Book talk

The sun is slowly setting, while I am moving at the speed of light. The book I need for tomorrow’s test can only be found in one library: the one across campus. Ten minutes till it closes and I still have to look for the book. I’ll be there in five, I hope ...

The librarian looks at me with that familiar look of hers; she knows me and knows that I am not the most organised person in the world, unlike her.

   “Normally, I would have the book ready for you Jenny, but not this time. This time you can look for it yourself,” she says.

“Sorry, I’m so late, but I almost forgot about this test, and …” I’m so out of breath that I can’t even finish my sentence.

 “No worries, you can do what you normally do when you come rushing in like this, but remember, the library closes in five minutes. And don’t expect any help from me, this one is on you!”

While trying to catch my breath, I almost forget the book I need. I remember it was something with Johnson and Delong, about the history of writing, but all I can find is some contemporary stuff. I am in the wrong place without time.

“Miss Knight, could you please give me hint about where to find a book by Johnson and DeLong about the history of writing?”

“Well, it should either be in the writing isle or in the history section, but either way it will be somewhere in the back,” she said. She walked towards me with her dainty tread. In a hurry, but still lady like and quiet. A true librarian.

“I simply cannot seem to find it, but I’ll try the history section,” I replied. Miss Knight didn’t answer, but I was sure I would find what I was looking for soon. As I turned round the corner, I saw a small shadow moving rapidly across the floor. It was like a book falling to the ground, but I didn’t hear it hit the floor.

“Miss Knight, is that you?” Still no reply. Weird, but fine, books fall sometimes, especially when the shelves are a bit messy. As I ran my eyes across the books that I was sure kept the book I was looking for, I touched them with just the tip of my fingers. Moving rapidly, the backs of the old books felt soft and rough at the same time. But, before I could touch another book, my heart skipped a beat. I jumped back before I realised what I saw, or rather, what was seeing me.

A pair of yellowish eyes looked at me from the bookshelf I had been looking at moments before. What in the what? I thought to myself as I slowly moved towards it. The eyes kept staring at me. For a second, I thought it was just a picture, but then they moved. I opened my mouth to scream, but before I could make a sound, a small creature, the likely owner of the eyes, put its hairy finger on my mouth as if to say: “keep quiet, please.”

Black, all black was the last thing I saw before the floor came hurtling towards me.

My first thought when I woke up was that I had been dreaming. But the rude awakening came with the yellow eyes staring at me again. Somehow, this creature looked kind of cute, so I wasn’t afraid. Although I had never seen anything like it, I trusted that it wouldn’t harm me in any way. The eyes were friendly, friendly yellow eyes, weird though.

“Hi there little friend, what in the name of history writers are you?” I asked. The question was for me, so I didn’t expect it to answer. But it did.

“Hi there, I go by the name of Corlin. A book demon is what I am. But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. You like books, right?”

“Uhm, yes, I like books. But did you say you were a demon?”

“Why yes I am, I have been all my life.”

“Aren’t demons supposed to be, you know…, from hell, or something?” I was getting curious.

“Different kind,” the little creature responded. “We are not evil, and we do not try to make people do bad things. Taking care of the books is what we are meant to do.”

“That’s nice,” I replied. What a response. My first chat with an actual demon and what do I say? That’s nice! I am a moron, a smart moron, but still.

“Did you by any chance drop a book before, you know, I fainted?”

“No, I did not, that must have been Eggsy, he’s still getting used to his new form, he’s a bit clumsy right now.”

Eggsy? A demon named Eggsy? Are you sure? I thought.

“Yes, I’m sure. I named him myself.”

This is getting weirder and stranger, furry little creatures with yellow eyes, that say they are book demons. I am definitely dreaming.

“Corlin, do you happen to know what happened to miss Knight? I didn’t hear from her when I called.”

“She’s gone home for the night; the library has been closed for a few hours already. And by the way, Eggsy is not furry like me, he is more like a little dragon at the moment.”

“Hold on one moment, did you read my mind just now, about Eggsy?”

“Why yes, I did, I do that sometimes. I think it makes me special because I have yet to meet someone who can do the same. I also happen to know humans cannot do anything like it.”

Corlin seemed friendly enough, but if I had indeed been asleep for a few hours, and the library is now closed, then how am I supposed to get out of here? And also, this simply cannot be real, can it? I mean, book demons, mind-reading, these things only happen in fantasy.

Corlin’s eyes grew big as he glanced over my shoulder, he was looking at something. I turned around to see what it was, but there was nothing there, nothing but books anyway.

“What is it,” I asked. He seemed scared. I turned back around and Corlin was gone. In his place was a small lizard with bright white eyes staring at me. It could not have been more than a foot long, seemingly friendly. But the eyes, the eyes were piercing through me, like it was staring into my soul. It made me feel weird, a bit dizzy even. I set aside my fear and spoke to the little creature.

“You must be Eggsy, right?” The lizard didn’t move, nor did it speak. Instead, it just starred.

Suddenly a white fog started creeping up on us. The small lizard scurried away.

“They’re here …” I heard a familiar voice say.

“Who are here, Corlin?” I whispered.

“The others, they have come.”

