Hi! It's Parody. Can I change my pronouns to they/faer, please? sorry.

Please fill out your form soon! I'll understand if you can't- I'll just not mention you as least as possible until you do 🙂

Day 1, Part 1 

The green book with the golden writing was still on the table, as quiet as ever. No more pages flipped, and the only writing were the 15 forms that were filled out. But now, there was a whisper of turning paper, as the book turned past the forms, and stopped on a blank page. Then, as if being written by an invisible hand, the words appeared.

If you are sure you want to come, please tap HERE. Twice. And be prepared.

Of course, the word ‘HERE’ twice, and then just below the words, there was a humming noise, like a swarm of bees, and the page started to glow golden. The sight was reminded of the way Alex and Conner from The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer traveled into their family story book. So, with a slight smile, it was clear what should be done. Sticking first a hand in the golden light, and then wiggling fingers, a nod was given, and without hesitation, the guests stepped, dived, sat, or jumped into the golden light, getting sucked into the book.

Bright light was all there was, with swirling colors and a blur of words. Words like ‘imagination’ ‘magic’ ‘love’ ‘euphoria’ ‘adventure’ ‘discovery’ and ‘excitement’. These were all good words, and yet the two words ‘haunted’ and ‘death’ were quickly whipped by, and those words definitely would make anyone uneasy.
But before anyone could think of all those words further, solid ground formed beneath their feet.

~*~

“Okay, WOAH,” Celine shook her head. “Now THAT’S journey! Words included! I like words.” And she glanced around her surroundings.

She was pleased to see several familiar faces also standing around, such as Moon Wolf, who was blinking very fast, Hex, who had a bemused expression on their face, and Peri, who had a pleasant smile on her face, among others.

They all seemed to be standing on a sidewalk that wound through a sparse forest. The grass was lush green, and the trees had that nice dark color that signaled the summer days. Birds chirped all around them, and the sky was an impossible blue, with the sun shining, and no sign of hazy pollution at the edges. Right ahead, where the path split off, was a very large building.

Celine slowly started to walk over to it, taking it all in.
There was a large, rounder area in front that jutted out from the rest of the building, with curved windows, and a large front double doors. Curving steps went up to the door from the path, and an awning on the top, wide step over the doors. Coming off from the tower-like part of the building, on either side, left and right, were longer, definitely rectangular buildings. Judging from the window on the stone building, the library was two stories tall. But on the tower-like part of the building, after one set of windows above the door, was a dome of glass, going high over the rest of the structure. The glass sparkled in the sunlight, and the frame of metal that wove around the dome were rivlets of gold.

“OMG,” Celine gasped happily, “That’s SO my place.”

At this point, all the other CBers had gathered around Celine, staring at the building with various expressions of contentment and excitement.

“let’s go in,” pangolin suggested, seeming very excited as they started up to the white marble building. “come on!”

And so, Celine followed them up the smooth, worn steps and into the shadow of the awning. pangolin put a hand on one of the brass handles, and heaved, but the door merely creaked pleasantly. Celine hurried to help her, and then, both of them pulling, the heavy (and apparently oaken) door swung open. Celine leaned her body against the door on the inside part to keep it open, and smiled at everyone who looked through the door. “Go on! This door ain’t exactly feather-light,” she joked.
The others quickly went into the cool aired library, and pangolin rushed in with Celine as the door slowly swung shut. It had a surprisingly quiet thump when it closed.

The room they seemed to be in was a waiting room of sorts. The ground was red brick, the room was round, but small. Loveseats and chairs with small tables were on the edges of the room, with colorful carpets by the couches. At the far end of the room a glass revolving door was locked in place with a chain, but beyond the blurred glass Celine could see someone hurrying over to it. There was the sound of rattling, and then the chain fell away and the figure gestured to them. A glowing gold sign appeared above the glass door, proclaiming the library open.
Of course, everyone rushed over to the doors, obviously quite eager to see the gigantic library. And, of course, with all 15 guests trying to fit in the revolving door at once, it didn’t work, so there was giggling and grumping as they all tried to be the first in.
Eventually, everyone got through, and

Celine got her first good look inside the circular part of the library.
Directly to the left, was a curving reception desk, with a cubby where books that were getting returned would be put. The desk itself was a soft dark brown, with a few books stacked here and there, and papers all over the place. The curving desk itself was empty aside from a few bookmarks that anyone could take, and a printer against the wall in the area behind the desk hummed busily.
The floor was smooth carpet, and it was a mix of magenta with threads of gold throughout it. To the right, there was what appeared to be a small cafe or restaurant. The lights were off in there, so it was hard to tell. But there was definitely a long counter, and circular tables with wire chairs.
The ceiling was low here, but then Celine stepped out, and the ceiling soared straight to the domed roof. Sunlight sparkled down, and Celine could see one, two railings that indicated the domed part of the library had an extra story. In the middle of the room, scattered about, were high, about four feet off the ground small circular tables, with high, spinning chairs with hardly any back in which the height could be lowered.

