Trapped Escape

Cramming myself onto a bookshelf is more uncomfortable than I thought it would be. My long hair falls in my mouth, but I spit it out. I try to shift my weight more into my heels than my knees, but it’s no use. The dull ache in my knees from the old wooden shelf is just something I’ll have to deal with. 

I do have enough room to reach inside my backpack and grab the sheet and tape that I brought. Carefully, I rip three pieces of tape off with my teeth, using them to tape the sheet on the bookshelf above me. The sheet drapes down, covering my hiding spot.

I am invisible.

Or at least, I hope I am. I hear a faint voice from the front of the library. A few of the lights switch off. 

I hold my breath as Andy the librarian walks up and down the aisles. I’ve watched him do his rounds before. He pays absolutely no attention. That’s why I picked to hide during his shift. 

The fall of footsteps gets heavier. Andy is humming a tune to himself, sounds like “Living on a Prayer.” It’s one of his favorite songs.

I close my eyes and hold my breath. I’ve spent weeks waiting for this night.

Andy’s pace slows. I bite my lip to keep from crying. But as soon as he slows down, he speeds up again. I can hear him turn around at the end of the row, and head down the next aisle. 

The air in my lungs wants to race out like a dog released from a car, but I’ve made it this far without detection and manage to hold back the burst to a slow steady release.

At the end of his rounds, Andy calls to the other librarian, Michelle. “We’re all good!”

The lights go out, followed by the click of the front door lock. 

I should wait a few minutes to make sure they’re gone, but the dull aching in my knees has turned to a burning pain. I throw the sheet up and roll into the aisle. 

The bookshelves tower over me, lined with my favorite things in the world. Books. 

Ever since I was six years old, I vowed one night I would camp overnight in the library. And just read the whole night. It would be like dreaming, but better.

Now I’m seventeen, and I’m finally going to accomplish my childhood dream. 

I do possibly intend to steal a few books, too.

I hurry over to the young adult section, and gather the snacks I hid throughout the bookshelves. Soon enough, I’m sitting on a bean bag chair, with a stack of books on one side and a pile of snacks on the other side. 

Midnight hits and I can feel my eyelids getting heavy. I get up and stroll through the aisles, attempting to take in what the library feels like at night. The moonlight filtering in through the big picture windows give the bookshelves an eerie yet beautiful glow. 

As I run my hand along the spines of the books, a sound suddenly makes me freeze.

The whirring of a vacuum. 

Panic rises in my chest and my breath quickens. Why didn’t I check if there was a janitor schedule? Why didn’t I ask Michelle or Andy?

I resist the urge to run back to my hiding spot. The vacuum suddenly stops as soon as it had started, leaving an eerie silence. 

It had been coming from the far end of the library, by the café. Maybe if I find and then follow the janitor around, I won’t get caught. 

I peek around the last bookshelf before the café. A young man is crouched by the outlet, unplugging the vacuum. 

My whole body shivers in sudden anxiety when he stands up. He’s tall and skinny, and his black hair and glasses flash in the moonlight when he turns around. 

It’s Andy. 

My teeth grit together. Andy was always my least favorite librarian. He’d always bug me about the fantasy romance books I was reading, and tell me how the sci-fi books he read were way better. 

His eyes scan the bookshelf, and I quickly pull my head out of sight. I pray he can’t see me, crouched behind the books. I don’t dare look around the edge as I hear feet shuffling and the vacuum rolling. 

I can tell he’s walking towards the front desk. I open one eye and watch him pass by my aisle, but he doesn’t turn his head. 

An envelope falls out of his back pocket.

After many long minutes of trying to control my breathing, I hear the vacuum start up at the other end of the library. 

I throw five glances down the open aisle before I crawl out and grab the envelope. Inside, there is a note and a key. 

To: Amber. I’m sorry, but you can no longer leave. 

A blinding light switches on above me, putting me in a spotlight. I gasp and scramble up, running toward the café. The light follows me, it’s so bright I can’t see.

I crash into the café counter, causing me to stumble back. I lose my balance and fall back, hitting my head on the floor. My thoughts spin, and I struggle to keep consciousness as I try to focus on slowing my breathing. I still only see white from the bright light. 

I feel cold metal on my wrists, and then my ankles. I try to sit up, but the metal cuts into my skin. 

The bright light fades and I blink repeatedly to bring my focus back on the darkness.

Andy is standing over me, and I’m shackled to the café counter. 

Andy sighs. “I had a feeling this was going to happen one day.” My eyes follow him as he walks behind the counter.

Andy returns to face me with a bulky machine that looks like a cross between a gun and a microscope. He sets the machine down next to me, and rolls up his sleeves. 

“What are you going to do to me?” I manage to squeak out. 

He sighs again and holds out his arm. It’s the tattoo of an open book with it’s pages fluttering in the wind. 

He runs his fingers around the outline. In a whisper I can barely hear, he says, “Once you stay in the library for a night, you can never leave. It’s Warsaw Library Ordinance.”

He takes the microscope-tattoo gun and positions it over my shackled arm. “That’s how we make sure we always have enough employees.” 

“What?” I let out another squeak. I was applying to colleges. I was going to be an english major and become an editor. Not be stuck in a library my whole life. What will my parents think?

Even in the dark, I can see the sympathy in Andy’s furrowed brow. “I’m sorry. I made the same mistake.”

Pain sears through my arm and I scream. I can feel the needles piercing into my arms, and a burning radiates up to my shoulder. Tears stream out of my eyes. Through my blurry vision, I can see black streaks appearing on my arm.

Andy takes away the gun and reveals his same tattoo, now on my arm. He reaches out and touches the skin, and his eyes lock with mine.

“The library book security system will shock you in this tattoo if you try to leave.”

The shackles drop from my hands and feet, and I struggle to stand. I have an urge to run, to get away, but I have a sinking feeling that Andy is right. Every librarian has the same tattoo. 

Andy points to the envelope, still in my back pocket. “That’s the key to your room downstairs.” 

I’m shaking as I take the envelope from my pocket and stare at the note again. 

To: Amber. I’m sorry, but you can no longer leave. 

Andy shifts his feet and stares at the ground. “You might want to get some sleep. Michelle will want you to start training tomorrow.”

I gather my pile of snacks and books and dump them on the floor of my new bedroom. 

I’m stuck here. Forever. 

Surprisingly, I’m not afraid anymore. I plop down on my bed, but instead of going to sleep, I crack open a book. 

I’m not afraid because the books will always be there. They will always be there to safely transport me to a different world. 

And that’s enough comfort for now.