The Library Decision

The Library Decision 

Ricky chose two books out of the pile he had stacked in the library. He walked up to the librarian ready to check out his final decisions. The librarian, Suzie, was an ethereal woman with silver hair and an uninhibited yet soft spoken voice. Suzie took his books and swiped it across a pad, before she scanned them into the computer. Ricky didn’t know what the pad was for, but every time she did this he imagined that the device locked the words into the book, in case they wanted to float away once free from the library. Suddenly, an alarm went off. It wasn’t one of those awful loud alarms, but rather a quietly chirping, because after all this was a library. Suzie eyed Ricky, “You have just borrowed your millionth book.”

He wasn’t surprised at the librarian’s declaration. He had started reading at quite a young age.

Suzie eyed Ricky closer, “Young man have you really read one million books?”

Ricky shrugged, “Probably.”

Suzie smiled, “Congratulations! We have something special for those that read a million books.”

Ricky’s interest was peaked, “You do?”

Suzie stood from her seat and said, “Follow me.”

She walked toward the elevator while Ricky’s mind whirled at the possibilities, “Maybe it was a race car, or a trip to Africa.” By the time they reached the elevator, Ricky’s possibility had reached gargantuan proportions. Suzie hit the button, and they waited for the doors to open. A thought hit Ricky. His mother had said he shouldn’t follow strangers. Was Suzie the librarian considered a stranger? He had technically known her since he was young, but not well. Ricky thought through this logically, then had an idea and asked, “What is the definition of the word stranger?”

Suzie amused at this boy’s attempt at casual conversation replied, “A person whom you have never met.”

Ricky thought, “Well that settles it. I have met Suzie.”

The elevator doors opened and Suzie proceeded to push a key into the keyhole below the buttons on the elevator. Ricky had always wanted to know what the keyhole was for. When he’d asked his mother, she’d said it lead to a dirty room where men fix things. At the time, Ricky thought this sounded like quite a fun room, but was his prize fixing things? That would be a bit of a let down. The doors opened into a dark room filled with a lot junk. Ricky scrunched his nose because it smelled, and said, “ My prize is in the basement?”

Suzie answered, “Yes, in a way.”

The cryptic response of the librarian, made Ricky wonder if she was the kind of stranger his mother had warned him against. Suzie exited the elevator, while Ricky peaked his head out in caution. He looked to his left and then to his right. He observed that at this point there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous. Still he wasn’t sure if he should follow her, but in the end his curiosity got the better of him. Ricky stepped out, but the librarian was nowhere to been seen. So he made his best guess and chose a direction. As luck would have it, Ricky chose the right direction. Suzie stood at a door that looked like a Victorian style back vault. 

She smirked, “Afraid I was tricking you, and I’d lured you down to make you into a stew?”

Ricky felt nervous at her specific detail, but he gathered his pride and declare, “No, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Suzie dramatically cackled like a witch, “We’ll see.”

Now he knew she was teasing him, because he’d never heard Suzie laugh like that at all. He rolled his eyes. 

She elbowed his ribs and said, “I told you not to read those scary stories.” 

Suzie held out her arm to the door, and it scanned lines that were on her wrist. 

Ricky said, “I thought Librarians weren’t allowed to have tattoos.”

She responded lyrically, “They’re not.”

Then she pulled the heavy door open. The inside of the doorways was completely black. There was no color, no light, even the reflection of the overhead lights of the basement did not penetrate the blackness. 

Suzie directed, “Hop in.”

But Ricky was not ready to simply oblige, “What is it?”

She answered, “I can’t say. Either you find out for yourself, or I close the door.”

“But what will happen? Will I be able to come back? Will it hurt?”

Suzie once again answered, “ I can’t answer any questions regarding the door. You either go in or you don’t.”

Ricky asked one more questions, “So it’s a leap of faith?”

She sighed, “Look, how about you go home and think about it. Then if you want to walk through, I’ll bring you down tomorrow.”

Ricky though this was a reasonable plan. Its not that he didn’t like the adventures, he just wasn’t very good at jumping before looking. Ricky nodded and they walked back to the elevator. 

When they got to the elevator doors, Suzie added, “But you can’t tell anyone about the door, or it will be lost to you forever.”

Later that night, Ricky dwelled on the door while he pushed his peas around his plate. He wasn’t one to play with his food, in fact usually he just inhaled it, so his mother asked, “Everything alright love?”

Ricky mumbled and nodded, but kept rolling his peas. His mother and two sisters were seated at the table. His one sister, Hanna, asked, “Hey where did the librarian take you today?”

Ricky was suddenly alert, “What? Nowhere.”

Hanna told his mother, “I dropped by to meet Vicky, and I saw her walking him to the elevator.”