And… the books. So. Many. Books. Here, on the lower floor, under the circular dome, the only books were in curved bookshelves along the walls. Every now and then, there was a gap in the bookshelf where a window let even more light in, and despite all the sun coming in, the library was cool in temperature, as all libraries are.
Past the reception desk, and behind the cafe, bookshelves started as the building continued to the left and right, turning into a maze of books and cozy cubbies. Celine couldn’t see much of the second story, but she assumed the same up there. Taking a deep breath, the scent of books and creation floated into her senses.
So caught up at taking in the huge, and quite amazing library, Celine didn’t even notice the person who had let them in. And so, she quite started when the person politely cleared their throat. And she wasn’t the only one. Several of the other CBers had been gazing around dreamily, probably mimicking the expression that had probably been on Celine’s face. But now, everyone’s attention was focused on their host.

“Well, y’all seemed quite taken to this library, and I must say, I am QUITE glad!”

“Oh, Miss,” Lyric said, sounding excited, “It’s amazing, straight out of a dream!"

“Well, like I said, I’m glad y’all like it-,” The Librarian said again, but was interrupted by several people saying, “We LOVE it!”

The Librarian laughed, and it was a sound that filled you with this sense of peace and joy, the kind of sound you could listen to forever.

“Well,” she finally said, “Y’all know me as The Librarian, but that seems kinda stiff, y’know? I mean, if y’all want to, you can continue to call me that. But if not, just call me… mmm. Call me Dewey.”

Celine cracked a grin. “Like the Dewey Decimal System,” she said.

“Mmhm,” Dewey smiled.

For the first time, Celine took in Dewey’s appearance more clearly. She was quite tall, with long legs, and dark skin. She had that curly, dark hair with a golden headband at the base. She wore a thin, pinkish red sweatshirt, and a knee-length skirt the color of honey. She wore shoes that had books all over them, and her smile was brighter than it had been on the hologram. She wore large, circular glasses perched on her nose, and her long fingers tapped the reception desk behind her. Her voice had that southern twang to it, and while usually that accent would get annoying quickly, Dewey’s accent seemed kind of sweet. What the hologram didn’t show, however, was the long, waving gray and black striped tail behind her.

“Hey… you have a tail!” Scuttles had apparently decided to take it upon themselves to point it out. “Why?”

“Oh,” Dewey said, glancing behind her at the tabby cat tail. “It was a result of finishing my… my tale.”

That didn’t really explain much, but she started to talk once again.
“Anyway, I thought I ought to warn y’all that this library is open to the public, so until after hours, this place will have other people in it. And as for the sleepin’ situation, I’ll explain it when night rolls around. Any other rule include:
One, there are NO off-limits books, so read away! Two, if you can’t remember where you pulled a book out from, just put it on a cart that should be somewhere near your area. Three, do not try to catch the brownies. You won’t be able to, but it’s still quite rude seeing as they keep this wonderful place clean. (“Brownies? Celine murmured. “Wow…”) Four, believe it or not but you can eat ANYWHERE in the library. And five, have fun, read, and be creative! If you are struck by a sudden inspiration, throughout the library there are pencils and papers. Just grab one (or more!) of each, and get busy writing or drawing. If you have any questions or concerns for me, just call my name, softly or loudly, and I’ll be there in seconds! Just please say my name out loud, otherwise it won’t work. I’ll take you on a tour shortly, right after I go and open those big heavy doors, K?”

There were definite enthusiastic responses as Dewey smiled and started to walk away to the revolving door.

“Need help?” Celine asked as she passed her, but The Librarian only smiled bigger and shook her head.
“Thank you, Celine, but I’ve got it. Toodles!”

And she went through the spinning door. Celine turned her gaze upward, through the glass to the blue sky. This was going to be fun.

Dead: 0

Alive: 15 (CelineBurningBright [Celine], WildWolf, Hex, Lyric, Periwinkle [Peri], Moon Wolf, pangolin, Eclipse, Scuttles, Cillian, Marin, Endless Parodies [Parody], Silver Crystal [Silver], Seadragon, Bushy Tail [BT, Bushy])

Lovely!!!! This is so cool!

