The Librarian

  Micah frowned at the looming red brick beast and huffed while the morning drama replayed in her head. 

  “*Go this way, go that way. Don’t just sit there like a piece of furniture. Get out of the house for awhile,” Mama commanded, pulling cookies from the oven. “The fresh air will do you good.”

“But I’m just getting to the really good part,” Micah whined, snagging a snickerdoodle. “I’ll read outside, okay?”

“Micah,” Mama insisted, “find someone to play with. You need friends. We’ve lived here for months now, and you haven’t met a soul. Now out with you! No more arguing.”

  There was no arguing when Mama put her foot down. And Daddy wasn’t home to save her from the dreaded socialization. 

  “Well, I got out of the house,” Micah reasoned. Something intrigued her about this particular library. Every library she’d ever visited seemed to have its own personality. This one felt…different. Her feet stuck to the concrete sidewalk, unsure where to go. 

  “Hey!” Someone yelled. “Watch out!”

  Micah yelped as a boy on a scooter sped past, nearly running her down. “Watch where you’re going, jerk! You trying to kill me,” she snarled after him, but he was already long gone. Then a smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth. “That counts as meeting someone, right?” Micah bounced up the five stone steps to the great double doors, her book bag bumping along behind.

  “Since when do libraries have door knockers?” Great, sharp-toothed lion heads gaped at Micah, sending shivers down her spine. After a moment’s hesitation, she shrugged and clapped one. Her eyes widened as the lion snapped its jaw, just missing her fingers. The clap of iron against iron echoed within. The heavy wooden door creaked open. Micah swallowed hard and peeked inside. 

  It seemed like a normal library… minus the lions. It was quiet, dim. Maybe too dim. I wonder if I can I get a library card here without a parent? 

  “Come in,” a friendly voice called.

  Micah realized her feet were still glued outside. She took a deep breath. For pity’s sake! It’s just a library! She held her head up high and marched inside. 

  The place was immense! Much bigger inside than it looked from the street, and that was saying something. Cathedral ceiling, stained glass dome, row upon row of dark stained wood housing more books than Micah had ever seen in her life. 

  ‘Whoa!” She stood at the edge of this vast new world and slowly spun, taking it all in.

  “May I help you?”

  Micah stopped spinning and turned to the voice. Behind the checkout counter was the oddest man she’d ever seen. Wild gray curls framed an almost sparkling wrinkled face. He wore a green pinstriped shirt with a Burgundy vest buttoned over it. Gold buttons. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows revealing a tattoo of a mermaid. Micah leaned forward slightly. She could swear its tail swished. But what really struck her was the man’s sparkling red eye. 

  “Are you the librarian? Is that a real ruby,” Micah gawked. She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help it.

  The man laughed, a deep pleasant sort of laugh. The sort of laugh she imagined Santa would have…if he were real, of course. “I am. It is…of a sort.”

  He popped the jewel into his hand, and Micah discovered, somewhat disappointed, that he actually did have two eyes.

  “This little lovely,” he said, twirling it between his fingers, “is a special librarian’s friend.” The jewel caught the light streaming through the stained glass windows, casting rainbows around the room.

  Micah puzzled her brow. “Special friend? Or special librarian?” She was beginning to wonder. This was a very different sort of place.

  He laughed again. “Both, I suppose.” She gasped as he held the jewel out to her.

  “Really?” 

  “Give it a try.” He winked.

  Micah took the jewel with trembling fingers.

  “Now, hold it up to your eye, like so.”

  She started to comply. Halfway to her face, suspicion stilled her hand. “What does it do?”

  “Ah, wise young lady,” he remarked, wagging a finger at her. “It is only a tool. There are many, many worlds within these walls. So many experiences to be had.” He opened his arms to the room. “This jewel will show you which are right for you.” He leaned in close, as if sharing a secret. “Wouldn’t want to send a rabbit to a wolf’s den, now would we?”

  Micah gulped. He smelled of woodsmoke and cinnamon and something else she couldn’t quite place. Slow, but determined, she placed the gem against her eye and the world around her changed, bathed in a red glow. Her heart thumped. And then she rolled her eyes.

