The impressive building hid itself well, sandwiched in between a tiny hut sporting a sickly green façade and a pitched-roof house whose owner had painted a thick white coat over its amazing original brown bricks, now blinding passers-by from miles away.
Lynn thanked the Lord that she had not forgotten her sunglasses. Otherwise she might have missed the two-storey cream-and-scarlet wooden structure, a beautiful black sheep in a town of stone houses. A nerdy bookworm without friends, Lynn knew a thing or two about being a black sheep and took an instant shine to the structural outsider.
It was just her luck that she would go and pick the hottest day of the year, possibly the century, to come to this tiny speck on the map. "Thank you, global warming!" she muttered, then glared at another tourist who had bumped into her and hurried on as if she didn't even exist.
"Story of my life!" Lynn raised her voice, but no one paid her any attention.
She sighed, sweat pouring down her neck, focusing on the inviting exterior of the wooden tiled building. Its strong resemblance to an old chapel promised redemption, while the gloomy interior promised deliverance from the heat.
Lynn burst through the doors of the old second-hand bookshop and sighed with relief when the cool air hit her, just to drop her jaw in awe.
Lynn had never seen so many books in one place, had never smelled the enticing musty smell of roomfuls upon roomfuls of papery wisdom and fantasy, had never heard the busy silence of hundreds of tourists browsing through shelves upon shelves of international storytelling. This was her dream come true!
Something made her climb the massive creaky wooden staircase. Taking off her sunglasses, she picked a random book from a shelf in the farthest corner of the shop and sat down on a comfy chair, thoughtfully provided by the owner.
Suddenly a voice intruded the strange but beautiful universe Lynn had been abducted to by a Mr Ende.
"The path to happiness does not go through others. Peace can only be found within."
Lynn jumped, dropping the book, looking everywhere for the owner of the strange voice, but there was nobody anywhere near her aisle.
"So, now I'm crazy, too!" Lynn mumbled and bent down. As she picked up the book, an old piece of paper escaped the old tattered pages. Lynn caught it before it fluttered to the ground, then gasped when she spotted her own name scrawled on the outside in bold swirls.
With shaking hands, Lynn opened the note.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Pocketing the note, Lynn grabbed the book and ran to the till. The small bearded man behind the counter smiled at her.
"Good choice!"
Suddenly, Lynn realised that it was in its original version.
Die unendliche Geschichte
Lynn gasped. She had never taken German at school, but she had understood every word she had read so far.
She grabbed The Neverending Story and ran back to her hotel room.
