Faded

One: Beginning [Edited 19/Sep]

Abby opened her eyes. The room was dark, but chalky-blue light shone through the cracks between the curtains. The faint glimmers of light sparkled on her nightgown as she tiptoed towards the door and into the hall. It was very early morning, so not an extremely outrageous time to wake up, but early enough so that nobody would be awake. Light danced through the windows and onto the soft carpet and bounced off the mirrors placed consistently along the walls. She eventually came to a big door, behind which was her heaven. She quietly turned the brass nob and opened the door, closing it behind her and sighing. The hard part was done, and now she could enjoy herself for the rest of the day. She ran over to the bookshelf to see what she would read. She had read all of the story books long ago, and had only yesterday finished the last of the history books. She wandered over to the corner where the science books are and stamped her foot on the ground in frustration as she realized she had read everything. Except, of course, from the higher up ones that you needed a ladder to reach. Those ones were restricted, and only her parents and older sister, Maya, were allowed to read. Abby and her sisters, Lisa and Gracie, were left to read the children's books.

"Ouch! Really, Abby, you should know better after all these years to avoid stamping on me!" screamed the floor, quietly. She gasped and stared down at it apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Benjamin. And Alice." she apologized, kneeling down onto the floor and stroking the vibrating planks. It was quite easy to forget that the house was alive. She was friends with the floor, the stairs, the walls, the ceilings and most of all the books. But it was only her who could hear all of them talk--everyone else thought they were mere furniture and wood. "I've just realised I've read all the books except for the ones up there," she pointed up to the leatherbound books of the restricted area.

"Oh dear," says Camilla. "I really think you should ask about that."

"I agree!" whispered Daniel. "You should insist."

"Why don't you just read them?" asks Benjamin.

Abby picks up a bead which had rolled towards her. "I don't know..."

She turns to the ladder and looks up to the top. It would be nice to have something new to read, but...

"They can't be that bad." says Alice. "Otherwise, Maya wouldn't be allowed."

Abby tips her head onto one shoulder and then the other. The floor tips and warps.

"Stop, stop!" she screams, looking down at the floor. "I'll do it!"

She stood up and lifted her hands the ladder, the wood sending shivers through her arms. It suddenly became slightly darker around her, but she kept on going. She lifted her first foot up, then the next, and then she hauled herself up the steps, slowly but gradually. It was surprisingly hard to do this, but her will to read is keeping her hands and feet moving. When it comes close to the top, the darkening stops and all forces keep her on the ladder. She hears excited squeals from the floor, and the bookshelves and... the ceiling?

"Umm... hello, Ceiling." she smiles politely. All the ceilings in her house were extremely far away, so she had never talked to one. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Abby Elisabeth Porter."

The ceiling hushed her rushed words. "Hello, Abby Elisabeth Porter." and with a dismissive wave of its hand, the ceiling became the ceiling again. Abby said a hushed 'phew' and turned back to the bookshelf. There were thousands of books here for her to read, and thousands more after that. All sorts of different colours, sizes and even shapes clung to the oak bookshelves with pride. Peering up to an upper corner of the room, Abby saw a thick, purple, leatherbound book with gold writing spiralling along the spine. It outshone the others and probably housed many facts--facts that Abby was eager to know. She climbed yet further up to the ceiling and started thinking. How in the world was she supposed to move the ladder? She remembered Maya grabbing the rale and pulling herself along, and sometimes someone would be assisted by someone else. Abby merely took her left leg off the ladder and held it out sidewards. The ladder swung around the room at least forty times and stopped, eventually, next to the large book. Abby cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, sir or madame, may I have the pleasure of reading?" she asked, politely curtseying as much as she could on a ladder. Books are extremely proud, so you must address them well or they will try to prevent you from opening them. The book came out of the shelf just a bit, but enough for Abby to get a good grip on it and pull it out. It was obviously one of those books that was read at least twice a week; the edge of the cover was peeling, the letters were faded and you could barely see the name. "The Guide to the Summoning of the Sapphires by... S. K. Neville?" 

She stepped down to start climbing down when her foot hit something.

"Ouch! Abigail!" Zara screamed as Abby jumped off the ladder.

"I'm sorry, Zara. I don't remember climbing down." she said sincerely. She ran her pale hand over front of the book, following the curls of the stitched floral pattern right into the faded gold writing. Her fingertips tingled as she traced the name. Now it looked a bit like H. X. Moyillo. She took the book to a nearby table and placed it down, opening the front cover to a list of content. It was all strange words; Things she--and she is sure nobody else--could understand. It occasionally included things like "web" and "ruby" but the rest were words like "Etrephatich" and "rite." She flipped a few more pages and read aloud,

"SK Moyillo's Guide to the Summoning of Sapphires - A Julia Awards winner"

"Who's Julia Magic?" asked Abby, impatiently. Her fingers were twitching slightly.

"That's not a person." shouted Zara from the other side of the room. "That's an award. I heard Fanazia and Croat talking about it a few months ago. Apparently it gives an award for non-fiction literature."

"Magic?" Abby giggles.

"Of course, how else can you hear us?" Alice smiled. Well, as much as a piece of wood can smile.

Zara snorted at Alice's sweet tone. "You are such a cheese melt!"

Alice gasped. "But you're the sandwich, so I feel I got off lightly."

Zara turned to a dark auburn and then a scarlet. "Twig!" she sneered triumphantly.

Alice's cool tone cracked and withered. "WEED!"

They both went quiet.

"Now that you ladies are finished arguing I should think Abigail would like to learn more about this book," says Daniel, wobbling.

"Thank you," said Abby, relieved that Alice and Zara had stopped arguing. "Mr Sidney Kristian Moyillo explains in this book the wonderful world of magic in layman terms with minimal jargon." Abby turns the page. "Contents; Charms

Charm of Ice and Precision

Charm of Conjuring Heat

Charm of the Transformation

Charm of Time

Charm of the Stability

"

"Abby, let's look at the time one!" squeals Camilla. Abby turns the page several times more and reads aloud the page.

"The Charm of Time

A simple conjouring trick to rewind, fastforward, freeze, slow and quicken time. Simply recite the following words with a time-telling device in your hand.

"

A smooth hand ran its index finger down the page. But it was not Abby's. It was made of cobwebs and dust, beautiful but possibly dangerous. She slid backwards and watched the hand swiftly run its fingers over one word. It flew away and spread itself back over the ceiling, leaving dust marks all over the book.

"Oh, look at what it did!" she snapped.

"What word did it highlight?" asked Zara.

"Limes" recites the book.

"Limes? Is it hungry?" Abby looks up at the ceiling. It was awfully big, and right above everything, so it was possible for it to eat her if it wanted.

"It's probably hinting at something." explains Ellis. "Sorry I didn't say hello, I was sleeping."

"That's all right." Abby tapped the page slowly, making the table wobble. There were sounds of walking outside the library door, and some talking. "Everyone must be waking up."

"See you later, Abby." the floor hummed. Abby closed the book and put it in the large draw underneath the table, and muttering a quick "goodbye" she slides through the door and heads up the corridor.