𝒑𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒔 (𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍)

luminous novel

      The gleaming sun shined through the window as the birds chirped and luminous oranges and hues of pink danced around my room, as it was an indication that it was sunrise once again. I glance over at my clock, it displays the numbers six forty-five in an intense red pigment. I stroll over to the window and unlock it, staring at the elegant view from my chamber. As I cherish the wonderful sunrise I was intruded by a knock at my door, it was my mother.

    "Come in" I wander over to my wardrobe and attempt to find something to slip on.

    "Good morning my beautiful Alexandria!" she comes over and hugs me as her thick Italian accent fills the entire room.

    "Good morning Madre, how are you today?" I place a kiss on both of her rosy cheeks as I often do. I go back to looking for reasonable attire for today.

    "I am well how are you darling?" She notices me struggling to locate an outfit and shows off a couple of selections that she found in my dresser.

    "Those are an absolutely beautiful mother" I look in amazement at the outstanding combination mother had just put together. I quickly change in the washroom.

    She selected a cocoa-coloured brown sweater with lovely embroidery, a set of flexible, taupe plaid pants with an elegant light brown belt.

    I walk out to mum and she admires her selection. I twirl around so she can see it from every aspect.

    "You look, incredible darling."  She brings me into a tight but reassuring hug then leaves the room. As she departed, I finished adjusting my belt and walked over to the mirror. Oh, I'm Alexandria by the way, I'm your ordinary sixteen year old. I start to apply makeup, not an excessive amount though. I turn on some music and grab the makeup brushes as the lyrics from the music crowd the room causing a subtle echo which makes the music sound very adequate. The words,

    "And I was dancing in the rain. I felt alive and I can't complain. But now take me home, Take me home where I belong. I got no other place to go." had filled up the room and at that time, the sun had lit up my room with an orange complexion hence the sun is still rising. I start wondering about the verses. Is this home? Or is it meant to act like home so I can discover where home is? But if this is not home, then where is 'home' and how do I get there?

     I snap back to the present and stare longingly at the teenage girl the mirror with her elegant outfit and subtle but beauteous makeup. "she needs to go home." I thought as I got off of the stool and finished getting ready. Right as I was almost walked out of the room, I applied some fragrance. The bottle had read, red door, a red rose, Moroccan orange flower, sandalwood and honey-scented mist. I put on a tiny amount as I went downstairs, grabbed my purse and headed towards the door. The gust of wind was wintry since a storm blew over from the evening prior, I walked down the boulevard to the library. As I opened the door to the library, the smell of old books and candles came surging at me. I sauntered into the dim-lit library, returned my old novels and waited for him.

    He strolled into the library in his classic maroon sweater with his straight-legged khakis. I ran over to him, hugged him and nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck.

    "Good morning my love" he had whispered in a soft but calming tone. He looked at the outfit I had on and an enormous smile plastered on his face. 

    "Good morning Oliver darling, how are you doing today?" I feel my cheeks flush a rosy hue as I gazed into his light honey brown eyes. His eye colour makes the freckles on his skin stand out.

    "I am doing rather well now that I am here with you Alexandria." He smiles at me as he intertwines my hand with his to lead us over to the counter to get a cup of coffee. He understands that I do not do well with speaking to tons of individuals so he orders for both of us.

    "Good morning! You can order whenever you're ready!" The employee smiled at us. He seems nice fortunately and is not giving me any unusual glances.

    "Hello sir! May we please have two small iced ristrettos with a caramel cold foam on top, please?" He smiles and begins to get his wallet out and pays for the drinks. He gives the employee a ten-dollar bill and told him to keep the change. I feel his cold fingers slide up and down my back and I rest my head in the crook of Oli's neck. Moments pass before we notice two coffees being set down on the counter.

    "Two small iced ristrettos with caramel cold foam for Oliver." The employee smiles at us and fetches a new cup and begins preparing the next person's coffee. He grabs our drinks and directs us to a table in the rear of the library where it is peaceful and the lamps are dimmed. As Oli sets down our drinks I take a glance at all of the novels that the library possesses. I take a few off of the shelves and carry them to our spot as we both sit, take a sip of our coffees and look at the novels.

    "These novels are so damaged you can't even read them," I explained I skimmed through the pages. Olive as he also skims through some more of them as well.

    "Last time we were here the novels weren't as damaged as this." He looks through all of the others and notices all of the damage performed to every novel.

    "This is relatively unusual. It gives me a strange feeling about this library or this section of the library." I begin to think about what occurred this morning. I stand up, put the books away on the rack, pick up a couple more, bring them back to our area and take my seat.

    "Something odd occurred this morning. I was sitting at my vanity getting ready and I saw a teenage girl in the mirror who looked like me and it seemed like she was lost or missing something. It looked like she needed to go home but I'm not sure." I look over at Oliver who has his eyes widened glaring directly at me.

    "Alexandria this gonna come across as insane but I had that happen to me too except the individual in the mirror was me."

     I feel a surge of relief wash over me. I'm glad I am not the only one who experienced it. A colourful luminous glow starts to appear from one of the shelves next to us. The book was in my reach. I look over at Oliver for his reaction, he gives me the 'grab it' look. I get the novel and gently set it on the table, the sharp glare was only getting brighter. The hue was like a strong cobalt blue, the pretty pigment certainly caught both of our attention.

    "Do we open the novel Olive?" I take my eyes off of the novel and look at him. He looks back down and the glowing book and looks back up at me.

    "I am quite intrigued Alex. What do you think though? If you're also curious then I say open it but if you're not comfortable to open the novel then I say put it on back the shelf and we can continue to read the other books." I shake my head and stare at the volume and return it to the shelf. Moments later, the novel flies back swiftly onto the table glowing even brighter than before.

    "I guess we don't have an option sweetheart." I nervously chuckle. I feel his fingers intertwine with mine, I look up at him.

    "Let's open this book. Together." He smiles and he lays his hand on the book directly next to mine. We glanced at each other and began to countdown in unison.

    "Three...two...one." We flip open the cover of the novel. An opaque blue like dust comes swirling out of the novel. I squeeze his hand tightly unable to comprehend what is currently happening. A tremendous gust of wind suddenly picks up and I try to see what is occurring but I cannot since the dust it too clouded.

    "OLIVER? OLIVER ARE YOU OKAY?" I scream as I can barely hear myself over the wind whistling.

"IM OKAY ALEXANDRIA IM HERE YOU'RE GONNA BE OKAY." he shouts as he squeezes my hand and we slam onto the ground. The wind dies down and the opaque dust soon vanishes into the air.