Cascade

Let's Go To The Library!

The next day started off without too much incident. Woke up to the cannibal purring as it nuzzled against my cheek; sleepily batted at him in return before giving up and getting up; and ate catfish for breakfast.

And as any other day at the cannibal's home, I had nothing to do. So I'd decided to do something about that. Today I was going back to the library to see if I could find a half-way decent book.

I nodded to myself as I finished my after-breakfast clean up and collected my bag. Fire was out, sticks collected, cookware clean. I glanced over to where the cannibal sat grooming its claws. Fish scraps disposed of... That was everything taken care of then.

I set out towards the library, only to be stopped by the cannibal slurring out a stream of growls. I turned back to find it watching me with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow.

I raised my own brow in return. Was it confused because I was breaking the cycle and actually doing something other than sitting around? Meh.

I shrugged before turning back and taking a few more steps. I was again stopped by the sound of the cannibal's growly tongue.

I turned back to see it frowning at me. It didn't want me to run off then? Okay, fine.

I raised my hand and made a beckoning gesture. "Well, come on then. I'm not going to sit around here all day with nothing to do. Again."

The creature blinked at me, but didn't move. Bah.

I turned back around and kept walking. I heard the cannibal's claws clicking against the brick. It was going to come with me after all.

It ran to catch up before falling in step beside me. Together we proceeded, around the hedge maze and past the cursed field of tall grass, to the library's backdoor.

The cannibal seemed happy enough to follow me, though it would occasionally make small detours. To catch a mouse here, to dig a random hole there, to gnaw on a piece of pokey grass over yonder. It always returned to my side once I'd moved far enough away though.

The creature watched me with a raised eyebrow as I pried the door open, but made no move to stop me. Did it use a different entrance or something?

I made my way down the hall until I came upon the first room that was lined with bookshelves. I proceeded to take my time looking through the books, moving rooms as I went. I pulled a few off the shelves every now and then to flip through them. There were books on dream meanings, books on camping, books on the over sea wars, various types of fiction, classics, newspapers, and many, many more.

I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. There were more books here than I could ever hope to read in a lifetime. What did I even want to read, anyway?

I put a book back on the shelf and glanced behind me. The cannibal was sitting a few feet away staring at me. It seemed rather puzzled by my behavior. Most people said they couldn't remember anything from when they were human. If that was the case, then it probably had no conception of what books were or how to read them...

We watched each other for a moment, the cannibal regarding me with a frown.

I leaned against a bookshelf and let out a huff. This seemed to be going nowhere fast. All these books, and no idea of where to start...

I was brought out of my thoughts by the cannibal suddenly jumping up and bounding off somewhere. What was that about? Maybe it heard something?

I shrugged and went back to searching. I prowled the shelves looking through everything that looked interesting. Maybe I should just give up and grab something?