Library Mice – Make the Deal
Welcome back for the third installment of the Library Mice adventure!
If you missed part one or two, you can read it by clicking the links, or here’s a quick recap:
You’re a mouse who maintains the Master’s library. He’s sent a man to you who’s researching large snakes but in five days, you haven’t found a book containing the snake he’s searching for. You get the feeling the man’s situation is rather dire. So, you and your companions, Vincent and Amalia, decided to search the Library’s monster room to see if there are any books about monster snakes.
You didn’t make it very far into the monster room, however, before a hydra book grabbed Amalia and offered to help you search if you will bring it books on rodents. Readers voted to make the deal.
Let’s see if the hydra book holds up its end. =)
Library Mice – Make the Deal
Vincent huffs under his end of the stack of books you’re carrying from the main library back to the monster room. All of them deal with rodents – mice, rats, squirrels, gophers, hamsters – you grabbed anything you could find for the hydra book, hoping to satisfy whatever its truly wants. The search took you so long that it’s almost morning and instead of candlelight – all the tapers have now burned out – you’re seeing by the dull gray light of morning that shows through the windows.
“That thing better let Amalia go!” Vincent grunts, shifting his hold on the books. This makes your end wobble and you stumble trying to keep the stack together. “Oops,” Vincent says, “sorry.”
“S’okay,” you say. “Almost there.”
You shuffle your way into the monster room to find the three will-o-the-wisp books still floating around and casting odd shadows over the books and walls. Sitting on one large stack is the hydra with a book-mark head wrapped firmly around Amalia’s small frame. The other two heads immediately fixate on you when you enter.
You and Vincent set the rodent books down to one side and back away.
“Now let her go,” you say.
The hydra slides free of its perch, and Amalia squeaks as it takes her with it. “Rodents?” the hydra asks, it two free heads wavering in the air like it can scent what kind of books you brought.
“Of course,” you say.
It ambles closer.
“Hey now—” you start but it’s too late.
The hydra heads flash forward, each grabbing a rodent book. At the same time, the book itself slaps against the floor spine first and opens wide. Each head drops their rodent book into the open hydra and it snaps closed.
Then, before you or Vincent can react to this startling turn of events, the heads flash out again, grab the rest of the stack, and drop them into the hydra’s waiting maw. It snaps closed again, flaps a couple times, and the rodent books are gone.
“Release Amalia!” you shout, pulling your sword.
The hydra burps. “Haha! More books! So hungry. Bring me more books!”
“NO!” Vincent darts forward but has to dart sideways when the hydra spits a chunk of hardback spine at him. As it turns to follow Vincent, a will-o-the-wisp floats past the stack of books the hydra was originally sitting on.
The picture of a long scaly body on the cover of one catches your eye.
“Snakes,” you whisper, realizing the hydra was sitting on one of the very books you want for Mr. Mason.
The hydra’s heads pivot, “hearing” your word. It tracks the direction of your attention and darts for it, letting Amalia go in its haste to steal – and probably eat – the book you want.
Do you…
Grab the Book before the Hydra?
Or
Stab the Hydra Head reaching for the Book?
Thanks for stopping by this week. Leave your vote in the comments below and we’ll return next week to see how this adventure ends!
Until then, blessings,
Jennifer
(For more of my stories, check out either my multi-ending Adventure book, The Adventure, or my Urban Fantasy novel, Quaking Soul, here on my Website or on Amazon.)
