Love, Aendryr

Hey, Mom and Dad. It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other, I know we’ve all been pretty busy with work and life. Could you two stop by for my birthday next week? It would make the day amazing. Love, Aendryr.

Their pen scratched blue text onto the piece of aged parchment, working around faint damp stains from the rather poorly-maintained wooden ceiling of the storage room. Every time it rained, no matter if it was just a drizzle, the water somehow found a way to slip through the cracks. They glanced upward at the weather outside. It was still rather bright out, with some clouds on the horizon. It always struck them as out of the ordinary when the sky seemed unaffected by the rain. 

They lifted their head when the bell above the door tinkled. A young minotaur came through the door, a stuffed animal under one arm. She was followed closely by an elderly minotaur who leaned down to fit through the frame. “Good afternoon!” Aendryr called, noting to speak louder in light of her limited hearing. The elderly minotaur called back the same, and followed her grandchild as she browsed the shelves.

The young minotaur dashed over to the children’s section excitedly, and Aendryr called for her not to run in the bookstore. She slowed, and Aendryr watched as she pointed up at a book and her grandmother lifted her up to grab it. 

The two came up to the counter, and the younger, excited, reached up to put the book she picked out on the counter. “I want to buy this one!” She beamed, then added after a moment of thought, “Please!” It was a picture book, one they remembered putting up for display. 

“Well, since you asked so nicely!” Aendryr agreed, setting out the purchase log on the counter and scribbling her grandmother’s name along the name of the book. The elderly minotaur started a conversation, saying, “Oh, Aendryr, how are you doing, dearie? You seem a tad tired.” “I’m doing alright, it was just a challenge to get out of bed this morning,” They smiled, sliding the book back to the kid after the purchase. “Isn’t that the truth! Why, this little one had to beg me to get up to come to the bookstore. Especially on cold days like these, the rain feels like it gets down to your bones.”

Aendryr nodded knowingly, eyeing the kid tugging at her grandmother’s sleeve, apparently already bored. She probably wanted to go read her new book.

“Would you like candy before I go? I bought some salted caramel from the market the other day, I promise it’s quite good.” The elderly woman offered, but Aendryr shook their head. “Caramel always gets stuck in my teeth.” 

–

Dear, Mom and Dad. It’s been a long time, I can’t remember the last time I saw you two in person. Would you come stop by soon? My thirty-second birthday is coming up, and it would mean a lot if you came. Love, Aendryr. 

It hadn’t stopped drizzling. Even with the looming gray skies, Aendryr figured the flowers were happy to soak up all this rain after such a long while without. And they weren’t going to complain, for the sound of rain pattering against the windows provided a nice background noise. 

A distorted bell’s ding sounded, and they looked up to be met with a being they couldn’t really wrap their head around. It was something they recognized by the way it affected the space around it, but when they tried to focus their eyes on its form they found their eyes unfocusing and a headache coming on. They slipped their glasses off, waving to the figure.

The dark mass ambled through the rows of books and Aendryr tried to keep their eyes off it for the meantime. They crumpled their letter with one hand and slid another piece of paper in front of them, work having to do with tax expenses, picking up their glasses and holding them over their face. 

The sound of rain faded, and they knew the dark mass was floating before the desk. They pulled their glasses off and rested them on the desk, raising their gaze to somewhere in the area of the figure, still trying not to look directly at it. It slid its chosen book across the counter, saying nothing.

Aendryr lifted the book close to their face, squinting a bit to read the title. It was a picture book, following a pattern the being had set with which books it picked out. They scribbled some black lines in lieu of writing a name in the ledger, then returned the book to it. Considering for a moment, they asked, “Is there any reason you prefer picture books? I’m not judging, just curious.” 

There was a gap of silence. They hadn’t really tried to talk to it before, so they weren’t completely sure they spoke the same language. Finally, it uttered something in words that, for all they knew, could have just been gibberish. It certainly wasn’t any language they recognized. At the same time the sounds were uttered, it communicated on a telepathic level the concept of these words. They understood that it chose picture books because having so many eyes made it hard to focus on any one word while reading a book, so those with emphasis on images were easier for it to understand, to drink in all of the details of the illustration instead of reading so many different words at once.

“Huh. I would have never thought that. Alright, have a wonderful day, I hope you enjoy your book.” Aendryr replied. The being said nothing aloud, but they had the sense that it returned the sentiment.

The sound of rain returned at full volume, and they slipped their glasses back on to an empty bookstore.

