The First Apprentice

“Is it too late to turn around?” I whispered to myself as I stared at the huge house before me. To be honest, I had expected to be working somewhere more…businesslike. Not at someone’s own home, especially one that looks more like a haunted house. You know, the place down the street kids would call “The Witch’s House”? Guess I’m about to be some witch’s next meal.

After taking a deep breath, I finally mustered the courage to walk down the short, cemented pathway that led to the porch steps. I was soon standing at the front door of the house, and the butterflies in my stomach suddenly went into overdrive. It’s not like I wanted to do this! But if I wanted to get the job of my dreams, I needed some experience, right? This apprenticeship would be over before I knew it…hopefully.

I raised my hand and knocked on the door three times. There was no answer. I knocked again, three times like before. And again, no answer. Did she go out? I thought. She said to meet her here at exactly 3:30—

“Who’s knocking at my door at this ungodly hour!?” 

I jumped when I heard muffled shouting from inside the home. The next thing I knew, the front door swung open and I was face-to-face with the woman who agreed to be my mentor for the next few months. Although, I don’t think a pink bathrobe and matching slippers are proper working attire. I could only stare at her, this elderly lady who was staring back at me with a deep scowl etched onto her face. 

My mentor blew a few strands of her shaggy, white hair from her face and placed her hands on her hips. “Well? What do you want?”

“Um…h-hello, Ms. Barclay.” I struggled to speak to the old woman in a calm, steady tone. But Ms. Barclay’s unwavering gaze made me want to curl up into a ball and cry. “I’m Maya. I was assigned as your apprentice. R-Remember?” Please remember, I pleaded in my head.

“My apprentice?” Ms. Barclay raised an eyebrow, and after a moment of thought, her eyes widened as realization hit her. “Ooooooooh! That’s right!” The old lady then put a hand under her chin. “But I thought that didn’t start until Monday.”

“...It is Monday, ma’am.”

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Ms. Barclay shook her head and turned around. “Monday, Tuesday, Hump Day, doesn’t matter. Come on, Megan.” The woman went back into her house while beckoning me to follow her.

I sighed. “It’s Maya, ma’am.” 

“Watch your step now. I wasn’t expecting visitors today, so…” Ms. Barclay warned me as I followed her through the house. Much like its owner at the moment, the house was very unkempt with papers littering the floor and clothes scattered across the living room couches and table. We walked past the kitchen and I managed to catch a glimpse at the trashcan, which was overflowing, and there was a pile of dirty dishes sitting in the sink. If this was the state of the downstairs area, I could only imagine what upstairs looked like. 

But it looks like that’ll be a mystery for another day, because instead of going up, Ms. Barclay led me down a long hallway until we reached another door. The elderly woman grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it. “Try not to make a mess in here, Mary.”

“It’s Maya.” I corrected Ms. Barclay.

“Of course. My mistake, Mabel.”

“But—” I opened my mouth to correct her again, but stopped myself. I had a feeling that no matter how hard I tried, she was never going to get my name right. So, I just went along with it and watched as Ms. Barclay opened the door. 

She stepped aside and motioned her arm to the doorway. “After you.”

Slowly, I stepped across the threshold into the room, but what I saw on the other side of the door was completely unexpected. I was sure this room would be just as cluttered and junky as the rest of Ms. Barclay’s home. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful library space, which was filled with books and a cozy, little sitting space. There were two lounge chairs, each with the same black and patterns, and a small table with a few magazines stacked on top of it. The library may not look like much to most, but to me, it was a paradise. A small, cozy paradise.

Ms. Barclay didn’t waste any time and she took a seat in one of the chairs. “Why don’t we sit and chat for a minute? Get some details straight about this “apprenticeship”.”

I nodded furiously, suddenly excited about this apprenticeship. Was it the library? Whatever it was, I immediately took off my backpack and sat down in the remaining lounge chair. “Okay! I have a few ideas if you’d like to hear them. You see, I—”

“Woah, woah, woah! Slow down, kid!” Ms. Barclay raised her hand to stop me. “I just woke up here. Give me a minute to breathe, would you?”

“O-Oh. Right…I’m sorry.” 

Ms. Barclay shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone your age so excited about taking care of some dusty ol’ books.”

I frowned at elderly woman’s statement. “There’s more to being a librarian than that, isn’t there?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Ms. Barclay leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “You have a favorite?”

“Excuse me?”

“A favorite book, Millie. What is it?”

Ignoring the fact that Ms. Barclay said my name wrong AGAIN, I thought for a moment before giving her my answer. “"The Ghost of Wellington", I guess.”