I didn’t know who or what to expect after what I had just seen, but I thought it best to keep quiet, for now. As I found a little corner, behind the bookshelves to hide behind, this ritual unfolded in the middle of the library. The white fog from before filled the centre of the library, and from it, small creatures of different shapes and sizes started to appear.

“You shouldn’t let them see you,” Corlin whispered. He wasn’t hiding anymore, but he sounded anxious.

“What do you mean? Who are they?”

“They are the other demons, and they’re not all friendly like me.”

Corlin sounded serious, the tone of his voice had changed. I couldn’t believe my eyes, there were all sorts of creatures emerging from the fog.

“Why are they all here?” I asked Corlin. But he didn’t answer. I saw him move to the centre of the library. He started speaking in a language I could not understand. His voice was deep and dark, it didn’t fit his appearance at all. But then the fog disappeared, and he started speaking in English once more. Was he doing that for me? I thought to myself.

“I am talking to you in human tongue, so that we may practice the language of the books as we always do,” Corlin spoke. He had answered my question.

A dark voice replied from somewhere I could not see.

“What happens to be on the menu for today, Corlin?”

On the menu? Are they going to eat something? Am I on the menu? Suddenly, I was feeling nervous.

“On the menu for today are some books about writing,” Corlin said. “They have been approved by both Eggsy and myself.”

Corlin seemed proud of what he said. I still just couldn’t believe what was going on.

“Then let us begin!” A loud high-pitched voice sounded through the entire library. It was Eggsy. The lizard demon who had starred at me but had not spoken a word. I think he was a bit scared of me.

“Young human! Would you mind coming out of hiding, I assure you, you will not be harmed.” Eggsy spoke. I couldn’t believe he was addressing me. Shaking with nerves I stepped out of my comfort zone, into the light.

“Well, hello there darling, how nice of you to join us. You didn’t think we hadn’t noticed you, did you?” a bright red bird spoke.

“I was kind of hoping you hadn’t,” I said with a nervous grin.

“No worries my child, I’m sure you are aware of the fact that we are not like you. We are book demons as Corlin told you. We had been watching you for a moment because we heard that Corlin had made contact with a human. This is quite rare you see.”

“Is it? Well, I could not have guessed.” Sarcasm is my defense mechanism when I’m nervous. “But what brings you here?” I asked.

“Well, my dear, isn’t it obvious? We consume books.”

“What does that mean? Do you eat them?”

“No, not exactly. You see, we are book demons because we love books. We live off the energy they hold within. And by consume, I mean we consume the energy, it keeps us strong.”

If things weren’t weird enough already, they were now.

“Maybe it is best if I simply invite you to join us in our little club. We call it book talk; you’ll see why.”

All the demons gathered in a circle of the library, where they waited for Corlin and Eggsy to arrive with a set of books. These were carefully placed in the middle of the circle. Then came the fog again. The fog covered the books and drifted around. The demons started dancing and moving in funny ways like they enjoyed the feeling of the fog.

“Go ahead, open your mind and let the fog touch your skin,” Corlin said.

I did as I was told, it made me dizzy. But it also felt like I was in the books. At first, it was hard to make sense of all the information, but the more I let my guard down and let the information flow through me, the more I understood.

“Do you do this every night?” I asked.

“Yes, we do, we love it, and we need it. But we are not always in the same place. Sometimes it takes us a while to come back to a place like this. This is because we have to use humans to scout for good places to visit. But I’ll explain that later. Now it is time for the second part.” Corlin explained.

The red bird spoke again: “Now we discuss!”

Every demon around me started talking to the one next to them, Corlin and Eggsy were busy as well. It took me a moment to realise what they were doing. But they were discussing the contents of the books.

“This is why we refer to it as ‘book talk’ because we always discuss the books we consume,” Eggsy said.

As I joined them, I forgot about the exam from the next day, I forgot why I was even there in the first place. It felt like a dream, but it was so lifelike that it could not have been a dream. Slowly but surely though, the fog and the demons started disappearing around me, and I hardly even noticed. My rude awakening came when I heard miss Knight.

“Are you alright my dear? You hit your head pretty hard.”

“What? I hit my head?” I asked confused.

“Yes, you did. Do you know where you are?”

“I am in the library, but it is closed.”

“Well, not yet, but we are closing soon. I was just about to tell you that I had found the book you were looking for, but then you turned around and hit your head against the bookshelf. You fell to the ground and were gone for a second there.”

“I was?” I was so confused; I could have sworn I had met some book demons.

“Are you able to walk home or should I call someone?” She asked kindly.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, I’m just a bit dizzy.”

“Well alright then. Here is the book you needed, I found it on the table. Although I could have sworn it hadn’t been there when I walked past it before.”

I got up, took the book from miss Knight and made my way to the door. I looked at my watch and noticed it was about four minutes till closing. What happened just now? I thought to myself.

“You had a good time,” I heard a voice whisper.

I turned around one last time before I walked through the door, and I saw miss Knight looking at me with a concerned face. But in a second her face turned friendly, she smiled and her eyes glowed yellow for a moment. Then, as quickly as it changed, her face turned back to normal. I hurried home and that night, I dreamt about the history of writing. Go figure!