Memento Mori [ASOUE FanFiction]

Chapter 5

While wondering through the corridors of the library of Prufrock Preparatory School, which was opened far longer than 10 minutes, Kit was wondering why anyone could enjoy performing.

Maybe she was the only one that had stage-fright or others just like that feeling. While searching for biology books, she found a strange piece of paper in one of the biggest books on the shelf. As curious as Kit was, she couldn't help but take the paper out of the book and looked at it. There were no letters on it, but dots and lines. This was what it had on it:

--- ..- .-. / - .-. ..- . / .... --- -- . / .. ... / - .... . / .. -- .- --. .. -. .- - .. --- -. --..-- / .- -. -.. / --- ..- .-. / -.- .. -. --. -.. --- -- / .. ... / - .... . / .-- .. -.. . -....- --- .--. . -. / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. .-.-.-

Not thinking much, she put the paper into the pocket.

After getting the books Kit needed to study, she sat down on one the many desks in the group study area of the library. While closely reading the book about the nervous system, she didn't notice someone sitting down next to her.

While looking for a pen to write down notes, Kit found the paper again. Seeing the dots and lines again, her mind began thinking. What if this weren't just random cribbles, but could stand for something else? In the text she just read, physical signals were transformed into chemical signals in order to make the brain understand it. Could she possibly do the same with the dots and lines?

While wondering if she sould connect the dots, someone suddenly said something in a quiet smooth voice.

"That's Morse Code.", Olaf said, who was sitting next to her, making Kit jump in her seat. Her surprised face made him smirk.

"You're Kit, right?", he asked her. She nodded.

When she would meet new people, they would always refer to her as Lemony's and Jacques' sister or the youngest Snicket, but Olaf knew her name right away. She liked him already.

"What's Morse Code?", Kit asked him.

"It's an encoding scheme that is used to send messages via a telegraph.", he explained, looking at the paper, "I don't know what it says, but there should be a book on this topic in the library."

Together they looked through the many shelves with books starting with M, like mutiny, magic and mythology. Going on a secret scavenger hunt was a fun change to the mostly dull life of the pupil, and doing it with Olaf was more fun than expected.

He wanted to find the answer as much as she did, so it only took them a few minutes to find a book titled 'Morse Code and their uses throughout History'. Excited the two sat down at the desk again, quickly scamming through the book, looking for a translation table. When they found one, they proceeded to translate the dots and lines. It spelled out:

"Our true home is the imagination and our kingdom is the wide-open world."

Upon reading it, the two young detectives were confused.

What could this possibly mean? As Kit and Olaf looked at each other, they both knew the hunt wasn't over yet.