–

Dear, Mom. Dear, Dad. My thirty-second birthday is in a few days. You never realize how fast the years are passing until you reach a milestone like that, huh? I hope you’ll both stop by for that day– to celebrate your kid getting older, haha. Lots of love, Aendryr.

The skies were dark outside and the rain had gotten heavier since yesterday. Not a patch of the sky was left exposed under the smoky cloud cover. Aendryr recognized grey weather like this and had a strong feeling that a storm was approaching– hopefully not anything too serious.

The bell dinged, and Aendryr lifted their head to see a cloaked figure enter the building. They huffed and called out, “You don’t need to wear a cloak when the clouds are this heavy, no sunlight is getting through there.” The figure threw back their hood, revealing ghostly pale skin and protruding sharp fangs. 

“You can never be too careful. When the clouds get thinner, sunlight can still shine through, it’s not worth risking. It’s cold out anyhow. Uh, you do returns here, right?” “Yes, we do.” He approached the counter, lifting the top of a burlap sack and setting down a large book on the counter with a squelch. Aendryr winced at the sound.

“There… was an accident,” The vampire explained. Aendryr fought their rising bile and opened the book. The pages were red and stuck to one another, the strong, musty smell of iron rising from it. “I wanted to exchange it for a new one, if I can.”

Aendryr bit back any impolite retort about the state of this book. Instead, they closed the book, wiping their hands off with a tissue, saying, “I… could do half-off for a new one,” they offered. “That would be great!” The vampire exclaimed. They must have jumped on the offer sensing it was as generous as they were going to get.

“Alright, give me a moment,” Aendryr smiled, just a little forced, and stacked tissues between their hands and the book as they picked it up and moved it off their desk and into an empty waste bin in the backroom. They were pretty sure they’d have to throw away that whole bin.

They came back, offering a newer, much cleaner edition of the novel. It was a surprisingly expensive novel– probably something popular centuries ago but obscure now– and the vampire paid them twenty-five silver. 

“Thank you again, I appreciate your patience,” The vampire smiled, their eyes glancing about a tad nervously, “Won’t happen again, have a good one.”

The vampire slipped back out of the building, and Aendryr watched as he turned into a bat and flew down the street. Well, just one more biohazard for them to deal with.

–

Dear Mom and Dad. Birthdays are sort of a strange tradition, aren’t they? Woohoo, I’m one year closer to death! What they celebrate at their core is kind of funny when you think too hard about it. No matter how weird of a tradition, though, I’d appreciate you being there for mine in two days. Hey, who knows, maybe I could be the first immortal elf! Only time will tell. Love you, Aendryr.

The clouds circled, heavy and dark, outside. Aendryr contemplated whether they should shut down the bookstore for the next couple of days in preparation for the oncoming storm. A break would do them some good, they thought. Some strange sense of obligation held them back from that, though. They didn’t have much else to do– might as well do the one thing they’re best at.

The bell chimed. In came a being with the body of a spider and the face of a man. He tended to visit once in a blue moon– likely using his cunning to get up to mischief around the city. They thought he was funny in a dry, cynical way.

The spider-man skittered to the back shelves of the bookstore. He picked up book by book, flipping through the pages of the book without looking over the words. Something Aendryr had figured out was that the spider-man was able to take in information without physically reading the book, simply by skimming through it.

Aendryr considered asking him to at least buy the books before taking in all of the information. But folks were allowed to read books in the bookstore without buying– it wouldn’t be fair for them to make the spider-man buy. Earning money tended to be a good thing so it would have been nice, but they wouldn’t be rude about it. It wasn’t like the spider meant harm.

They watched when the spider-man finished with the shelves, circling over to the ‘new arrivals’ cart. Aendryr wondered if he had read through all of the books already. It was certainly possible, with an ability like his. Apparently so, because after making his way through each book on this rack, he turned to leave. Aendryr had an idea.

“Hey, wait!” They called. The spider-man turned to face them, curiosity painted on his face. “There’s some old novels in the back we don’t put out for public display. I can let you read through them for a couple of silver.” His eyes lit up and he scurried up to the counter, nodding and saying, “Yes, yes, that would be great!”

Aendryr dipped into the back room and piled up five large books. These books weren’t set out on the shelves for fear of further deterioration and were only shown to those who asked to purchase them. The spider-man would probably never buy a book from them, it was only fair to find a way to earn a little silver off his browsing.

