The Willow's Vines

It had been a week since I had mysteriously appeared in a world I could hardly memorize the name of. Apparently that's what you get for wishing on the right shooting star.

It had been a strange few days, from the weird words people used instead of others, to the mystifying sight of magic every time I saw it, which was quite a lot all things considered. I had been struggling to find the right words for my situation, the uniqueness of it and the peculiarity of everything. It was what I had wished for, of course, but that had been an offhanded joke shared between a few friends at a last day of school party. It's common sense to make a wish when you see a bright glimmering dot zooming across the night sky, but you never expect for it to come through. There's a first for everything, I suppose.

I had ended up popping up in the house of some strange fairy-like creature, who had hesitantly agreed to let me stay with her until I could get a grasp on the situation and possibly find my way home. But she had duties as a working member of whatever society they held up, so I had pretty much all the time in the world to explore this new world.

I had been walking through the town for a solid hour, the sky just like the one in my world at this time of day, a light blue expanse decorated with cottony white clouds. Although it looked the same, there was something so mystifying about it that grabbed at my gaze. Everything in this world that I thought was like mine just felt different, a bit of it so small that if you only caught it in an offhanded glance, you would miss it. I couldn't tell how I felt about that.

I was in the small part of town, the modest area led around by a dirt path lined with houses next to small stores next to houses. It was quaint in a sort of far-off way. I was used to living in the city, I wasn't sure how to feel about such a drastic change.

Visiting just about every building in town wasn't impossible, and I had nearly managed it. I had gotten magical coffee twice, tasted a potion that made me a few sizes taller, ate a magical tart that tasted like how glitter should, and tried on dresses that could change color, make me fly, and cause me to itch uncontrollably. For every rose there must be a thorn I guess. There was only one building I had left, just at the end of town in a small cottage that was likely someones home before being turned into a small bookstore.

When I had woken up here, I had been stuck in my flowy red pajamas with little pink flowers on them. Since fairy clothes were far too small, I had to stop by a clothing shop in the main square and pick up a new outfit. It had been pretty embarrassing walking around in my pajamas, but I had gotten a cute red and white dress out of it. Who knew some fantasy people wore corsets outside of their dresses? My white sneakers, something fate had luckily decided to let me keep, made soft noises as they hit the ground lightly, my steps slow as I took in the beauty of the town. It wasn't easy to get used to, but when I found the right spot I could get into a melancholy state of peace where I could just admire what was being laid out before me. "Living in the moment" I think they say.

The cottage wasn't very large, an aged blue framed by an aged white and marked by vines that cascaded down the side of the house and trailed up the front. It looked as cozy as a bookstore should, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was abandoned considering it was nearly buried in plants and overgrowth. All I could think about it was that it wasn't magical. It didn't have any particular bits to it that alluded to a kind of fantastical flare like the other buildings, like the clothing store having a sign on the front that changed the different article of clothing that it displayed every ten seconds. It was just a plain old house with a small sign on the front that read "Delora's Books".

I took the first few steps up the stairs, listening to the creaks warily. I feared that if I went inside, the whole building would collapse on me. The doorknob was shaped like a book, a strange square shape as I gripped it with my hands, noting the flaky green bits mixed with the smooth copper. Taking a deep breath in, I twisted the doorknob and pushed forward, expecting to find a cluttered old area with dust and cobwebs stretching about, but was shocked with what I came face to face with.

A medium-sized enteryway decorated by generously lit candles and a deep red carpet opened out into a large expanse of shelves lined with books and floating candles that dashed to whoever snapped their finger at it. Ladders upon ladders led up and up, seemingly endless as they traveled around the building and made way for people to reach up and grab their book of choice. As beautiful as it all was, nothing could top the centerpiece of the room, a beautiful weeping willow that strangely hung from the ceiling, its vines twisting around in lifelike ways as though it had a mind of its own, pestering readers around and occasionally grabbing ahold of them to lead them off to a section it thought they may be intrigued by.

I felt my jaw hit the floor with awe, fully believing I had passed out and stumbled upon a dream. Out of all my time in this world, which wasn't a lot of time, I could safely say that this was the most shocking of all encounters. Even when I first appeared in this world I hadn't been as starstruck as now.

"Welcome, dearest, welcome! So glad to see an unfamiliar face." A seemingly human woman with graying blonde hair that strayed away from a loose bun waved as she made her way over. She was holding onto a single mustard yellow book, carrying it with one hand while the other pushed up a pair of wire-frame, circular glasses. "Please, make yourself at home. We've got plenty of good reads. Just ask the Willow and she'll direct you."

I, still unable to peel my eyes from the sight before me, finally met her gaze and asked, "Excuse me, but what do you mean the willow will direct me?"

She just let out a breathy laugh, waving her hand out before her to the previously occupied tree, who appeared to look down at her in question. As though telepathically, the tree swooped down and wrapped its small leaves around my torso. In a rush of surprise, I made to scram out of its grasp.

