The Experience of Being Alive

Chapter Seventeen

Both before and especially after Binny went into her book that day, she kept turning her experience in the house in her dream over in her head. She was especially focused on comparing the house in the dream to the house in which she'd grown up, in her book. The houses were so alike, and yet they had such specific differences. Most of all she wondered about the cats. What possible significance could they have? Binny wondered if they were really witches who could transform themselves.

"Hello. How was Madrona today?"

Binny looked up, startled from her daydreaming to see One standing there, looking closely at Binny's face.

"It was fine. Thank you."

"I came to check on you. You've been here for a couple of weeks now, and I know that different characters acclimate at different paces."

Binny had still not figured out how she felt about the Keepers. Each of them with their gray clothes, their gray skin, and their gray demeanors. One seemed nice enough most of the time. Two seemed scary. And Three, he seemed different somehow. Maybe it was because he looked younger. For some reason Binny assumed he was the 'junior' keeper.

"Thank you One. I appreciate it." Binny motioned to Hermione, Katniss, and Arya, who had all just whooshed back into the Library around her. "They've done a really good job helping me get adjusted. I'm grateful."

"You've made good use of the Special Requisitions Desk," One said.

"Yeah. It's fun."

"Okay Binny. I'll let you go so you have some time to yourself." And with that, One glided away, her gray robes trailing gently behind her as she descended a nearby staircase.

Binny watched her go and wondered really where she came from. There had been so much talk of parents lately – biological and otherwise, that Binny started wondering how the Keepers fit in.

Maybe it wasn't her book parents she could count on, or her author, but the Keepers themselves. They'd certainly been the ones to discipline her when she broke the rules.

At first Binny had thought that there was no possible way the Keepers could really keep tabs on everyone who lived in the Stacks because there were only three of them, and millions of characters. But when Binny had done her circuit of the hallway and seen Two in several different places at once it became clear.

"Hey. If there can be 359 Misselthwaite Manors, why can't there be 359 Hermiones?" Binny asked as the group was getting ready to leave the library.

"I don't know. That's just not how it's done. Only places and stuff can have multiple copies. There's only one version of each of us," Hermione answered.

"Well, that's not entirely true," Katniss said. Her eyebrows raised.

"I'd rather not discuss it." Hermione tried to end the discussion.

Arya stepped close to explain to a bewildered Binny. "There's fan-fiction you see."

"Fan-fiction?" Binny asked, still not comprehending.

"It's when fans continue the stories of their favorite characters," Arya explained.

"I know what it is. I just don't understand how it's connected."

"Right," Arya said. "Well, you've got Hermione here. And this is who she is based on how her author conceived her. But once fans read the book, they have their own conceptions of Hermione."

"Most of the time, the fan's conception of a fictional character is in line with the author's. So that doesn't spawn a different version of the character in the Stacks."