  Of course, it’s red, silly! You have a ruby against your eye! 

  But then, in the distance, her eye found something not red. Bright yellow, in fact. “What is that?”

  “What color,” the librarian asked.

  “Yellow.”

  “Aah. Very good! Excellent, indeed!”

  “Why? What does it mean?” She started to remove the jewel but the man stopped her before she could.

  “Leave it a moment longer,” he said, coming around the counter. “Now, let’s go find your world.”

  “Book.”

  “Eh?” He looked at her.

  “Let’s go find my book, not world.”

  The man grinned a grin that reminded Micah of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

  “Whatever you say, lass. You just tell me which it is and I’ll take care of the rest.” A shooting star blinked across his eye.

  Micah rubbed her own eyes and took a deep breath. “*If you don’t know where you are going any road can take you there,” she quoted to herself. Focusing on the view from the jewel, they passed aisle after aisle of glowing red books. “There!” A bright yellow binding shimmered within the scarlet sea. The librarian reached up and gently slid the book from its place.

  “Ahh,” he sighed reverently. “Very, very good.”

  Micah dropped the jewel from her eye and handed it back. “What is it called,” she asked. “What did I choose?”

  “Oh you misunderstand, lass.” He clutched the volume to his chest. “You did not choose this book. It chose you.”

  Fear, excitement, apprehension, joy—it all bubbled up inside Micah. Her voice dropped to a whisper. Somehow, a whisper felt right in this moment, as if the book were a sleeping baby. “What is it about?”

  The librarian hunched his shoulders in glee. “Let’s open it and find out, shall we?”

  Micah grinned, nodding enthusiastically. The man stepped back, opening the pages toward her. A whole world poured out while she fell in. Color swirled around her, bright and happy. Micah’s stomach tickled. She laughed. Suddenly, she found herself standing in the middle of a park on a warm, sunny day. Birds twittered. Bees buzzed. Woodsmoke and cinnamon and something else familiar scented the air. Someone cried. Micah knit her brow. The sad sound did not fit the happy picture. She turned to the librarian, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Mister,” she called. “Mister Librarian, where are you?” No answer. “Hmm,” she puzzled. “I thought he was coming too.” Her heart skipped a beat. She had no idea where she was. There was no obvious doorway back to the library. “*Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” 

  “Maybe I shouldn’t read Alice in Wonderland before bed.” She frowned, hands on hips. “Maybe to get back to the library I have to finish the book? If only I knew what the book is.” Determined, Micah followed the sound of the tears. 

  She crossed the clearing and found a well-worn trail through a thin band of pine trees. On the other side, was a large playground. Empty. A boy younger than herself, sat on a park bench, whimpering. Micah watched a moment before cautiously approaching.

  “Hello,” she said, coming around in front of him. “My name is Micah. What’s yours?”

  “James,” he sniffed.

  “Hi James. Nice to meet you. Mind if I sit?” The boy slid over and Micah joined him on the bench. “Why are you crying, James?”

  He wiped a sleeve across his face. “Nobody will play with me.”

  “But there’s nobody…” A squeal turned Micah’s gaze toward the playground. It was full of children running, laughing, climbing. “How…?” She shook her head and turned back to James. “Have you asked anybody to play?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well then, how do expect them to know you want to play?”

  He shrugged.

  “If you want to have friends, James, you have to talk to them. Invite them to play a game with you. Go this way, go that way. Don’t just sit here like a piece of furniture…” Micah froze as her mother’s words came from her own mouth. She knit her brow.

  James looked up at her. “Will you come with me?”

  “I…um…” She looked at the lively playground then back to James. Micah puffed her cheeks and blew. “Sure. I guess. Why not?”

  Micah found herself being squeezed to death in a big hug. Gasping for air, she laughed. “Dude, let go.”

  James’ face lit in a toothy smile. Together they walked over to the playground. Another boy about James’ age noticed them approaching and ran over.

  “Hey,” he said. “We’re playing freeze tag, but the wood chips are lava so you can’t…” 

  Micah watched everyone as the boy explained the game, but she wasn’t listening. She was feeling pretty good about herself and how she’d helped this boy make friends. Then her face got hot when she realized both boys were staring at her.