The lady willed one of the vines to give her a resting spot similar to a swing without the seat. She grabbed at the sides and carefully made her way over to me. "Try not to be so tough with her. She's just trying to help."

I tried to make my body relax, but I was still so overcome with the rush of excitement and fear that it seemed my body had simply stuck to a tense stillness. I had so many questions, like how this tree was moving, why the lady kept calling it a "she", who this lady was, why this place was so much bigger on the inside, if they had actual fantasy or if it was just reality for me. All this was put into consideration, and I only really snapped back once the ground grew smaller and I felt my body being lifted slowly into the air.

"This building was built many moons ago. It was once a large structure made of the finest wood, its exterior grand and large, taking up almost the entire neighborhood. This small part of town used to be as big as some of the cities, a place where some of the most renowned people would go to explore and meet some of the largest spectacles in the world." The lady explained softly, her voice seeming to calm me as we rose higher and higher. "But when the fame died down, and people were moving on to grander things, we began to realize that we could be using this land for the better. Bookstores are places to achieve knowledge and gain wisdom. We wanted to make it a place of community, not grandeur. We settled on shrinking the outside to a humble cottage, so that people would not be interested in it by its cover, but by its words. And it seems it worked, yes?"

I nodded along, beginning to understand why this woman worked here. She could tell a story without any prompting and leave me wishing for more. I was so intrigued that I hardly noticed when the vines stopped moving and my feet touched the ground softly.

The lady stepped forward, tucking the yellow book under her shoulder and bringing her hand to the shelf, scanning the spines of the books until her finger stopped at a deep brown book with worn edges. "She tells me you'll like this one." She pulled it off the shelf and blew off the dust, handing it to me slowly. The title read "The Worlds In Their Entirety".

I scanned it slowly, admiring the simplicity of it. "What's it about?"

"Eh, theories and ideas. The concept of multiple worlds has always astounded as well as bored me. But the Willow knows, I suppose." The woman looked at the tree almost admiringly.

I couldn't hold it in much longer, so I asked, "I'm sorry, you keep referring to the willow as a person. May I ask why?"

The lady looked at me for a moment before her lips cracked into a smile, then a small bit of laughter. "Silly girl, don't you know a Weeper when you see one." The woman, still chuckling, held onto one of the vines and descended slowly. "Buh-bye! Call me if you need anything!"

I just nodded, my eyebrows glued together as I tried to figure out what a "Weeper" was. All I knew was that I should know about it, according to the woman. I studied the book in hand, trying to decipher how it was supposed to help me. I supposed a theory could work, but theories could only prove so much about one thing. As far as I knew, every single theory could be wrong. But who was I to say, I was just a broke college student who finally realized that everything she thought she knew could be wrong.

I was still studying the cover when something moved in my peripheral. Something lifelike. As I was just about to study what it was, I looked up to find a face carved out in the wood of the tree. A woman's face. A Weeper.

I was overcome with shock, my body stuck to the ground as though I melted into it. I couldn't say or do anything, just watch as the face, then the body of a woman was carved out of the tree, eyes closed and figure still. I nearly dropped the book as the woman stepped out of the tree slowly.

She didn't look to be weeping, but she looked like a human version of the tree with her long, leafy hair that curtained her face, and her low, moping appearance. She was beautiful though, lips full and lashes long.

Before I knew it, she was standing right in front of me, eyes opening slowly to reveal sockets rather than actual eyeballs, both filled with overgrowth. She looked like an abandoned goddess, aged but still beautiful, simply a forgotten beauty waiting to be discovered. I wanted to reach my hand out and run a finger down her face to test if she was really real, but I was frozen, waiting for something to happen, although I couldn't tell what.

The woman put a hand to the book, fingers cracking apart as though they had formerly been glued together and splaying across its fine surface. Her eyes, or whatever you would call them, were to me, focusing on me like I was the only person in the world. "You do not belong here." she said in a creaky, somewhat whispered tone. "Read." She pushed the book closer to me lightly. I held onto it tight.

I wanted to leave, honestly, but I also was too struck to go anywhere. If I could stare at this sight all day I still wouldn't understand it. She giggled, and suddenly I felt a little more irritated than anything. When I was confused, I got frustrated, and right now I was confused out of my mind.

"Go!" she said between snickers, slowly backing away and climbing over the balcony, before jumping soundlessly. I rushed over in fear only to find that she was nowhere to be seen, and the tree was back to functioning normally.

I backed away, stumbling to the bookshelf and grabbing onto it, trying to find a support. I was broken from my trance so quickly that all my senses came back to me at once, leaving me winded. I knew at once that I didn't belong here, in a world where magical trees could turn into women and magical bookstores could read my mind.

I looked down at the book in hand, and suddenly I knew everything I thought it didn't. I had a lot of reading to do.