It was a Monday, Lily's first day at her new high school. My mom was giving her a ride on the way to work while dad was probably already at work. I can honestly say that I couldn't care less, either way.
Instead of heading downstairs for breakfast or to say goodbye to either of them, I remained upstairs, engulfed in the picture I had drawn yesterday. The book. I wasn't quite sure what it was about this drawing, but it mesmerized me. Every time I tried to reason with myself that it was just a lame sketch of a book, it made me open up my sketchbook again, just to look at it. Even the words that I had so untidily scrawled across the paper retained their own element of elegance. “Once upon a time... they lived happily ever after.” Like a story without the actual “story” piece of it. Just the first and last words. Somehow, even though it was just a picture, I could feel its desire, its will for me to write something. It wanted to be written. It wanted to be read.
Get a hold of yourself! I thought, angrily. It's just a stupid drawing. No big deal. But I continued to marvel at it, pondering numerous questions until I finally just shut my sketchbook and stowed it away inside my dresser. I glanced at the clock hanging on my wall. It read eight o'clock am. My parents wouldn't be home until six, and although my sister's school ended at three, she wouldn't be home until near four because she insisted upon walking home. A ridiculous idea, yet my parents hadn't refused.
As soon as I was sure that the house was empty, I raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. No one had prepared breakfast, but judging by the empty bowl and two cups by the sink, my sister had eaten a quick bowl of cereal and my parents had settled for coffee. Hungry and disappointed, I headed over to the fridge and grabbed the jug of milk. I snatched up my sister's already used bowl and spoon and, too lazy to prepare anything special for breakfast, I, too, settled for coffee and cereal.
A good twenty minutes later and I was already bored. The last couple days I had been getting ahead on all of my lessons, so it left both today and tomorrow completely free for me to do as I pleased. Unfortunately, that wasn't much.
I loafed about my room for a while, trying to decide on how to spend my day. The other day I had finished the last book in our family's library, which says a lot considering just how many fictional books are in there. I must admit, we live in a rather large house and are rather wealthy. Both of my parents are lawyers and prefer to live comfortably. Which could also explain that our family library takes up the space of a room that must be equivalent to at least half of a high school's main gymnasium. Not that I'd ever seen one before, so I can only assume.
My cell phone rested on the night stand to my right. If I texted my sister, maybe she could stop by the library on her way home from school and pick up a few new books for me to read. At least then I would rest assured that I wouldn't be bored for the next couple days. On the other hand, the bitter feeling of betrayal still rested within myself and I felt absolutely no desire to ask my sister or my parents for anything.
In a sudden rush of adrenaline, I leaped from my bed, grabbed my cell phone, purse and raced down the stairs. I didn't even bother grabbing a jacket before I rushed out the door. I raced down the empty street, my cell phone bouncing around in my pocket as I ran. There weren't any other houses quite yet, but in a matter of seconds I would be racing down the hill and through a neighborhood I had never even seen before.
I slowed down when I came to a small roundabout and was given the decision to take three different paths to my destination, although I had no idea where I would find it. I reached into my pocket and found my iPhone, searching for the maps app that I had never found necessary considering I never went anywhere. As soon as I was sure of my route, I raced straight through the roundabout and down the center street. I knew it couldn't be far from here, considering my sister walked to school and the library was just a stop on the way, but my adrenaline rush was fading and I was growing weary from running. For a girl who didn't exercise much, I found that I had already gone quite a ways from my humble household. I was leaving the safety of our neighborhood and coming up on a busy street that had cars rushing back and forth across. Of course I had seen streets like this before, but only in movies. This in itself was so much more real than I would have ever expected. And just like that, the adrenaline rush was back and I found the determination to race across the street while there was just enough time between passing cars.
Before me was the shopping center my phone had described to me, and in the corner of everything was a tiny little sign that read Library. With a silent sigh of relief that I made it this far, I walked down the sidewalk and cautiously opened the door. As I entered, I started as the door made a little jingle. A young woman, probably in her twenties, sat the desk and smiled at me as I slowly began walking further into the library's domain. From the outside this little library looked so tiny, but on the inside it was a huge wonderland that consisted of rows and rows of books. There may have been even more than the ones we had in our own personal library at home.
“Welcome to the library! Is this your first time here?” The same woman from the front desk asked as I stared around the library in a daze.
“Erm, yes. It is.” I said quietly, feeling rather awkward. She just smiled back at me, probably noticing my obvious discomfort.
“Would you like to register for a library card or are you here just to look around?” She inquired, still smiling her soft, polite smile. A long silence ensued. I was struck like a deer in headlights. Of course if I wanted to actually check out books I would have to get a library card. How stupid was I?
“Um, yeah. I'd like that.” I mumbled. She just nodded and waved me over to the desk. As I walked over, she typed on the computer and then set out a couple of different cards in front of me. One had a picture of hot air balloons, the other had some red rocks on it, and the third had a statue of a man riding a horse.
“Which library card would you like?” She asked me. I stared blankly at them for a bit before deciding.
“Well, uh, I think I'd like the one with the balloons.” She just nodded and pushed that card towards me before asking a few more questions.
“What's your name and home address? I need to put it into the computer so it will come up when I scan your card.”
I hesitated before saying, “Destiny Alden.” She typed this into the computer before looking at me expectantly. At first I wasn't sure what she wanted before I remembered. Oh yeah, and my address! I gave her my address and in return she typed it into the computer, scanned my card and then handed it back to me.
“Now you can check out books! Just sign your name on the back of it and you'll be all set!” The girl said cheerfully. So I quickly scribbled my name on the back of the card, and just before I was about to walk away I asked her for her name. “Oh, my name is Molly.” She replied. I just nodded and walked away awkwardly, unsure of what else there was to say.
As I made my way through the library, I noticed that at the back there was a quiet little corner with a couple of chairs. It didn't seem like anyone was back there so I picked a random book off of the Teen Zone shelf and ambled to the back to sit down and read. The title of the book was Shiver. I hadn't heard of this book before, so I just snuggled up in the comfy arm chair and began to read.
