New Story Contest: Magical - Sofiya S. - 12/16/21

Contest: Winners

New Story Contest: Magical

Submitted by: Sofiya S., age 12, Denver, CO

The Library Sparrow

The library’s massive wooden doors, ingrained with many years, were shut, locked with a rusted metal lock. They were the entrance to a palace, with weathered red brick and marble pillars like guards towering over the street. But the library was closed.

A sparrow flitted at one of the upper windows. It was stained glass, a mosaic of colors muted by the outside light. Tap tap tap went the sparrow. The window, left unlocked by some careless librarian, swung open. The sparrow entered the silence of the library.

The library was a dim cavern, with bookshelves stretching like crags to the ceiling. The sparrow flew onward, out of the patch of light. A faint rustling of pages passed through the library, sounding like falling leaves. To the human observer, the air would’ve felt heavier, tingling with something. Dust motes spiraled upward through the air. The covers of the books, in their shadows, gleamed jewel-bright.

The sparrow opened its mouth to sing, but instead came out voices. “Once upon a time, it began on a sunny day, beneath sundering seas, in the beginning. The wave came down. The gems sparkled. The shoe made of glass, the witch cackled, the three heads slobbered. The dragon was slain, the land healed, happily ever after, the end.”

The sparrow closed its mouth, and the books quieted, for that’s what they were; the silent voices, read but unheard, given life by the thoughts of hundreds. The sparrow, breaking the silence behind which the books hid, released them. The sparrow opened its mouth to sing, but instead came out a pure “La-la-la.”

“What?! I speak?” said the melodious-voiced sparrow. The silence grew richer, and the pages rustled. The sparrow swooped back outside but found as soon as it left the library, it lost its voice, and it seemed a weight was on its wings, dragging it back to the library. The sparrow returned. It swooped between the shadowed shelves, reading covers till all the books glowed softly and then swooping into the rafters. The bookish silence descended again.


back to New Story Contest: Magical Winners