The spider-man flipped through the pages of these books, taking a moment to pause after each as if savoring it. He set down the books in a neat pile, and upon finishing, met Aendryr’s gaze with a genuine smile. “Thank you, friend. This means much to me.” “You’re very welcome.”

–

Dear Mom and Dad. My birthday is tomorrow. I keep writing and re-writing this letter because I don’t know how to ask, but I want you to come. I love you and the day would feel meaningless without you. Love, Aendryr.

The storm had finally hit after almost a week’s brewing. The sky had started to go black and they knew it was going to be bad when there was a strike of purple lighting that lit up the sky. These sorts of storms were not unheard of, but their mystical power was not to be trifled with. 

Aendryr stood from their desk when they heard a particularly nasty crackle of thunder. They walked to lock up the doors, but hesitated and decided to poke their head out the front to check that no one was outside in this weather. Down the street, they could see two figures, who they waved into the bookstore. They came running and shook off their coats upon entering the bookstore, shivering. It was the spider-man and the vampire, likely having not come together but had spotted each other on the road and simply banded together.

Now, Aendryr locked the doors, considering putting something in front of them, too, in case the high winds were too much for the doors to withhold. For now, they left it– the doors should have been strong enough for this. 

“Go, sit, sit. Would you two like anything to drink? I could make coffee, hot cocoa, or tea, my treat. And take off that coat, being soaked isn’t going to help you warm up.” The vampire hung his cloak on the chair after making his way to it, and the spider-man sat on the footrest in front of a chair. Note to self, Aendryr thought, set up seats that are more spider accessible.

“I could go for a tea,” The spider-man asked politely, and the vampire followed, “Coffee for me, please.” Aendryr nodded, walking to the back room and making them their requested drinks. They noted that now, especially, the ceiling patches allowed much water runoff to make its way into the building. They swapped out the previous bucket catching the water for a slightly larger one and decided they’d check on it in a little while.

When Aendryr returned to give the visitors their drinks, they realized the storm had gotten worse. Anything not tied down was blowing away or rolling down the street outside, and there was a crack of thunder so loud they thought the bookstore was shaking on its foundation.

Aendryr relayed the problem with the back room and their concerns with the storm outside, asking if one of them could help with setting up a couch in front of the doors, but the spider-man interrupted. “I can create a protective barrier around this place. Nothing will be able to get in from the storm, not even rain.” They were surprised but nodded. “That would be helpful. If you’re willing, I would appreciate that.”

The spider-man nodded and stood. He adjusted his stance to stand as straight as he could and motioned his hands forwards and up. A clear magical aura emanated from his hands, and a moment later, the barrier passed over the bookstore. Glancing over to the doors, they could see the barrier, visible as a translucent purple surface.

The small group stayed the rest of the night, making small talk and reading to wait out the storm.

–

Dear, Mom and Dad. My birthday is today and I miss you. I am living the happy life I always wanted. I only wish more than anything that you both were around to see it. Love you always, Aendryr. 

Aendryr sighed, standing from their desk and returning their pen under the desk. They checked the back room; the webbing the spider-man had used to help fix the ceiling was holding up just fine, letting only a few drops of water filter through. 

They walked through the front entrance, closing the doors behind them. They paused, staring up at the skies. The gray cloud cover was starting to dissipate, making way for a hint of gentle sunlight. A small raindrop hit their nose, and they reached with one hand to wipe it away. It was early to close, but they figured they’d give themselves some time off.

Their keys jingled as they took them out of their pocket, securing the doors. When they turned back to the street, suddenly, a group of five appeared. The elderly woman and her grandchild, the incomprehensible being, the vampire, and the spider-man. 

“Happy birthday!” The chorus shouted in unison, smiling and holding out a cake. Aendryr was taken aback. 

“Where did you all come from?” Aendryr exclaimed, glancing around the street and trying to understand how they could have all appeared so quickly. Then, more quietly, they asked, “Is this… for me?”

“Invisibility spells work wonders,” The spider-man grinned, dipping in a small bow. 

“Yes, this is for you! It’s your birthday! You do so much to keep things up and running, and you receive little help.” The spider-man replied. The grandmother pitched in to add, “For all the kindness you’ve shown us, you deserved something in return.”

“We all made our slice of cake a different flavor! I made the vaniba- vanilla piece!” The little minotaur chimed in, a proud smile on her face.

The letter dropped from Aendryr’s hand to the ground. They pulled their glasses to their nose, wiping at the corners of their eyes with the back of their hand.

“Thank you.”