Gold Or Gone

Chapter 3 | Corrupted Minds

Days passed and I slowly began to adjust to the new environment. School was not as challenging as I thought it would be, but the language barrier was still a major obstacle. I spent most of my time in class trying to catch up on what the teacher was saying or communicating with my classmates using hand gestures and basic words.

Outside of school, I spent most of my time exploring the town. I found myself drawn to the abandoned buildings and spaces, curious about their history and what they could have been. Akar and Leah often joined me on these explorations. Leah even gave me language lessons when we were together. The more we went on these little tours, the more closer we became to each other. We visited each other's houses often, even going on small camping trips to the mountain just south east of the town.

One day, we stumbled upon an old library on the outskirts of town. The building was massive, with broken windows and graffiti-covered walls. It looked like it had been abandoned for years with the windows broken and paint peeled. The path outside was covered with weeds that reached our knees.

"should we go in?" I said out loud.

"I don't know... the place seems kind of creepy" replied Leah in a worried tone.

After some time had elapsed we eventually decided to march right in.

As we walked inside, we were met with a strange sight. The library was filled with dusty books, broken furniture, and piles of debris. We walked around, examining the items and trying to figure out why they were there. The ceiling was covered in cobweb and seemed quite haunted only lit up by the shaft of light from the windows. The place seemed to look at least a decade old and it was evident no one visited it any longer.

Suddenly, we heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. We cautiously made our way towards the sound, and as we turned the corner, we saw an old man hunched over a desk, immersed in a book.

Hearing the sound of our cushioned steps the old man's head lifted and his neck turned towards us.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking up at us.

"I-I- We were just looking around the area and happened to stumble across this building." I said, trying to explain our presence.

The old man scowled. "This is private property. You shouldn't be here."

I felt a pang of guilt with a slither of fear but Akar stepped forward and started speaking to the old man in the regional language. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, the old man's demeanor softened.

"I am kim." The old man turned towards me and introduced himself.

He explained that he had been the librarian of this library before it was abandoned and had been coming back to maintain it ever since. He further told us that due to his old age and rusted bones he could no longer keep the library's condition intact.

As we talked with Mr. Kim, I felt a sense of admiration for him. He was someone who had dedicated his life to preserving knowledge and learning, even after the library had been forgotten and left to rot. It made me wonder what kind of impact I could have on the world, even in small ways.

"Um mister... if you would like, could we maybe help you take care of this place?" I was inspired.

"No... You are young children, you must spend your time in wiser ways..." The man couldn't accept the help of 10 year old.

"Then maybe... in exchange can you let us come to this library to read?" Leah suggested.

This sent Mr. Kim in a bit of a thought at the end of which he accepted. Hearing the decision the three of us were delighted.

After a while, we said our goodbyes to Mr. Kim and left the library. As we walked back to town, I couldn't help but wonder what i would be doing when i would have reached Mr. Kim's Age.

Note : hey there, lemme know what you think about the chapter in the comments, also i wanted to ask you "how is your day going?"