There and Back Again: A Girl's Tale

Chapter 1 A Beginning, of Sorts

Part 1

Chapter 1 A Beginning, Of Sorts

The shop windows were dark and dingy, as if the place had long been abandoned. A wooden sign swung and creaked in the chilly spring breeze, adorned with a tall, pointy blue hat along and odd rune-like markings that looked hand painted. The strangest thing about the sign was not the unknown writing, or that the hat almost looked like the kind a wandering wizard would wear. No, the most peculiar part was the fact that the sign seemed weather-worn, as if it had been through an age worth of gales. The paint was faded, like the sun had sapped away its vibrancy.

That was impossible. Elwen Greenlea had lived in the same town for as long as she could remember and visited every bookshop in the area. She'd never laid eyes on this place before. It was as if it had been built and aged overnight, which was certainly enough to peak her curiosity. But it was the ancient and cracked leather-bound tomes in the shop's dusty window that had her reaching for the old brass door handle. Elwen had never been able to resist a good story.

Yet she hesitated on the threshold when she heard the door click. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood and her skin tingled as if some unknown force was running figurative fingers across her skin.

Lightning streaked across the dark grey sky and thunder boomed so loudly it shook the windows in their panes. One hell of a storm was coming, and any second the sky was going to open up and drown her. I guess I've got no choice, she thought, and pushed open the door.

The shop was much larger than it looked from the outside. It was dim, lit by sconces bolted to the walls. The ceilings were high and the walls were painted a dark forest green, though they were barely visible due to all the books.

Elwen's jaw dropped as she took it all in. There were mounds upon mounds and stacks upon stacks of books on shelves and tables and even random piles on the floor. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen so many books in her entire life, not even in a large chain shops.

The wind was howling like a raging beast and Elwen found herself wishing she'd worn a jacket. Her ragged jeans and worn sweater weren't much protection from the cold that was settling in.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elwen thought she caught movement. She spun around, but the only things visible in the soft yellow light were books.

"Hello?" she called, inching forward slowly. She kept talking, more out of nervousness than the expectancy of someone talking back. "The door was unlocked and it's storming out, so I let myself in."

She heard what sounded like books sliding to the ground somewhere deep within the shop.

Screw the storm , she thought. I'd rather be wet than scared to death. But when she spun around to leave, Elwen found herself face to chest with a very tall someone.

Elwen screamed and the sky screamed with her as more thunder boomed and shook the earth.

She jumped back and eyed the stranger, who turned out to be a man. She crouched slightly and put her weight on her left foot, ready to spring into action. Thank God for martial arts classes. Though, upon inspection, she didn't think she'd need to put them to use.

The man Elwen had nearly collided with was actually a very tall, thin older gentleman. He had a long grey beard that hung down to the middle of his chest, bushy eyebrows, and a long hooked nose.

He didn't look familiar, not exactly, but Elwen had the strangest sensation that, somehow, she knew him. Or had known him, at some point. She was fairly certain she'd never seen him before. And yet...