Library Mice
Welcome Adventurous Readers!
It’s time to start a new adventure. I seem to be swinging between serious stories and lighthearted ones. Two adventures ago you were a cat in a garden chasing a gnome, last time you were a starving scavenger trying to find food, and now you’re a mouse in a library. I can’t exactly say what sparked this adventure other than I wanted something fun and I wanted to dig into my Dungeons and Dragon’s Monster Manual. With that statement, you’ve been warned =)
Let’s get started.
Library Mice
You watch the tall man from your spot tucked in between two books on the fourth shelf, right about head level with him. Candlelight flickers and then steadies along the spines of the books as he passes. His head’s bowed over a large, open tome in his hands and his long fingers sprawl across the cover beneath, supporting the book like a small, personal podium.
From the shelves across the room two more sets of eyes watch. He pays the others and you no mind, but unlike most people, he sought you out when he first arrived in the Master’s library.
“You know all the books?” he’d asked, a desperate pinching in his face drawing your interest even before he spoke.
You swallowed, and then nodded since your vocal cords do not support human speech.
“You master said you could find me everything on snakes. Can you do that?”
As soon as the library mice heard mention of the master, they scampered to sit at the man’s feet, eager to help. Even the topic of snakes didn’t deter their eagerness to please.
It’s been five days since that first meeting. You and your crew have pulled so many books you’ve lost count, which says something since you can count to three dozen, unlike the others.
The man, who introduced himself as Mr. Mason, snaps the book closed and a poof of dust makes him sneeze. From the look on his face, you know it didn’t offer whatever answer he’s looking for.
Grumbling with a few sniffles and a second sneeze, Mr. Mason wanders into the shelves to return the book to its home.
Disappointment curls its claws around your heart. Just that morning you painstakingly pulled the book from its shelf and placed it on the desk for Mr. Mason. As the day progressed and he still read from the book, your hope grew that you’d finally found the right one.
He returns and leans his narrow hips on the mahogany desk.
You scamper from your shelf and jump to the desktop.
Hearing your skittering, Mr. Mason holds out his hand, palm up, without looking over. You carefully step onto his hand to let him raise you to his head level.
“Bigger,” he says, “bigger snakes.”
“Bigger?” Amalia titters from a shelf near the ceiling. She’s only voicing what you’re all wondering. The book Mr. Mason read that day was about boas. The day before was pythons. What could be bigger?
You simply nod, unable to ask.
“Thank you.” Mr. Mason pulls a waxed paper packet from his pocket and hands it over.
Its weight pulls you down into a low squat but the smell of sharp cheddar that wafts free of the paper makes you hold the packet like it’s a great treasure.
Mr. Mason sets you back on the desk and heads out for the night, his departure leaving heavy disappointment in his wake.
A black whiskered nose appears over the edge of the desk next to you. “Cheese. Sharp cheddar cheese?” Vincent squeaks. He pulls himself onto the desktop while you unwrap the packet and divvy the cheese into three equal parts.
“Bigger snakes?” Amalia titters again, coming to join you. She’s such a tiny thing that her jump from the shelf barely makes a sound when she lands. She selects a portion of cheese and takes a dainty bite.
“You look like a chipmunk,” Vincent chortles.
She swats him, then points, “You’ve got crumbs in your fur.”
“Perhaps Mr. Mason is not describing his snake well,” you suggest as Vincent tries to look down at his chest.
“Could we follow him to see it ourselves?” Amalia wonders.
“Our only other option,” Vincent shoves a crumb into his mouth, “is to search the monster room.”
Amalia coughs.
You pause with a chunk of cheddar in your paw. The last time you visited the monster room, a book tried to squash you. But then, your group has never left the library, so you’re not sure which is the more dangerous choice, the monster room or leaving the mansion.
Do you…
Follow Mr. Mason?
Or
Search the Monster Room?
Thanks for stopping by for a new adventure. Leave your vote in the comments below and we’ll see you all next week =)
Blessings,
Jennifer
(For more of my stories, check out either my multi-ending Adventure book, The Adventure, or my YA Fantasy novel, Quaking Soul, here on my Website or on Amazon.)
