"Dear William"….. A Letter from The Best Librarian, But Also A Father Doomed To Be The Best Storyteller….”

“Dear William….. A Letter from The Best Librarian, But Also A Father Doomed To Be The Best Storyteller….”

Dear William (on your wedding day),

I hope this letter finds you well. I hope that you have became the man I knew you would always be, even if I was not there to celebrate it with you!

I wish I could’ve met your bride. I have no doubt that she has a beauty not only around her, but also emanating inside of her as well! I wish I could’ve been there on this special day, but fate had other plans.

It must’ve been hard to lose your mother all those years ago. She was the fairest lady I have ever met. She let her beauty shine everywhere she went! There was hardly a person I knew that felt any harshness towards her! She seemed so far out of my own reach, and yet I was amazed when she said an ecstatic “YES!” when I asked her to marry me!

I loved those years with her, there was nothing that came in our way that her joyful spirit couldn’t eradicate! And then the joy of hearing you would be coming into our lives!

We loved you so much! With all our heart! There was hardly a moment where one of us wasn’t singing to you, or telling you the most elaborate stories to put wonder on your little face! Stories of far away kingdoms, even as far as the tallest mountains, and even some that flew far above us in the clouds! When all three of us gathered around, there was no telling where the stories would bring us! Your mother was part of a long line of storytellers, even your grandparents and great grandparents told the most elegant stories to entertain crowds who travelled near and far to hear their tales.

Which made it very hard when your mother left us……

To this very day I still remember the look on your face when I said that she had left and would not be coming back. You were quite young then, but it had been quite a while since I saw a look of sheer helplessness!

I think we both remember the years afterwards as being very hard.

I’m writing this letter as part of an apology for all those years!

I spent so much of those years working at the office, and I’m afraid I just left you in front of the TV set. You were always amazed by the stories, especially those out in space! And the few times we were both at the same dinner table you loved telling me how your favorite ship went to this world or that one!

If I had only known the amount of days I had left until I suffered the same fate as you mother.

How I wished I didn’t spend so much time being around catalogs, and computers; traveling here and there for the next lead. I should’ve spent more time with you, my son. Perhaps I would’ve had a much different fate if I had just stayed around home more like the father I wanted to be…..

…… but this brings me to the other purpose of my letter.

This will be a shock to you, and perhaps now may not be the best time to tell you, but including this in “a note from a father to his son on his wedding day” makes a much less suspicious note than “for my son on his 21st birthday.”

It is now time to tell you this:

Your Mother is still alive.

Somewhere.

Now I don’t mean that all those years ago she left willingly and I made up a story about her departure.

This will be a little complicated. And at times rather unbelievable; and even I was skeptical at first, but everything I am about to tell you is absolutely true……

I mentioned earlier that you mother came from a long line of storytellers.

Well her families lineage dates all the way back to the ancient guild of Ukrainian storytellers known as the “Kobzar.” There were multiple ‘guilds’ within their lines, but you mother line came from a mysterious sect known as the “Veduchyy Svitiv” or “Bringer of Worlds.” Now there was often conflict with the old Orthodox churches and the various sects of the storytellers, but for your mothers family, things were far worse.

The church decreed that these storytellers were not of this world and their entire bloodlines had to be eliminated. When a friend of the family told them the news that their family would be brought to the church to “perform the religious purging of spirits” they fled everything they had and headed to the ancient land which we now call the Netherlands.

You’re probably wondering why the church had such a religious hatred for the family, and you’re also probably wondering what any of this has to do with your mother.

Well, and this will be the part that’s hard to believe…..

…..By speaking a few words in an ancient language, your mothers bloodline is gifted to make any story come to life.

Your mother could describe each and every castle she told you in story in such detail because she had been there. All of the 'friends’ she told you about; fabled beasts, talking animals, knights, kings, even giants, they were all people she had met whenever she told a story.

Now bringing dragons and mountain sized castles into this realm would be disastrous, mostly, but I can think of a few places that might do well with a dragon attack after all. This is why her family learned to bring these “story boxes” (like the very one I’ve sent to you as a wedding gift here that your mother used to use).

Instead of having the worlds come to life here in New England, they could exist safely inside the box here.

All you mother would have to do is speak the incantation, and anything she read would come to life inside of the “story box.” From what I learned she also could speak another set of words and she could immerse herself inside the box (and then say another line to bring her back out of the story again).

This is the fate that happened to your mother. She is trapped inside one of the stories.

This is something I know deep within my heart. When we had the funeral for her it was an empty casket without a body inside. I was told this would be the easiest for her friends and family, including yourself. Your mother confided this secret within a few in her circle; Your Aunt Amy and Sarah and myself. We knew when she made trips inside her stories she would leave her wedding ring on top of the storybook she was journeying into.

On the night of her disappearance I came home with pizza after a long day of work and went upstairs to grab your mother for dinner (we were both exhausted by the end of the day and thought all of us needed a treat). I went into our bedroom to find her wedding ring on the floor surrounded by paper shredded all over the floor. The neighbors cat had paid us another visit, but this time took a special interest in her new book and decided to shred it’s pages until they were hardly readable.

I collected what I could, and I pulled out a few phrases which looked important:

“Sapphire Crown”

“Sword of the Great Bear”

“Queen of the Frozen North”

But It was the last phrase that really that made my heart sink

“Limited Edition: 1 of 5”

From what I gathered the book she received was a gift from somebody that found an extremely rare novella that only had a few copies published.

Although the odds were against me, I knew, with all my heart, that I could find another copy of the book.

This is when I poured my heart into finding another copy of the book. I used all my resources at the Library of Congress to look into this. My job as a librarian there seemed to come in handy fir once. I transferred myself to the ‘Children's Literature’ section and used all the resources at my disposal in my spare time (including all those late nights at the office) to find another copy.

The “Workaholic” myths you heard about me were partially true; but it was not for myself that I became distant, but it was to bring your mother back to us.

This brings me to the next part of my letter.

I am not dead either.

In fact I have found one of the other copies of the book.

Unbeknownst to myself I am also part of the same bloodline as your mother.

As the family headed to the Netherlands one of my ancestors found favor with the new friends and betrothed them carrying on this special gift.

More than likely if you have received this letter it is because your aunts were put into the same situation as we had been with your mother.

I followed the same plan as before and somehow got caught in the same story.

Hopefully in all of this I found your mother and we are here living out our day until you find us.

I cannot say the fate of the book that I read from, but I had a backup plan.

There was a third copy of the book; it’s location I have kept secret…..

…..until now.

Inside the very box I have given you there is a false bottom. Inside you will find a letter to include the arrangement I made with the bookshop owner in Venice, Italy. I asked Gino to the shopkeeper to keep the book safe. He agreed and promised to release the book only to the person who has the letter I included in the envelope.

We’ve also arranged your airfare and accommodations as a wedding gift to you. More than likely your aunts will give you your trip details, but you now know the hidden reason for the trip.

As you are the same bloodline as Your mother, and now I, you are also given the gift to bring yourself inside the story. The ancient words will be written on a card inside the book when you receive it.

I suppose you now have the power to bring us back, but you are also given the choice.

You may choose to stay here with us in our story.

I cannot say what things are like here, at the time of writing this letter I am sitting at my desk with the box, the words, and my wedding ring ready to speak the ancient words. I will give the letter to you Aunt Sarah if I have disappeared.

I cannot say what would be the best for you, I can only show you what could be the first few steps on your adventure…..

…. As you are also starting your first few days on the only true great adventure: Love.

Just know that you always have been,

and always be loved by your parents

Yours truly,

The Best Librarian, But Also A Father Doomed To Be The Best Storyteller