Leave the Book, William

William walked through the darkness of twilight. He stopped by a nearby brook to sit and watch the sun rise. He did this daily, to get his thoughts in order. Reaching into his bag, he found an apple in the midst of miscellaneous pieces of metal he found for his job. He breathed in the smell of fresh dew, and let the babble of the stream calm him from his nightmares the night before.

    Every night since the accident, the past year, the horrifying memories replayed in his mind. The pained look on his father’s face as his mother was screaming. It had just been him and Edward since then. He didn’t get the chance to see his older brother much, since his job was in a different town. But he was actually excited today; Edward was coming home for a few days. It would be nice, for once.

    The sky was gradually painted with colors of red and orange as the sun rose. Birds sang and the flowers danced with the breeze. It was bright enough to see his reflection in the water. He mussed his dark, curly hair and slung his weighted bag over his shoulder. Then he saw something, someone, across the field. It was a girl. She looked young, nineteen at least. Her blonde hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, and she had wire frames circling her eyes. She was beautiful, in William’s mind. He never noticed her in the town before. He eyes were locked on her, and he noticed that she was frantically absorbing her surroundings, as if frightened or looking for something. Then… their eyes met. William’s heart skipped a beat. The woman then disintegrated into thin air. As quick as he noticed her, she was gone.

    By the time he got into town, he concluded that what he saw was just a figment of his imagination. The clang of the pounding of metal gradually became louder as he approached the masonry.

    “Good morning, Mr. Smith,” he called out.

    “Mornin’ kid,” he replied. He dipped a stick of red hot metal into a pail of water. “Ye ‘ave a good rest, didn’t ya?”

    “Yessir,” William set his bag on a nearby stool then put his apron on. William had been working at the masonry for almost a year now. Every since Edward left, he had to find a way to fend for himself. “Any new orders yet?”

    “Nein, kid. Just continue working on those horseshoes for Travis Roan.”

A normal twelve-year-old would be on their way to the schoolhouse by now; not William. Although he loved learning, he knew his priorities were providing for himself. Mason work was what he was beginning to master to meet that priority. He was always curious about structure and making things with his hands. It didn’t earn him that much, but it was enough.

    A grip hand on his shoulder stopped him from working.

    “Lunch,” Mr. Smith said in a grim voice. He tossed him a paper wrapped sandwich. William walked to the fountain in the middle of Town Square to eat. The town itself didn’t really have much of a population, so there was an even ratio of calm to busyness.

    People watching became one of William’s hobbies over the past couple of months. There was a mother trying to shush her infant triplets. Men stood at the side talking about the importance of meat. Two women nearby were walking and chatting. He noted one of them was Ramona. Everyone knew her; she was very friendly. The other one, he recognized her. It was her. The woman from earlier in the morning; she wasn’t imaginary! But that one answer alone stirred up many other questions in his mind.

    The loud blaring of a nearby whistle signaled that the noon hour had passed. William scarfed down whatever food he had left and quickened back to the masonry.

    In recent weeks, William noticed how fast the days went by. It was as if he was living in a blur, and he had no time to catch up. Opening the door to his charred home, he flopped onto his cot. He had swept out most of the ash, but there were blackened spots in random places. Sometimes he wondered if this place was the reason he still had nightmares.

    When he opened his eyes again, it was dark outside. His growling stomach alerted him he needed to get up, at least for a few more hours. He stretched, when a knock, knock was heard coming from the door. No one ever came out here anymore. Not since the accident. William grabbed a wooden staff. Okay, it was just a dead tree branch but this could be a life-or-death situation. The knocking grew louder and more frequent, then it stopped.

   “Hello?” a familiar voice called. “Does anyone still live here?”

William dropped his stick and rushed to the door. “…Edward?” he said. A few moments of silence passed before he flung open the door and ran into his older brother’s arms.

    “I can’t believe you’re here. I missed you so much.”

    “I know, I know. I have so much to tell you, Will. Here, I brought dinner so we can eat out here.”

    They found a place in a nearby plain where Edward set up rocks in a circle. It was peaceful. The sky was illuminated with little bright lights, and you could only here the wind and a few crickets nearby. As Edward prepared everything, he told him that his job gave him a big paycheck due to how well he did in his last trip and was able to stay for at least a few months. William didn’t know exactly what he did; all he knew was that his brother would be gone most of the time.

