its book in another row.

“I’m not sure, I just woke up one morning and Mom said he left us in the night.” Tim wiped his tear away and dried his hand on his jacket. “How do you know which book needs to go where?”

The pink sprite floated back through the shelf of books weaving back and forth, “well, it’s kind of my superpower. I can just see when a book is out of place and can help it get where it needs to be. Like the book you’re holding.”

Tim glanced down at the book again noticing a faint pink line floating away across the library from the book. “Oh wow, I think I can see it!” He raced over to the shelf and slid the book home. A feeling of satisfaction washed over his soul and he swore he could hear a whispered ‘thanks’.

He looked around at the library and at the sprites flitting about moving books from one area to the next. As he peered into the darkness he saw faint flickers of pink highlight more and more books on the shelves.

“Wow, there are a lot that need moving. How do you guys do them all in one night?” Tim asked excitedly, moving to the next glow closest to him.

Pink sighed sadly, “We can’t. There just aren’t enough sprites left in the world to do what we need to. Libraries are slowly dying out we think. There are less and less kids coming in with the spark of creativity to keep us going.”

“What do you mean? Can’t you just make more of you?”

“We don’t know how,” the pink sprite responded slowly, picking up another book. “We have been here since the library was opened, but we have far less sprites now then we did than.”

Tim sat down against the wall, “that’s really sad. How do sprites die?”

The pink sprite responded, “We feed off of that curiosity and wonderment that all children possess. The more that come in here with that the stronger we are. Sadly it seems like not many kids come in here any more.”

Tim felt the hairs on his neck stand on end and he looked around again, “I’m sorry. Maybe when I leave in the morning I can help with that!”

The sprite lit a little brighter, “That would be wonderful!” The sprite turned back to Tim just in time to notice a dark smudge race across the wall he was sitting against. “Look out!” The sprite pushed Tim away just as a dark claw sliced through where he would have been, catching the pink sprite along its edge. “Shadow!”

Tim turned and grabbed the sprite as he watched a dark creature rise up off the floor. The saw streaks of light as the other sprites raced to his location and battered themselves against the thing.

“What is going on?” Tim cried, holding his friend close to his chest.

Chief stopped near Tim, “That is a shadow. It’s partly to blame for the loss of thirst for knowledge we are seeing this day Tim. How are they?” He floated to Tim’s hands and gently pulled them apart, the faint pink glow slowly getting dimmer.

Tim looked down and saw his friend laying there. He looked closer and saw a black streak making its way over the bright sphere. “Are they going to be ok?”

“I’m not sure,” Chief said, bobbing about. “Did they get his by the Shadow?”

“I think so, I think they got scratched when they shoved me out of the way,” Tim’s tears where flowing again, his heart breaking for his new friend. 

He looked up at the other sprites shoving into the Shadow, each hit making it shrink more and more. Its claws flashed out trying to catch the elusive sprites but seeming to just miss each time. Tim gasped as a red sprite seemed to just barely maneuver around another claw slash and bounce off the things head. It finally shrank to a small mound of darkness rather than the intimidating force it had been earlier and as it winked out of existence, Time felt a weight disappear from his hands.

He looked down at his friend and couldn’t see anything but a few pinkish twinkles in his palm. He looked to Chief, “Where did they go?”

“They passed on. But don’t fret Tim, they gave their being living up to the foremost code of the sprites. ‘To protect all wonder and inquisitiveness’. I could not be more proud of their sacrifice.”

The other sprites gathered around Chief and Tim and a slow powerful tune rang out from the walls of the library. The notes striking Tim and seeming to penetrate to his very soul, filling him with pride, love, and sorrow. He also felt hope stir there, sparking along the very edges of his being. He wiped the tears from his eyes as he felt his friend, just beyond the veil. He bent down and grabbed his backpack and noticed the first rays of sunlight peeking through the windows. The crunch of tires on asphalt let him know the librarians had returned and he looked around. Chief and the others had already disappeared to their homes, awaiting the next night to continue their mission. He walked to the front door to talk with the librarian and to go home.

Suns set and suns rose, each day bringing more posters and pamphlets from Tim to the library. The children began to flood in each day finding books just in the right spot for their curious eyes, their love of learning never seeming to wane.

Chief floated behind Linda one night while she stared at the newspaper. “That poor little soul,” she said wiping her eyes. “I hope they find who did this.”

Chief followed her to the door as she closed up for the night. He returned to the stacks and announced “Alright everyone, let’s get to it!”

A new pink sprite came into view, “I’ll start Locating the books!” They zoomed off to help the next day’s children explore vast new worlds.