Between the Stacks

Chapter 11

The hardest part of being a librarian was compartmentalizing.

On one hand, I wanted to track down Wesley, take back Kermit, and throw a clever and witty line in his face. On the other hand, I had storytime time again. I didn't want to be the one to introduce the concepts of revenge, vengeance, and retaliation to those kids. I had to take a deep breath, sit in the storytime chair, and entertain children who had the attention spans of goldfish.

My nerves were frayed as I stared at the kids and their parents. The last time I had told a story to this group, the library had caught on fire and my hair looked like a dead racoon. At least the bar was low.

"Where's the story, Ms. Richards?" Sarah Lynn was in her normal bean bag chair.

I realized I had spaced out. "Sorry," I said, forcing myself to brighten up. "Are we ready, friends?"

They cheered. I could do this.

"This is the story of Wendy," I said, opening the book.

"Like from Peter Pan?" someone asked from the back.

"A different Wendy," I said. "This Wendy paints pictures of clouds."

Over the next ten minutes, I told the children how Wendy learned how to jump into the pictures she painted. Like a bird, she flew in and out of clouds that looked like cotton candy. The sunlight urged her to dive and twirl through the sky. She even had a sweater so that she wouldn't get too cold. She realized that she wanted to spend the rest of her life in the clouds without a care in the world.

"I want to eat a cloud," Noah said from the front row, his finger up his nose.

"My mom says clouds don't taste good," Sarah Lynn said.

I held up a hand. "We can talk about the tastiness of clouds later." I continued the story. Wendy loved dancing in the sky, but she realized she missed her friends and family back home. Could she give up her magical world to be with the people she loved?

Even though it was just a story, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat. I knew what it was like to fly in the clouds, and yet to feel a calling for home. The memories of Vancouver sat in my back pocket like a faded receipt.

Someone shot up a hand. "So how does it end?"

"Let her finish!"

I flipped through the last pages. Wendy ended up going back home, although she kept a piece of cloud as a souvenir that she kept in a jar on her desk. On weekdays she stayed home with her family, but on weekends she went back to the sky. "And if you look at the horizon on a Saturday night, you might see the girl in the clouds," I said, closing the book.

Everyone clapped. I smiled in acknowledgement, although I felt strangely numb.

I managed to make it through another book before wrapping up storytime. After waving goodbye to the children and their parents, I went back to the staff area and collapsed at my desk. The lack of Kermit was more noticeable than ever.

"You okay?"

I hadn't noticed Lakshmi standing at the fridge behind me, one hand on the handle.

I sat up, trying to look professional. "Totally. Just finished storytime."

"Ah. There's nothing that will burn you out faster. Anyone puke?"

"Not today."

"Great." She offered me a tight smile. "Do you want to book me for a meeting? My schedule is a bit busy today. Maybe fifteen minutes tomorrow afternoon?"

My heart plummeted. "Sure," I said, trying to sound like I hadn't been stabbed through the chest. "No problem."

I knew that this would be about the fire. Due to various scheduling problems, I hadn't yet had the chance to crawl on my knees and beg for mercy, which is what I planned to do tomorrow.