    “But yeah, that’s the gist of it.” Said Edward. “Now, tell me what you’ve been up to.” He scraped two stones together and a flame ignited in front of them. William flinched. Edward tilted his head. “The memory’s still painful, isn’t it?”

    “How could you move on so easily? Our parents, they…” He slowly sat back down in his seat. “I- I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just…”

    Edward hung his head. “I get what you mean. It’s hard for me too. But you have to realize that you can’t fix what happened in the past. You are here for today and today only.” He skewered some rabbit on placed it over the fire.

    William stared into the flames as flowed orange and yellow. “I just can’t bear losing anyone else. Having firsthand experience with the accident… you are all I have left, Ed.”

    “Will,” he placed his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. “You’re never gonna lose me. You’ll always have me, I promise. And no, you won’t ever die in a fire like they did.” Edward gave him a reassuring smile and handed him some now-cooked rabbit. “According to the salesman, that one’s name is Huckleberry. This one that I’m gonna eat is Chungus. Yeah I know, weird name.”

    It was great having Edward around again. William introduced him into town and he started working at the masonry with him.  William himself was having a great time, but he also noticed the lady with the blonde hair coming more frequently in the recent weeks. She would normally hang with Ramona, and somehow she always held a book in her delicate hands. William suspected she was a bookworm.

    A month or two passed, and that’s when William noticed that she held the same book and never put it down. Like, if she put it down, everything would be lost.

    “Who is it?” Edward asked one day during break. “Who is the girl you keep looking at?”

    “Oh,” William said, his gaze turning toward his food. “Is it that obvious?”

    “Definitely. So…?”

William gestured to her. Edward snickered. “She’s a little old for you, Will.”

    “Well, yes, but.” His eyes turned back to the book she was holding. “There’s something about her, Ed. Something… different.”

    Edward snatched his apple out of William’s hands. “Well, don’t be going crazy, okay? I need a sane person to stick with.” Crunch.

    The brothers then tackled each other for the apple and fell into the fountain. They didn’t care, of course.

    A few months since Edward returned, William found himself in the forest. He was looking for wood. And process some thoughts floating randomly in his brain. His older brother was acting somewhat suspicious lately. Items throughout the town had gone missing, as in stolen. Some took it upon themselves to investigate everyone in the town, and surprisingly Edward hadn’t been working each time they interviewed someone.

    William reached into his pocket and pulled out a pearl necklace. He found it in Edward’s box at home. This very necklace was Ramona’s and it had been stolen. As much as he hated the thought... Edward was a thief. It was probably why he had received a big “paycheck.” He was hiding out here until the commotion in the previous town cooled down. It made sense. William traced the pattern of the beads while he thought of his next move.

    The right thing to do would be to turn him in, and then return everything his brother had stolen. But, Edward was his brother. The only family he had left.

    Footsteps were heard crunching leaves nearby. He stuffed the necklace in his pocket and his eyes turned toward the sound. About twenty feet away stood the blonde girl, her book still in hand. His legs started moving toward her without her consent.

    What was he doing?

    What if he sacred her off?

    What was he going to say once he got there?

    What if-?

His breath caught. He was standing two feet behind her. It was silent. Even though he only saw her from behind, she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts too. He tried not to breathe so loud. Then a firm hand gripped his shoulder. William let out a yelp and fell forward. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, and was surrounded by darkness.

     He was in… some sort of void. And Edward was hovering over him.

    “How’d you figure it out?” Edward asked.

    “I can be very observant at times,” William replied. “But why? Why stealing? You know that it isn’t right.”

    His voice turned grim as he lifted his younger brother by the shirt. “I don’t need to explain anything to you.” William’s legs were dangling, and he was frightened.

    The world you live in isn’t real, a voice called in his head.

    William fell to the floor with a hard pang. Suddenly, a distant memory unlocked from his unconscious mind.

    You are a character in the Book. The real world is out there.

    He struggled to get back on his feet. First, his brother turned out to be a crook, and now he is hearing voices in a void. No, the Void.

    The only way to get to the real world is to overcome the thing you fear most.

    “Ed, this life, it isn’t real.”

    “What the heck… I told you not to go crazy.”

    “It’s not crazy, I just know somehow.”

    “Shut up. We’re heading back home, and you won’t tell anybody anything.”