“Ah, by Jennifer Bell! Good choice.”

“You know it?”

Ms. Barclay scoffed. “Of course I do! It was my daughter’s favorite book, too.”

“Oh! I didn’t know I had a daughter.”

“Yes. Had.”

My eyes widened and I instantly regretted asking about what I assume is a very sensitive subject for my mentor. “I am so, so sorry! I didn’t know—!”

“I know, I know! It’s fine, really. Don’t worry about it.” Ms. Barclay looked away from me and down at the floor. Oh man, did I already screw up this apprenticeship? Does Ms. Barclay hate me now? I nervously waited for her to say something, anything to break this awkward silence that had filled the room. And I was grateful when Ms. Barclay finally did speak again.

“You remind me a lot of her, you know?”

“Really?” I asked my mentor. “How so?”

“Well for one thing, you girls like the same book.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Ha, ha!” Ms. Barclay laughed too, which surprised me. So, she does have a sense of humor! But, as if she had just realized what she was doing, the old lady’s laughter ceased and she quickly regained her composure. “Anyway, Vanessa wanted to become a librarian too. She wanted to follow in my footsteps. But then—” 

Ms. Barclay suddenly stopped herself and frowned. “You know what? Why am I even telling you this?” She stood from her seat and walked to one of the bookshelves. “You didn’t come here to listen to this old woman rant about her life, did you? You came to work—”

“My grandmother died too. About a year ago.” I don’t know why I even said that. Ms. Barclay was right. I didn’t come here to hear about her personal life, and she sure didn’t want to hear about mine. Now what?

“...I’m sorry. I’m sure she was a wonderful lady.”

“Mm-hmm. She was the reason I got into books.”

“I see.” Ms. Barclay nodded her head and grabbed a book from the bookshelf. The book had a plain red cover with no title. “Funny. My grandmother loves books too. She gave me this one a few weeks before she died.” The old woman tossed the book over to me, and I barely caught it in my hands. “Look at the title page.”

I did as Ms. Barclay said and turned to the title page of the red book. “It’s called “The Book of Dreams”? By Matthew Winkler?”

“That’s right, Mildred. It was my grandmother’s way of saying “follow your dreams”, and my dream was to become a librarian. Just like you.”

“Wow.” Who’d have thought? Ms. Barclay and I actually have a lot in common. It was somewhat comforting that I could relate to my mentor so much. “I bet she was so cool.”

Ms. Barclay smiled. “Yes. She was “cool”.” She placed her hands on her hips and looked back at the bookshelf she was standing beside. “You can keep it.”

“What? R-Really?” I asked Ms. Barclay while holding the book close to my chest. “But this book is important to you! I can’t accept this!”

My mentor spun around and rushed to my side. “Of course you can, Melody!” She then patted me on the head like I was a little kid. Well, at least she wasn’t mad anymore. “Just promise me one thing, okay?”

I wonder what she wanted to ask of me. “Uh, s-sure. What is it?”

“When this apprenticeship is over, and you become a big, famous librarian…promise me that that book—” Ms. Barclay pointed to the book still in my hands. “Will be the first one you put on the shelves. Understand?”

Oh. How can I say no to that? It honestly was a simple request, but I could tell it would mean the world to her. “...Yes. I understand. It’s a promise.”

“Thank you. You don’t know…thank you.” Ms. Barclay’s voice broke as if she was going to cry. I could have sworn I saw tears forming in her eyes, but my mentor turned away before I could confirm it. She took a moment to calm down before talking again. 

“I was going to give it to my daughter, but…I think she’d want you to have it in her place. After all—”  Ms. Barclay gave me a playful nudge with her elbow. “You are my apprentice. My first apprentice, at that. If you’re going to work under me, then I think you deserve something special to celebrate the occasion.”

Once she said that, the elderly lady let out a yawn and began walking back towards the door. I immediately stood from my seat and moved to follow her. “Wait, what now? Where are we going?”

“You—” Ms. Barclay looked over her shoulder and pointed at me. “You are going to make yourself at home while I go change. Then we’ll head over to the town library since that’s where we'll be working most of the time during your apprenticeship. I’ll show you around, alright?”

I smiled widely and followed Ms. Barclay out of her library. “Yes ma’am!”

“Don’t get too excited now. I won’t go easy on you, Maya.”

“It’s—” I stopped and my smiled widened when I realized that for the first time since I’ve been here, Ms. Barclay had gotten my name right. Maybe that was a sign. Maybe…Maybe this apprenticeship wasn’t going to be so bad after all.