Within These Pages

The Renaissance Man

    The rustling of pages filled the empty space of the library as Girolamo sorted through the library book slips, marking which ones were returned on time and which ones still needed to be checked back in. The sound of distant cars slightly rumbled against the walls of the silence filled building. Girolamo lost himself within the sorting, his mind filled with nothing more than books and what late afternoon coffee he should have after work.  

  Maybe just something dark or mocha...or a café latte?   

  The gentle dinging of the bell tied to the top of the door as it swung open pierced the silence and snapped Girolamo out of his thoughts. Shaking his head and not bothering to look to see who had entered, he finished up the sorting and began stacking the books into manageable piles. Grabbing one, he turned his back to the front desk and placed the finished books on the rack so that he could return them to their rightful shelves later. He turned around to grab another stack and almost jumped out of his skin.

  "By God." He said quietly as to not disturb anyone, then clutched his frantic heart. Before him stood a man hardly an inch taller than himself wearing a pair of jeans and a white v-neck. Atop that he wore a lose denim jacket; his hair messily ruffled and his face unshaven. 

  "Uh, yes. Would you mind pointing me toward your anatomy books?" The man spoke somewhat rapidly, and Girolamo had to hesitate for a moment before answering.

  "Anatomy?" He repeated. "Well, it would depend. The anatomy of a horse differs from the anatomy of a human, so the books are kept in slightly separate areas."

  "Human." He spoke suddenly. "Anatomy of a human would do nicely." Girolamo smiled one of his plastered grins that he always saved for those visiting the library.

  "Then you'll want human science. It's the second shelf from the last and you'll find anatomy towards the back in the bottom right hand corner." The man looked towards the shelves and without even thanking him, he hurried over to where he was instructed.

  "Ungrateful cretin." He muttered when the man was gone, refocusing his attention back on his stack of books. Girolamo breathed out a sigh and began cataloging the books in the libraries online register. Not too long after sitting down before the computer, the man returned, several books beneath his arms. He looked way too excited for his own good. Girolamo stared at him.

  "Birds?" He asked. Girolamo frowned.

  "Excuse me?" He shook his head.

  "You know, mammals that fly through the sky? The books on birds. Where are they kept?" Girolamo's brows creased.

  "You do realize that there's a library catalog for a reason."

  "Yes, but that takes too much time, and I've never been one for electronics. So the birds? Specifically birds of prey." Thinking for a moment, Girolamo recalled their exact location.

  "It's the set of shelves before the other one you asked for under animal sciences. The right hand shelves are aquatic, so you'll want the left. Birds of prey are in the middle--the upper shelf--under the label, Accipitriformes." The strange man stared off into space, his fingers fidgeting as he remembered exactly where and which labels, then left quicker than he did the first time. Girolamo stared at the blank space that he left, dumbfounded. What was with him, anyway?  There was indeed a library catalog, so why the hell did he have to bother him while he was working? He was a bloody nuisance, and that was all Girolamo needed...

  "Girolamo," He heard Vanessa say suddenly. "Earth to Girolamo." Turning around he saw the girl--this time in regular clothing--staring at him. He cleared his throat.