Mrs. Higgenses' retirement party, after 10 years of service as a book return worker and shelver, was a small tea party. Most of the staff attended, and chipped in to get her a book tote, a pillow that said, "A Book Is a World," and several new romances, her favorite genre. She seemed quite pleased, and thanked her co-workers.
The little local library had been a bookmobile that made rounds once a month, until cra-eccentric Gregor Waterby endowed the town of 512 with their own up-to-date library a few decades ago. He maintained control of the endowment, and made regular additions and requirements, such as free beverages and snacks, paid by the endowment.
Mrs. Higgenses came to the library after her retirement as a short-order cook. Her stated goal was to read every book in the library, and she worked hard at it. She hadn't finished when she was widowed, resulting in her retirement, as she was going to North Carolina to live with her daughter.
Mrs. Higgenses lifted her teacup and sipped. "I'm going to miss this place. I'm going to keep up my reading at my daughter's."
A picture of her was hung with the other retired workers on the Wall of Honor. It was a fine photo, her pale skin with her unlikely dark hair, styled fashionably with a sort of orangey-red streak, and unmistakable for her different colored eyes. One was light yellow-brown, the other bright blue.
Mr. Waterby gave every retiree a bonus upon retirement, always incredibly generous. Dorcas got a new car, Alfred got a trip to England to visit the libraries there, Edna got new furnishings for her retirement condo.
Edna got a small nightstand with room for books. "You call that a bonus?" she queried Mr. Waterby, as she peered into the small drawer in the nightstand.
"Perfect for you. Why move a lot of furniture to North Carolina?" Mr. Waterby seemed a little more cra--eccentric in his last years. "What else?"
One of the guys toted the nightstand to Mrs. Higgenses car. "I'm going to haunt this library," she said, gathering her tote, pillow, books, and the leftovers as she followed her bonus out.
Notice of Mrs. Higgenses' passing came a few years later. The years of her birth and death were added under her picture. Mr. Waterby died a few years later, and his will provided for the care of a library cat, or no library endowment. Cat furniture, litter boxes, etc., were set in place, but no cat would stay. Five cats came and disappeared as cats do. The endowment was in danger.
The tortoise shell kitten walked in one morning just after the library opened. The staff relieved her of fleas and dirt, and fed and groomed her. The kitten, still blue-eyed as kittens are, liked the place and stayed, to the relief of the librarians, and the continuance of the endowment.
The kitten grew to adulthood, and her eyes took adult coloring, one light yellow-brown and one bright blue.
