A Night in the Library

‘So, Mister… Phraserdish? Am I pronouncing that correctly?’

‘Yes, sir.’ God, I need this job.  

‘Okay, so, Mr. Phraserdish, I looked through your resumé and you seem to be a good fit for this job, but tell me, why did you apply to this position?’

Money. ‘I’ve always been fascinated by literature. I spent most of my life reading, I even tried to get published once. I figured working in a library was the best next thing.’ Bullshit. Never read a book in my life, and the only thing I’ve ever written are grocery lists.

‘Well, that’s great! It’s always nice when people are passionate about their work. You are aware you’ll be working late hours, right?’

‘That’s honestly another thing that drew me to this job.’ Not a lie. I have insomnia, so I might as well be productive instead of just browse the internet.

‘Mr. Phraserdish, it looks like this is the perfect job for you. Your first shift will start today at 10:00 PM and you will be relieved at 6:00 AM. I recommend you get some sleep; you’ll need to be very alert throughout the night. There will be a letter at the desk when you arrive, be sure to read it all.’

He escorts me out and wishes me a good day. I go get something to eat before heading to my apartment to try to get some sleep. My apartment is still as messy as I left it this morning, last night’s take out still on the coffee table, beer bottles scattered across the floor. I go to bed

It’s ten o’clock and I’m standing in front of the library; there’s no one on sight. I walk towards the door and, as I’m reaching the handle, the door opens, and it bumps me in the head.

‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry!’ Says my accidental aggressor.

I rub my eyes and see a woman in front of me, with a worrisome look on her eyes.

‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you, are you ok?’

‘Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry, ma’am.’

‘Please, call me Christina. Are you sure you’re okay?’

‘Yes, really, I’m fine.’ She seems nice, caring. ‘Excuse me, do you work here? I think I’m your new coworker.’

‘Oh, you’re Mr. Phraserdish? Richard told me we’d be getting a new guy, it’s lovely to meet you.’

‘Likewise, Christina. And please, call me Luke.’

‘Well, Luke, it was nice talking to you, but I need to get going, and you really need to get inside and start your shift. Again, I’m sorry I hit you with the door.’

‘It’s really no big deal. Have a nice night.’

‘Goodnight!’ She says and walks away.

I walk through the door. It’s very spacious, yet not as much as I though it’d be. There are about a dozen big tables in the middle of the hall, surrounded by countless bookshelves filled with books. On the table closest to me, there was an envelope with my name in it and a tennis ball. Inside was the letter Richard told me about.

Dear Mr. Phraserdish

               There is a button underneath this table. To continue reading, please press it.

Confused, I look beneath the table, and, like the letter said, there’s a button there. I read it again, thinking I must have missed something, but I haven’t. ‘To continue reading, please press it’. Fine, I think, and I press the button.

Immediately after, the lights turn off, and blue lights replace them. I hear gears turning and look around to see big metal sheets descending from the ceiling, covering the windows, and most importantly, the door. I rush to it, but I’m too late; it’s already closed. I start yelling and screaming for help, but I doubt anyone can hear me. I bang on the doors, but of course, nothing happens. I don’t know what to do, and then I remember the letter. I go back to it and, sure enough, there’s some new text.

Dear Mr. Phraserdish

               There is a button underneath this table. To continue reading, please press it.

               I apologize If the lights and the doors scared you, it wasn’t my intention. I just couldn’t let you know in advance. I needed someone for tonight and I was afraid you’d turn down the job otherwise. You see, Mr. Phraserdish, this isn’t a regular library. Some of the books here, they’re special. A few of the character they, uh, come to life. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. That’s why the doors closed; we can’t let them leave. Now, you don’t have to worry about most of them. Truly, if you follow my instructions, they’re harmless. Little Red Riding Hood, for example, is not dangerous at all, and neither is her grandma. The lumberjack is also fine, so long as you don’t stare at him for too long. The wolf likes to play catch with the tennis ball. There’s a more detailed list beneath, I advise you to read it. The doors will unlock at 6:00 AM. Pressing the button switches the lights.

Best Regards,

Richard Vanderluk

               What on earth is this? There’s no way this isn’t all just a prank, a very meticulous, bad-taste prank. There must be hidden cameras around, people laughing behind them. There has to be, right?

               I press the button to see if the lights go back to normal and they do. At least I got that going for me. As I’m getting up to look for a way out, a voice speaks.

‘Excuse me, sir?’ it’s a sweet voice, from a little girl. ‘I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but could you lend me the ball?’

The ball? I look at her. She has a book in her hands and is wearing a hood, a red hood.

‘Who are you?’ I ask.

‘My name’s Blanchette, but you probably know me as someone else.’ She replies with a smirk.

