The Stories That Live Forever

… “No! I mustn’t give up my life! I can’t… I have a family!” the woman cried. “Even if it is for my village, I can’t just die for it!”

“If you don’t, you and your village will die altogether,” the young sorcerer pointed out. “You will have to perish either way,”

The woman sighed. She looked up at the dragon. 

“I will give up my life if you will supply my village with fresh, drinkable water,” she said. “I would be willing to give up my life,”

The dragon studied her curiously, sensing for any sign of fibbing. The dragon nodded, took the woman by the neck, and the woman was put in a metal cage.

“I will not take your life. I will ask you to do something for us first,”

There’s a small rustling in front of me. I look up, then at my watch. It’s already 10 at night! Had I been lost in the story world for that long? I closed my book and stood up. I walked toward the front door only to realize it was locked. I turned around and saw a window on the other side of the room, wide open. I walk into the historical fiction section toward the window, when I hear a thud. I whip around, startled, and see an open book on the floor. I shrug and start to turn again, when I see that the book's pages are glowing. 

“What the…”

Then, a girl comes out. She looks like she’s just under 20 years old, wearing a red cloak. I stare at her in awe.

“Come on, Star! Maria, help me out here!” she said, tugging on a rope. The other end of it was still inside the book. Another girl, who doesn’t look much younger than the first girl, comes out, followed by a cloud-white horse with brown spots.

“What -who are you?” I ask.

“What is this place?” the first girl asks like I wasn’t there.

“I told you going into that house was a bad idea, Sybil!” the second girl says sternly. 

“Who are you?” I ask again, a little louder.

Sybil looks at me, and cocks her head to the side. “Sybil Ludington. Daughter of Henry Ludington,”

“Maria Morton. Journalist,” the other girl says

“But I think I  should be asking you what’s going on?” Sybil asks again.

“You’re the Sybil Ludington?” I ask. “As in that girl that went around on a horse warning people during the American Revolution?”

“Yeah… why? Am I famous?”

“N-nothing. Just, er- do whatever you want,” I say. I turn to the window, turn the latch, and try to pull it open. It doesn’t budge. I try the other windows, too, but there’s no luck there, either. 

“What’re you doing?” Sybil says, behind me, and I jump. I had forgotten she was there. I guess that it hadn’t really sunk in that she had literally come out of the book until now.

“Oh! Um, nothing. Nothing much. Just…”

“We’re trapped in here, aren’t we?” she pets Star as she says it, and doesn’t seem to show any emotion while speaking. “I guess we can make the most of it. We can’t be here forever,”

I shake my head and go back to the book I had been reading before. I picked it up. Liliana’s Adventure. I opened it to read, but then, a blonde girl wearing a cloak in a dark shade of teal came out, followed by a girl that didn’t look much older than I was, but had streaks of grey hair.

“Liliana, isn’t it?” I say automatically. The second girl blinks at me.

“Do I know you?” she asks, half annoyed, half confused.

“And you’re the sorcerer,” I said, pointing to the woman in the cloak.

The sorcerer seemed less surprised than Liliana was. Instead, she nods to me slowly. 

“You’re Monika Gordon. Descendant of Beula Matthews, I believe,”

“Who?” I ask. Liliana is looking around the library in awe, and Maria is staring at her like she’s a hole in her candy bar.

“Beula Matthews was your great-grandmother. She was the one that let us out of our stories first. Of course, Liliana here cannot remember it,” she nodded toward her.

“But why? You remember it, so why can’t she?”

“Oh, she’s just ordinary, you see!” the sorcerer says optimistically. “I’m a sorcerer. Only the most powerful in all of these stories can remember the first time they were released. Even if Liliana had more of a role in our story, I’m much more powerful. But, of course, our beloved dragon comes second,”

“What about Sybil?” I ask, pointing to her.

“Oh, Sybil cannot remember. Star does,” 

Star knocks over the bin of horse books, and what seems like a hundred stallions emerger from each and every one. Star seems to be happy to see all of them.

“But how do you come to life now? I’ve dropped books on the floor here a billion times, and this has never happened,”

“Silly girl,” the sorcerer says, chuckling. “It can only happen on the night before May!”

“Why?” I ask, still confused. “Why May?”

“On the first of May, thousands of years ago, a witch came and created a spell, causing all books to come to life when opened. Of course, since it is now ancient magic, it does not function as well as it used to. To this day, we can only emerge from our stories just before May, but we are still stories that live forever,”

“That is so cool!” I say. “But, not that I don’t like you here, but how do I get out? I should really go home,”

“Everything in the library is a recourse,” the sorcerer replied. “Every book, fictional or true, will help,”

She walked away, purposely knocking over some of the fairy tale picture books. A Cinderella and Red Riding Hood emerged, along with the stepfamily, the wolf, and the grandmother. I look and see a Rapunzel book, and I immediately realize what the sorcerer means. I put the book on the ground and opened the book, and a tall tower grew out. I see a prince look up at the hole in the roof.

“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”

Then, thick, golden hair falls down. The prince starts climbing it, and I follow him. He doesn’t seem to notice me. I climb up about ten feet high, when I reach the roof. Rapuzel is still far away, but I leave her and the prince be.