Free Library Card

So here I am, a seventeen year old guy, walking outside in 90-degree weather when I could be relaxing in my house with the air conditioner on high playing Xbox. But of course, my mom just yelled at me for being inside when it's so nice out. I have no idea what to do so I go to the diner in town and grab a milk shake. When the cold chocolate shake reaches my lips, it feels refreshing considering that I’m outside at 1:00 pm in the middle of July. I continue to walk around bored out of my mind when all the sudden I realize I’m standing outside of the library. That’s so weird. I don’t even remember deciding to walk towards the library. I’m about to keep walking when I see a sign in the window that reads “Free library cards available”. I would never in my life have wanted to get a library card but, what else was there to do?

 I walk up the cracked stone stairs leading to the library. As soon as I step into the library, I'm overtaken with a feeling of anxiousness and fear. It is unexplainable how I feel. I have no reason to feel that way, so I just try not to think about it. I slowly work my way towards the front desk in the library. I smell ash as if something was recently burned. I see a fireplace and am blown away that this library has a fire burning in weather like this. I don’t see anyone there, so I ring the bell near the register and an old lady pops up from under the desk giving me a haunting smile that makes me feel as if she was waiting for me. I have never seen someone who looks so inhuman. She has a large nose, long pointy ears, and eyes as black and dusty as coal. I ask her about the library card, and she just stares at me for the next few seconds. Meanwhile she is vigorously knitting a large quilt as if she needs to have it done soon. I ask again about the library card and she starts laughing uncontrollably and her smile stretches so far, I swear that it reached her ears. Once her face settles and her smile looks a little less like the Joker, she hands me a paper. I am confused by the questions on the paper and look up to ask her but, she’s gone. I start filling out the paper with things like my address, my preferred genres, and weird questions about my personal life that I decide to leave blank. I finish the paper and as if on cue the nightmare of a librarian returns. She still doesn’t speak to me, but she hands me my card. I put action, adventure, comedy, and horror as preferred genres on the paper I filled out. I put horror because I had seen a few horror movies and thought maybe horror stories would be interesting. Before I can ask for her to show me to the horror section, she starts limping away waving for me to follow her. As we reach the back of the library, I see the horror section. I find it weird that she knew out of all the genres I put down that’s the one I wanted. But I thank her and walk to the horror section. Out of nowhere the librarian lets out a scream so powerful and high pitched it could have shattered glass. I nearly fall to the ground from utter shock after hearing that scream. I turn around and see the librarian staring at me with a glare that pierces my soul. She is shaking with uncontrollable anger. Her face is tense, and her eyes wet with tears. She seems to be furious and distraught with me. Her long bony finger stretches out miles from her hand pointing in the direction of a door that leads to the basement in the library. I tell myself to get out of this place as soon as possible but, something seems to be calling me. I slowly stumble towards the doorway. With every step I feel farther from this world and connected to something much more powerful.  

With every step the stairs let out a quiet but painful screech that resembles dragging your fingernails against a chalk board. I walk for minutes that are longer than hours until my feet finally land on the basement floor. All my confusion and anxious feelings instantly leave my body. I feel comfortable. I feel at home. There is a single wooden table with one wooden chair. There is a book laying on the table. It has a leather cover with intricate designs from edge to edge that seem to continue for eternity. I never would have read a book with as many pages as this seemed to have. But I felt called to it. It drew me in, and I couldn’t resist the urge to read the first page. As soon as I open the book everything goes dark. I see the back of myself as a little kid playing watch Lego's as I watch TV. I remember this day. I had just turned 4 and was waiting for my mom to finish baking my cake. As my mom enter the room, I notice she is limping, and her back is curved causing her to hunch forward. I find that weird because my mom never walked like that. I only see her from behind as she cuts be a big piece of cake and hands it to me. She turns around and I would have passed out from surprise if I weren't already dreaming. Because it wasn’t my mom but the librarian who turned around. Then the younger me that I am seeing turns around and isn't me. Well, he is but he doesn’t look like me. He resembles the librarian. I watch through all my memories from my childhood being played out by this other being that acts exactly like me. Every time I see my mom she is the librarian. It seems that my memories are not how I remember them. Any good memories tend to be filled with anger, hate, and darkness.  

I awake from this dream gasping for air. I try to shut the book quickly, but it won't move. I am instantly pushed against my chair. I struggle to get free, but I can’t lift my body from my seat. The book pages move on their own at a rapid pace. It stops on a page halfway through the book. Slowly I see large letters being drawn on the page in a dark red liquid that slowly runs down the page. I feel a sudden pain my wrists. I look down to see that blood is being drained from my veins to make words on the paper. I try to make out the words, but every letter blends together in my numb brain. The words slowly go in and out of focus until I can finally make them out. I try to read the words, but they are written in a language that I don’t recognize. I don’t understand how this is possible but a part of me seems to understand it. As I try to decipher its meaning, I slowly start falling asleep. I see more dreams of my life in which my mother and I are portrayed by the librarian and some creepy look alike of myself. With every memory I seem to grow farther away from reality. I get closer to and more comfortable with these dreams of my life that feel so real.  

I slowly wake up after what feels like decades of dreaming. I stand up and slowly move towards the stairs. My frail bones tremble as I limp my way up the creaky stairs. I touch my face feeling my wrinkled skin and huge nose. I finally reach the top of the stairs. I see my mother slowing moving back and forth in her rocking chair. Her rocking chair faces a window that looks out over our small town. I reminisce on all the days I spent with her at the library. She loved her job so much but, its time. I pick her up in my arms and hold her like a baby. All of her flesh seems to have withered away to the point that all that consists of her is skin wrapped tightly around bone.

We smile at each other and she says, "It is time my dear".

I wrap her in her quilt that she just finished knitting and I add more wood to the fireplace. I take a look at the antique mirror above the fireplace and see my long pointy ears and my eyes black as a summer nights sky. I soak my mothers quilt covered corpse in kerosene and place her in the fireplace. As soon as she is completely burnt into ash I notice a teenager outside. I quickly run behind the desk and start knitting a quilt. The young girl walks in and rings the bell. I pop up and smile a smile so welcoming it reaches my ears.