The Librarian's Announcement

Miri Anaan (pronounced Meeri Anon) has been my Librarian since I was a child. Her signature is on my first Library card. She has encouraged my love of reading since the very first book I borrowed. She is a striking woman, even now as she enters her Golden Years.

Tall, trim, medium brown skin. Those that feel the need to be politically correct call her African American. She always laughs that off. A full hearty laugh, and says despite her admiration for that culture she isn't remotely African, some of the library patrons have asked her if she is from "Down Under?" She laughs that off as well. She does tell us that her name is from a Northwest Australian Aboriginal tribe and means "Shooting Star." Her parents always told her that her ancestry was "Universal." Her Mother is Scots-European and Australian Aborigine, and in Miri's words her Father was a "Golden Man." I took that to mean he was Nordic, Viking maybe? She merely smiles at any further questions and says her Father has "gone on," I presumed that meant he had passed away in her language. Sometimes when she is outside in the Library garden, wearing her wide-brimmed hat, I swear she looks Nordic. She seems ageless, always dressed in a tailored suit that fits her frame perfectly, her accessories are subdued, and her hair and makeup are flawless but minimal. Even as I age she seems ageless.

Our town is small and the library is a central point for all the citizens. Miri Anaan was always a frequent visitor to our home, Mom cooked dinner while Dad and I talked about our latest reads with our special guest. Then after dinner, we played board games and laughed till my bedtime. Now as an adult with my own home I invite her to be my guest and we chat about books till late in the evening. With her, I am able to discuss every subject without judgment or argument. We speak of current politics, religion, and even the more down-to-earth subjects of marriages, children, and ugh, housework and de-cluttering. Sometimes the conversations feel as though the time has not passed, I remember thinking to myself that sometimes it seems as though our conversations happen through a "Vulcan mind-meld."

Today when I entered the library, she caught my eye and nodded an invitation to an area of the library that is usually for employees only. There on what I presumed was her desk was a beautiful book with a Gold cover. It must have been the light from the desk lamp because the book seemed to glow. She suggested I read it but when I asked her about the missing checkout card she said "No, read it here." I must have looked aghast as she assured me the book was easier to read than its size would suggest. Before she left the office Miri told me that in many cultures life stories are very important, that each person has one or more stories in their life and that is the key to understanding each other. These were her stories!

I opened the golden book and it was divided into chapters or stories. First, there was the "coming into the light" story. Her Mother's people emerged from deep inside the Earth. The new land was brighter and inhabited by wonderful new creatures. Some would soar above them, some crawled close to the ground, many were walking almost as they did, only with four legs. They brought fire and water from inside the Earth and were pleasantly surprised to find sources for those precious resources in this new land. They found new plants, and planted seeds they brought from their old fields. This story explained the fears of the People when their first days turned to darkness. Their relief when the light returned. They used this phenomenon to mark time as never before, they learned to look at the stars at night and relished the changes.

As I kept reading Miri Anaan's stories were occasionally confusing to me, as they seemed a jumble of stories I remembered from foreign mythology, some sounded like Bible stories, and some were similar to other cultures creation stories. I decided that since Miri's history was originally passed down verbally, they must have integrated other stories along the way.

Miri came into the office to check on my progress and when I suggested this she sounded as if she were scolding a child and reminded me that she had said she was a "Universal being' so "of course my stories merge with others."

I felt that our friendship was now in a time of growth and Miri must have planned this as she sat down next to me, and asked me if I was ready to learn more of the Truth of Earth's history? She hoped that I would take this information and find a way to lead the people to a greater time. A time of total Understanding and Peace. (she hoped) To do this I must know the Truth.

At this point, I set the golden book aside to chat with my brilliant Librarian friend. She asked me to share my family history, the religion, if any, I had been brought up with. I mentioned that I have searched for answers all my life. As a very young child I read a book about having a twin in a parallel universe. She nodded as she remembered suggesting that book back then. I told her I attempted to talk to my twin frequently but gave up when I didn't recieve answers. My parents were practical and self-reliant mid-westerners. Quietly Christian, yet with the stoicism of their germanic ancestors. I attended Sunday school so was brought up rather biblically. I was currently dating a man whose family practiced an older, deeper, more traditional religion. Yet at this time I held no organized religion of my own, but preferred to live in what I called "Loving Thought." I then asked her what she meant about me "leading the people to a greater time?"

She said, "I have watched you since childhood and believe that you are a descendant of my Father's Golden People. I have suggested reading material throughout your life that were you not, you would have not understood." She went on "I believe I was placed in this town to find the human with the spirit to carry the message of truth to mankind to save them from demise."

I stammered out a shocked "What? Demise? All of us? I don't think I am the next great truth teller for the world." "There are so many people, so many languages, even if there was a Universal translating machine I could never convince all the different cultures to believe in One Truth."

Miri Anaan gently touched my shouler, handed me back the golden book, and said "Now, please let go of all you've heard of Earth's history."

"Wow, heavy stuff" I said remembering the mind-meld thought I had previously, I laughed nervosuly and She opened the golden book and the next words were...There was a time before Earth...