All three women at the table stared at Ricky for an explanation. The thing is Ricky was a horrible a liar. 

“Ah, she was, um, showing me an old collection, er, I mean she was showing me cool stuff in the basement….. because I won a book prize.”

His mother jumped on this, “What have I told you about strangers?”

His other sister Lani spoke up, “Oh Mom! Give him a break. Suzie isn’t a stranger, we’ve known her for years.”

His mother settled down, “I suppose you’re right. She should have asked me first though.”

This time Ricky defended himself, “Why? I’m ten years old. I can make my own decisions!”

To his dismay all three women laughed. 

When they finally stopped laughing Hanna said, “You won’t even make a choice between brown and white bread for your sandwiches.”

Lani joined by saying, “I once over heard you and your friend Nicki trying to decide what game to play. You spent the whole day debating on it. Then it got dark and you both had to go home.”

Ricky begrudgingly acknowledge that decisions weren’t always easy for him, but that didn’t mean someone should make them for him. 

The next day, Ricky entered the library steadfast and ready to declare his decision. The problem was that there was a long line to get to the Liberian. By the time he got to Suzie, his doubt was creeping in. 

Suzie asked poignantly, “What can I do for you Ricky?”

He murmured, “Nothing.”then began to walk away. But then he saw his two sisters, chatting near the self help section. He pinched his lips together and said loudly to Suzie, “I want to go!”

Several people in the library turned to see who was making the racket. Suzie glared at him,then said, “Meet me by the elevator in ten minutes.”

He boldly walked away and waited near the elevator. Each time doubt would wiggle its way into his mind, he remembered his family laughing at him. 

Fifteen minutes later, he was in front of the door staring into the blackness again. 

He kept saying out loud, “One, two , three.” At three he was suppose to jump, but after three rounds he had yet to do so. Ricky was sure any minute Suzie was going to give up on him, but she just watched and waited. He had always liked Suzie. She was definitely quirky but it was like she understood him the way that most adults didn't. It often felt as if they were from the same world. He thought, “Maybe this door leads to that world?”

And with this thought, Ricky was really ready. He sucked in a deep breath and held it (he wasn’t sure there was air on the other side). He then jumped through the door with his whole body. 

The next thing he knew he was in a void. It felt like he was conscience, but his body was hidden in the blackness. Then he heard Susie’s voice, “Hello Ricky.”

He answered meekly, “Hi?”

Susie’s voice continued, “It is good to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you.”

Confused, he replied, “But we know each other.”

Susie’s voice admitted, “I am not Suzie. I just sound like her.”

“Then who are you?”

Colors began to breakthrough the blackness. Purples, Blues, Greens and so on.

The voice answered, “I am the library.”

Suddenly, Ricky was in a room. It’s ceilings were as high as a cathedrals, with an ornate stained glass window that kept shifting colors like a kaleidoscope. Ricky couldn’t take his eyes off of it, while he listened to what the Library was saying. 

“I was born the day the printing press was invented, in 1436. Like you, I started out small.”

Ricky had no idea how to respond to a talking room, so he said the first thing that came to his head, “But you talk. How can a building talk?”

The Library answered, “When word spread about the printing press, people’s imaginations became so hungry that it turned into a kind of literary magic. And here I am, connected to every library in the world.”

Ricky’s eyes grew wide, “You mean that I could walk through a door and be in Africa?”

The Library chuckled, “If you like. But I think you’ll find my other rooms worth exploring first.”

A very ordinary door popped up and the Library continued, “Would you like to see?”

Ricky answered by heading toward the door and going through. He entered a long and tall hallway. He was hit with that wonderful smell of a new book being opened. The walls were covered with quotes, sayings, and wisdom. The black typed words pranced across the wall in a timed dance like movement, almost like a clock. When he listened closely, Ricky could even hear the tick and tock of the movement. 

The next door he came to was a welded bronze metal door, with a submarine wheel in the middle of it. 

She informed Ricky, “This is the pelagic expanse. I like to call it Pelgi for short.”

Ricky turned the wheel to open it, which was thrilling. The room looked like it was filled with water, but it wasn’t spilling onto the hallway. Ricky pushed his hand into it, to feel the temperature of the water. To his amazement his hand remained completely dry. He walked inside. He felt like he was both floating and rooted to the ground. It took a minute for him to remember how to walk. Two other people were in the room, reading their books. They both looked up briefly at Ricky, smiled, then returned to reading. The first person, a teenage girl was reading a book that had the title”Mermaids” on it. Her hair floated in the air, like she was underneath water. She sat on a couch that was made of a bright orange coral, but had soft pink sponges to make it more comfortable. 

