Well, so far writing a story every day (mostly during lunch) has been quite successful. Even though the flash pieces can all still use a bit of editing and rewriting, it is extremely enjoyable to be (willingly) forced to write something – on thing – every day. And posting – which means I can’t write one sentence and act like I’ve done a day’s work!
I’ve had a list of ideas scribbled down that I just never seem to get to and at least the NoShoStoMo challenge has given me more motivation to have a look at them again.
I also have a Great Plan *play epic music* to translate all of the NaShoStoMo pieces when they are finished – but I’m not going to put a time frame on this!
*Well, so far so good.
The Door On the Shelf – Day 7 April 7 – NaShoStoMo Challenge
Emily realised she can move between worlds when she found fairies at the bottom of her garden. Well, they weren’t really in her garden – they were on the border between her garden and the fairy realm. It turned out that the fairy realm nearly always bordered on a garden – and always the bottom of a garden. It turned out that she was very adept at finding borders between worlds; the Monster Realm under her bed and in her closet, the Phantom World of Dust and Dirt in various forgotten corners of the rambling house she lived in (though she almost never visited there), a dragon called Flametorch guarding its treasure in the cellar and an old astronomer from Geilgardia that liked to use the house’s roof as a way to study strange skies at night. Even as an only child, she was rarely lonely and barely ever bored.
But her talent of finding other worlds – or, more precisely, other worlds who no one else could see or enter – made her a bit of an outsider at school. She took to wandering around at the bottom of the sports field during break, looking for fairies or poking around in the empty classrooms looking for a world she had not yet discovered. When the bullying became unbearable, she went to the school library. She didn’t do it because she particularly liked reading – real life seemed just as, if not more exciting to her. After meeting a real dragon and nearly being burned to a crisp, the monk-like figure wandering about the library intrigued instead of scared her.
He was dressed in a robe of rough brown wool and had a bag slung over his shoulder. Every now and then he picked up a book, looked it over and either slipped it into his bag, or placed it back on the shelf. Emily noticed that his bag never seemed to have anything in it and when he took a book from the shelf there was never a gap where the book had been. She followed him for a while, past the picture books in the junior library and the history books until he reached the natural history books. There he turned around and looked straight at her.
“Can you see me?” he asked a bit unsure of himself.
“Of course,” Emily said and stepped closer. “You’re a bit difficult to miss, with not wearing a school uniform – and being the only other person in here.” She looked at the book the monk was holding. “Are you finding anything good?”
He shrugged. “I was looking for a book on dinosaurs for my nephew. He seems to think that they were some form of primitive dragon. You know, before they could breathe fire and so on.” He slipped another volume into his bag. “He needs to write a school report for his Magick Creatures 101 class.”
“You can’t just take the books. It’s stealing. You need a card or something.”
“I am borrowing them, not taking them or stealing them. Where do you think missing books in libraries go to? They won’t give library cards to extra-terrestrials, you know.” He took another book from the shelf and its space disappeared as if there had never been another book. “Anyway, this library forms part of our library back home – as long as you know which door to take. All libraries are fluid creatures.” He took a thick tome about volcanoes from the shelf, opened it and placed it on the floor. “Would you be so kind to just replace the book when I’m gone? I hate to leave a mess.” And with that, he stepped into and through the book and disappeared.
Emily stared at the book until the bell rang. Only then did she reach out and put the book back on the shelf. Then she looked at all the books around her and wondered which one’s door she should try first.
THE END (for now)
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