  “What?” She kicked at the ground.

  “I said, are you playing too?” The boy bounced on his toes, eager to keep running.

  “Me?” Micah stepped back. A girl her own age ran up.

  “Hi! I’m Sara,” she said. “C’mon! Come with me!” 

  Before Micah could protest, Sara had her by the hand and pulled as she ran. Micah had little choice but to run after her. 

  “Sara, wait…!” But Sara didn’t stop until they were at the other side of the playground. She dragged Micah to the shade of an oak tree where three other girls sat…with piles of books, and notebooks, and colored pencils, and sketchpads. One girl was drawing a picture of James, smiling at a mermaid.

  “He never wanted to come play with us,” she said, without looking up. 

  Micah sat down next to her, admiring her work. “He did. He just didn’t know how to ask.”

  “You must be someone truly special, to get him to come over here.”

  “I’m not anyone special,” Micah said. “You are though. You draw really well!”

  “Everyone is special in some way.” Sara kneeled in the grass beside them. “We just don’t know how special until we get to know them.” Sara put an arm around Micah. “I’m really glad you came today. It’s more fun with you here.”

  Warm, cozy feelings filled Micah from head to toe. “I’m glad I came too. Thanks for…” A wave of dizziness hit her. “…for…” Everything began to swirl. Her eyelids felt heavy. She struggled to keep them open. Like a feather on a breeze, she felt herself floating, drifting away. Soft as a cloud, she touched the ground and stopped. When she opened her eyes, she was still in a park. But not the same park.

  “I know where this is!” She spun around as a car passed on the road behind her. “This is by my house! How did I get here?”

  Laughter caught her attention. Dodging in and around the thin line of trees was a group of children her age. One young girl with wild curls left the group and wandered over. Micah smiled when she saw the shooting star cross her eye. 

  “Mister Librarian?”

  “The Librarian,” she corrected with a grin. “Did you enjoy your world?”

  Micah considered this a moment then matched her grin. “Yes. And now I’m going to enjoy a new one!” She ran toward the other kids. Turning back, she called, “Thanks, The Librarian!” The girl was gone. Walking toward the library was a gray haired man in a burgundy vest. Micah giggled. When she caught up to the others, they were running so hard and fast she couldn’t get anyone’s attention. Then she peered through to the other side of the trees and saw a group of girls relaxing in the grass. 

  “Sara?” Micah couldn’t believe her eyes. But then, nothing about this day had seemed ordinary so maybe it wasn’t that crazy.

  Sara looked up, puzzled. “Do I know you?”

  Micah almost laughed. “We met at the library,” she said.

  “Which one?”

  Micah pointed behind her. “Over there. The big red brick library with the stained glass dome.”

  A strange look crossed Sara’s face. “Micah, there’s no library over there. There’s not even a red brick building.”

  Micah grinned. “But you know my name, don’t you?”

  Sara grinned. Micah sat next to her and for the next several hours the girls laughed and drew and talked about their favorite books. 

  When the sun began to set, they packed up their belongings and dispersed. Micah and Sara walked arm in arm for just a little way before discovering their houses were on the same street. They said goodbye after making plans to meet in the morning.

  When Micah stepped through the door of her house, her mother was waiting.

  “You were gone for hours, Micah,” she said. “I was beginning to think you fell down a rabbit hole. Did you make some new friends?”

  Micah giggled. Maybe I did fall down a rabbit hole! She wondered how much her mother would understand. “I had a great day, Mom. I did make some new friends and I’m hanging out with Sara again tomorrow. If that’s okay.”

  Her mother smiled. “I think that’s fabulous, Micah. Now go wash up for dinner.”

  Micah headed toward the bathroom, passing a bookshelf along the way. She stopped cold right in front of it. She’d never noticed before, but all the books on the shelf were red except for one that shimmered in yellow, “Alice in Wonderland.” Tucked next to it was her mom’s lavender-scented mermaid figurine. And in the mermaid’s hand? A ruby red gem.

*Alice in Wonderland quotes by Lewis Carroll