Morning all. Not quite so awake today, which feels oddly more normal. But the coffee is brewing and we are jumping into the day. So timers at the ready and off we go.
I need to think about this one. I like it as a setting, I just don’t know the story yet.
Thursday, January 25th: The book stood open on the stand.
The book stood open on the stand. It was a large heavy tome and even the solid wood of the stand looked flimsy underneath it’s weight. He had never seen a book so large. It wasn’t just thick but it was long, almost the length of his arm from fingertip to shoulder. The stand had to have been made specifically for the book.
‘I doubt it would fit on any of the shelves.’
All around him book shelves rose to the ceiling. Or what would have been the ceiling if another layer had not been added. To Michael it looked like someone took a large room and removed the ceiling, combining it with the room above. There was a walkway on the upper floor, where he room’s actual floor would be and then a railing along the outer edge so no one tumbled off.
And then more book shelves ran to that room’s ceiling. As each of the rooms was almost as large as a football field he marveled at the amount of books around him.
‘But this one still wouldn’t fit on the shelves.’
It would have had to have been laid sideways and then it would still take up far too much of one shelf. It would have meant putting stacks of books on the floor to make room for it. ‘And then it would be hard to get off the shelf.’
He couldn’t imagine the small old man who ran the library actually lifting it. Wondering what the volume held, he moved closer. He knew that theoretically the library was a space he was allowed in. He had just never seen anyone in it before and felt as though he was intruding. He looked around. Even the librarian stuck to the more modern side of the library. That was where books were checked out and used for class studies. Here there was just the books and Michael.
He made his way to the large book and stepped up to it. The stand had a small set of stairs built into it as though people were expected to climb up to it. Michael did and looked down at the book. It was opened to a page and for a moment he wondered if someone was reading it. Then he noticed there was dust on the page and the letters were faded from the sun.
The book had been open to this page for a long time. He ran his finger down the page and it felt slightly gritty. Looking at the words, Michael realized it was an index.
‘These are all the books in the library,’ he realized. He looked up at the massive shelves around him. ‘No wonder the book is so big.’
Michael lifted the page and turned it. The ink of the page beneath was darker, much less faded and Michael felt relief. He was not interrupting anyone’s studies. Seeing that the books were grouped by topic, he chose a topic from the long list of things that interested him and turned the pages to see if anything was available. To his surprise he found three volumes listed and notations about where the books were located. They were all grouped together.
Level Two, book case eight, shelf three.
Figuring that he it was a library and he was meant to be studying, Michael looked for a ladder and spotting it, he left the platform with the index and went in search of his books.
Ten til Midnight 