The other person was an older man, with greying hair. He was reading “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. As he mouthed the words of the story, air bubbles came out of his mouth and rose to the top of the room. He was sitting on a recliner chair that looked a lot like an bright red squid embracing him. Ricky tried blowing his own air bubbles, but it didn’t work. 

The Library instructed, “The room responds to the book you are reading. Come along, there is so much to show you.”

She gave him an hour tour of the rooms. They by no means saw all the rooms, but it was let’s say a Library sampler. He saw the Jungle, which was hot and sticky yet still refreshing. It’s occupants were often figuring out a riddle or finding treasure. There was the inventors room, where the occupants would discuss with other inventors and the room would conjure up any material they needed. There was even a Philosophers room. Once inside he was immediately wearing a toga, had a stone to sit on, and with every statement he made, a person popped up and asked why. There was also a very odd sign that declared, “NO TEA” , in the room. He asked the Library why that was, but all she said was, “Philosophers can be volatile.” Then she mumble the name Socrates. 

The room that took the cake, though, for Ricky was the African Safari Room. He had always loved the wondrous animals that came from this continent. He could have stayed there for the rest of the day, especially when he saw one of the readers stroking a cheetah. However, the tour was finished.

Ricky blinked and the was back in the stained glass window room. 

Disappointed Ricky asked, “Is it over?”

The Library replied, “That’s up to you. I’ve shown you all of this to invite you to be a part of it, of me….”

Ricky interrupted her, “Yes! I want to. Yes.”

The Library conintued, “Ricky, this isn’t a place to merely read books. You have to participate.”

Ricky became cautious again, “What does that mean?”

“It means, those that are apart of me have to find books to add so that I can grow. Because if I don’t grow, then I die. For those that chose to find theses books for me, all of the rooms are available to them.”

Ricky answered, “Ok. How hard can that be?”

The Library responded in a quieter voice, “For those who are truly committed, it is not hard. But for those that say yes, but do not follow through there is a heavy consequence. They loose their imagination.”

He now understood the brevity of the situation. To loose his imagination would be the worst thing that could happen, even worse than death. 

Ricky asked, “What if I don’t know how to find books?”

She answered, “ I give you the assignments, and I promise you would have all of the information, skills, and tools you need. I would not give you a quest you could not finish. You merely need to say yes, and commit.”

Ricky thought on this. After a couple of minutes the Library said, “Take as long as you need to think about it. When you have an answer write in a library book, with pencil, yes or no.”

Once again Ricky sat at the dinner table pushing around his food. This time it was mash potatoes which don’t roll as well as pea. His mother became really worried and said, “Ricky, what is wrong? Has that Arnold boy been bothering you again?”

Grumpy at having to make yet another big decision, he reacted, “I’m fine! Leave me alone.”

His mother stood up from the table, “Erich Zimmerman! You will watch your tone.”

In an act of frustration, she picked up the plates, some still being eaten from, and marched them into the kitchen. His two sisters and Ricky sat in awkward salience. Lani finally broke it, “She didn’t mean anything by it Ricky. She misses Dad.”

Ricky stood from the table and walked in the kitchen. She stood staring out of the kitchen window. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s waist and squeezed while saying, “I’m sorry Mom.”

His Mom turned quickly and hugged him back, “No love, I’m sorry.”

Ricky shook his head, but she stopped him, “No truly. It’s not you’re fault.”

A stray tear walked down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, cleared her throat and said, “Now what has you so distracted these days?”

Ricky was pretty sure he still wasn’t suppose to tell about the Library, so he said, “I’ve been invited to a book club.”

His mother proclaimed, “That’s wonderful!”

Then she saw his face, “So what’s the problem?”

“I have to make a real commitment. If I don’t do my part, there will be big consequences. “

She asked, “So?”

“So, what if I can’t do it?”

His mother decided to sit on the floor with her legs crossed. The was a bit of a thing for a 6’0 tall woman wearing a fluffy skirt. 

“I’m glad you’re taking your commitment so seriously, but I can tell you that I have seen you overcome many obstacles. Each one harder than the next. And the conclusion that I have come to about you, is this: You can do anything you put your mind to.”

Ricky blurted out, “But the consequences are…”

She stopped him, “Maybe you should focus more on if you want to do this, rather than what happens if you fail.”

She kissed him on the forehead and pushed herself up off of the floor. Without looking he knew there was a huge bright red lipstick kiss on his forehead, and he smiled. His mom picked up the chocolate cake and took it to the table. As she left she said to him, “I know you can do this.”

He knew that she just thought he was talking about a book club, but it still encouraged him. And he asked himself the question that she had suggested, “Did he want to do this?’

The answer immediately rang through his head. He walked over to the library book and wrote his answer in it.