    “Look at where we are!” William gestured to the Void around them. “The only way to the real world is with the Book or to get over your worst fear!”

    He hardly believed the words that were coming out of his mouth. He knew he knew this, but he didn’t know. A faded past that he never knew he knew. He knew that everyone knew what was coming back to him, just they didn’t know until the right time. William knew that he needed to get Edward to remember, or else his last line of family would be gone forever.

    “Edward, listen to me. Where we were, we can’t go back there. We have to move on or be stuck here forever.”

    “Stop making things up. You’re just a kid. A puny, twelve-year-old boy. There is nothing you can do or say. I’m the older one here; I make the decisions.”

    “Please. Edward.” He stepped toward him. “I really don’t want to lose you.”

    “I told you already. You aren’t going to lose me.” His facial expressions and tone were still stern. “We are going to go back to the house,” he gripped his younger brother’s wrist. “we’re gonna pack up and leave. And you won’t ever leave my sight again. I knew Mother raised you to be a goody-two shoes. That doesn’t work in the real world.”

    “Edward, that place… it’s not the real world, trust me.”

    “That the thing. I don’t. I know if I leave you on your own, you’re going to turn against me.”

    William backed away from his brother. “You… don’t trust me.” He hated the idea, but this is when he knew he wasn’t going to get the brother he once knew back. He needed to let go of the one thing he couldn’t. William yanked his arm out of Edward’s grasp. He tried to grab a hold of him again, but William towered over him, like he was floating. But his feet were still on the ground. Edward’s eyes widened, and he almost fell backwards.

    “W-what happened… to you?” he stammered.

    “What do you mean? Oh!” he stumbled backward. His voice was… deeper. And come to think of it, he grew taller, a few inches more than his brother. That voice in the back of his head returned.

    You conquered your fear and have been given what you need for the real world.

The last thing William remembered was the look on his brother’s face before he left the Void, and into the real world.

    The professor dismissed the class with a short list of books to rent over the next few weeks. A student used the GPS on his phone to find a nearby library as he walked out of the university.

    His name was William Howard, a twenty-four-year-old student earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering. The past two years had been a little rough, especially since just ended up in an alley by himself, no knowledge of anyone or anything of his new world. It was remarkable that he pulled everything together at twenty-two, twenty-three years of age, but somehow he managed.

    “You have arrived at your destination.” the GPS stated.

He stared through the window when he saw someone familiar. Someone that he hadn’t thought of in a while, even though they never really met. Someone where things wouldn’t but possible, but now…

    She was sitting on the ground, with that same book, the Book, lying in front of her. He suspected that she still traveled into the fictional world every now and then. He took a deep breath and walked in.

     “Excuse me,” he said, his voice somewhat low. The woman jumped and she turned to him. Their eyes met; William couldn’t resist smiling. “Are you the librarian here?” He held out his hand. She took it, slightly embarrassed that he found her sitting on the ground. He didn’t mind.

    “Yes, that’s me. Is there anything you need help with?”

Help, help… William remembered why he was there. “Yeah, actually.” He showed her the list and she grazed over it. She led him over to a shelf across from the counter, and then went over to the returned book pile.

    It took him a while to realize how fast his heart was beating, and to calm it down. Although he watched her many times in the town all those years ago, this was the closest that he ever was with her. William glanced over to her multiple times; her face was solemn as she took note of the books, clearly indulged in her work. But he still couldn’t believe she was right there. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, but she still looked youthful with the same glasses. He had similar ones as well.

    “Miss, I think I’m ready to check out.” He set the four three-inch books in front of her. His face grew warm as he said, “I’m William, by the way. William Howard.” He congratulated himself for not messing up.

   A smile spread across her face. “Jennifer Stewart. But everyone just calls me by my first name.”

    “Jennifer, that’s a lovely name you have.”

    “So is yours, Mr. Howard.”

    “Please, just call me Will.”

Jennifer glanced between him and the books. He couldn’t help but just watch her, not in a creepy way, but in awe. “Here is your receipt, and these should be returned in two weeks.” She smiled as he took the books, then headed for the door. Just before he opened it, William looked back at her. Jennifer was watching him too. An indescribable feeling exploded at the pit of his stomach as they stood there, looking at each other for a while. He knew that he was going to be back here soon.