‘Is this a joke?’ I ask her. Then I face everywhere else. ‘Did you seriously bring a little girl in on this charade of yours?’

‘Sir, this isn’t a joke. Did you read the letter Mr. Vanderluk left you?’

‘Yes, I read the damn letter!’ I shout, regretting immediately when I see her teary eyes. ‘I’m – I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout.’

‘It’s okay. The new guy is always a bit nervous. That’s why I come out first to help.’

‘Wait, so this is really true? You’re Little Red Riding Hood?’

‘I am. Would you like to see my wolf?’ She asks.

‘Your wolf?’

‘Yes! That’s why I wanted the ball. May I have it?’

‘Su-sure.’

               I give her the ball, and any shred of doubt I had on whether this is real or not goes away after she opens the book and calls for the wolf. A couple of seconds later, a snout arises from it. Then the rest of the head, the neck, the body, and after thirty seconds, there’s a wolf in the library.

‘His name is Prite.’ She says as she throws the ball to the other side of the library, and Prite excitedly runs after it. ‘I assume you have questions.’

‘More than I can count. What did just happen?!’

‘Prite likes to get out to this world, he enjoys the atmosphere.’

‘No, that’s not what I meant. How is any of this possible? You are characters of a kid’s book, how can you be here?’

‘Well, it’s complicated. And also, kind of a long story. I’ll tell it to you eventually, but for now, there’s some more important things I have to make sure you know.’

‘Like what?’

‘For starters, did you read the list of instructions?’

Damn it, I forgot about it. ‘No, I was too freaked out.’

‘It’s okay, that’s why I’m here.’ She says and presses the button.

The lights turn back to blue and new text appears in the paper. Right after Richard’s letter, there’s a list with different book titles and characters.

‘You should read the whole list, but what’s important for now is that you know about The Book.’

‘The Book?’

‘Come with me, I’ll explain.’ She starts walking away and I follow her. ‘As you now know, this library is special. There’s magic flowing through it. And like with all things, magic can be used for evil things by evil people. The evil person in this case is Scott Sachter.

‘Scott Sachter is the protagonist of The Book. In it, he’s a lonely man who works as a ranger in an unknown forest. He spends his days saving animals from poachers, giving directions to lost tourists, picking up people’s trash, and more good things. But he is not a good man. He has dark thoughts, Sir Sachter, which is why he must never leave his book’

               We arrive at a tiny desk in the corner of the library. On it is a book titled Tales From the Woodlands. There are chains around it tied together with five padlocks.

‘Please don’t say the name of The Book aloud. It gives it power.’

‘What, is he Voldemort?’ I may not read, but I do watch the movies.

She chuckles, ‘In a way, I guess he is.’ She stares at it for a while. ‘From time to time, Scott tries to get out. When it happens, the book starts vibrating, trying to break the padlocks. If this ever happens, you must immediately grab it and try your best to stop it. That’s why you should always have It with you, so that you don’t have to be running around the place.’

‘Why is it here then?’ I ask. ‘Why didn’t Richard just leave it next to the note?’

‘Again, it’s complicated. The Book has to be left here before the doors open. Everything has to go back to normal before 6:00 AM.’

‘What happens if it isn’t?’ I ask.

Her face changes, she looks sad, ‘Then Mr. Vanderluk has to have another interview. Look, don’t worry about it. You just make sure The Book is here by the end of your shift and nothing bad will happen.’

She can tell I am most definitely not reassured. ‘Really, Luke, don’t worry about it. Let’s go back, you still need to know about the list.’

‘Wait, how do you know my name?’ I ask.

‘Magic, remember?’ She replies with a smirk.

               We get back to the desk and read the list. I recognize some of the names in it, like Gandalf, who’s a bit of a dick, or the hobbits, who are the nicest characters so long as you don’t say they could’ve just ridden the eagles to Mordor, whatever that means. I’m not a big fan of The Lord of the Rings, sorry.

               We spend the rest of the night talking about the people in the list and playing catch with Prite. Blanchette tells me all about her grandma and the lumberjack (the reason he doesn’t like the stares is because his eyes are a bit uneven and he’s very insecure about it), her home inside her book and her life outside of the story. Before I know it, it’s 5:50 AM, and Blanchette tells me it’s time to return The Book back to its desk. After that, I accompany her back to the shelf where she and Petri belong. We say our goodbyes and just as easily as the wolf had emerged from the book, they both got back inside it and I placed it on the shelf. Some minutes later, the metal sheets start retreating to the ceiling. I walk outside and feel the heat of the sun hit my face. There’s a man waiting for me next to the door. He introduces himself as Julian and quickly head inside, saying he needs to catch up on some work. I start heading home, still confused about what happened the night before, but anxiously waiting for my shift to start again, so I can learn more about this strange, magical library.