Day 1, Part 2

Lyric shyly followed Dewey once she came back into the library, and The Librarian smiled at her, then glanced around at everyone else. “Ready for the tour? Yes? Mmk y’all, then let’s go! Onward!”

And so, Lyric was right behind Dewey as she breezed past the reception desk, and through the opening into the rest of the building. In this part of the building, the shelves were only about four feet high, with just three shelves on each row. Books were displayed on top of the pale white shelves here and there, showing thin, children's stories. 

“Now this,” Dewey explained as they walked by the neat rows of books, “is the picture book section. Now, before you wrinkle your little noses and ask why in the world I’m showing you the section when you are clearly NOT children, let me explain. First of all, I’m quite grown up and I STILL look at picture books. They are often quite nice. For example,” she picked up one of the books on display and showed the others. “I do like this type of book. They are ALL pictures- no words, so you can guess the story. As for this particular one, I sincerely suggest this book, Flotsam, by David Wiesner.”

This cover showed a giant, orange fish with small fish swimming next to it. Lyric made a mental note to find it again later.

“And besides,” Dewey said, replacing the book, “not all the picture books are fiction, as I’m sure y’all know. There are non-fiction, like historical, or space, or stuff like that. Anyway…”

She went on through the shelves. Looking across the room, Lyric could see that they were in the middle row. There looked to be about 8 book shelves across, and there would be an opening between them so you could cut across to another row. Lyric wasn’t sure how many shelves there were lengthwise, but there were certainly a lot.

“And here,” Dewey was saying as they all reached the end of the room, “Is the storytime spot. We have storytime for younger children (and older!) here every Friday morning.”

Here, there was a cozy area. There was a round light and dark blue carpet, with the alphabet around the edges. Two couches all but closed off that area, making it a nice little nook. A chair sat against the wall, facing the carpet. On the couches, once Lyric leaned over the tops, were an assortment of pillows and stuffed animal toys. A smile flickered across her face as she leaned back. She gave a slight jump when she noticed Silver Crystal next to her, but she gave Lyric a friendly smile, so Lyric gave a shy one back.

“Aaaand now we have to trek back across the room to the stairs,” Dewey said with a laugh, pointing back across the room from which they’d come. “Let’s go, double time!” and she playfully started to march between the shelves.

Everyone fell behind her, and Lyric waited until she could have the last spot this time. In front of her, Silver glanced back at her, and asked, “want to walk beside me?” and Lyric gave a slightly less shy smile and nodded. And so, they both walked in the back, until they arrived back at the opening by the reception desk. 

“So,” Dewey said, pointing on either side of the doorway. 

Peering over heads, Lyric noticed the bottom of stairs that she hadn’t noticed on the left side. And then turning her head, she noticed a giant book that she had also missed. But peering closer, she saw a crack in the book, as though it were a door that slid open.

“Elevator,” Dewey said, nodding to the huge book, “and stairs. Take whichever! I’ll be going up the stairs so-” and she suddenly dashed off- “race ya there!”

Lyric giggled and went over to the stairs too, and Silver followed her, along with a few others. The rest swarmed the elevator, but Lyric was already in the stairwell, so she didn’t see the doors open. 

“Ooo,” she heard Celine somewhere behind her over the echo of their footsteps. “I love the stairs!” 

Looking down more closely at the stairs, she noticed that each step was painted like a book, or a few, stacked on top of each other. Lyric nodded her approval, then turned the corner to the right and went higher. At the top, she saw that these bookshelves were higher, the books fatter. Across the way, she saw an identical giant book, and just as she walked over to it, the doors dinged open, and the rest of their group spilled out. 

“We beat you!” Celine crowed, but they were all grinning.

Everyone knew that the elevator was usually the slower way.

“Now this is the adult section,” Dewey waved a hand around. 

Lyric was slightly disappointed, she had been hoping it was the juvenile section. She observed that the bookshelves were much taller, almost touching the ceiling, and there were sliding ladders here and there. The shelves were spaced wider too, and armchairs scattered about the room.

Peering down the row that was by the elevator, Lyric saw that the windows seemed bigger.

“Well, since there isn’t much to see here, why don’t we go to the final level? You can’t take the elevator up, but you can take the ramp.” Dewey headed back for the stairs.

Looking, Lyric saw that the stairs turned up again, but it was a ramp now, not stairs going up. And so, the group filled the hall leading up and emerged into the glass dome.

They were VERY high up now, and looking around, Lyric could see that there were no books, just a walkway going around the glass dome. Approaching the edge, she looked over the railing, and down at the chairs below on the bottom floor. Looking across the way, she could see the walkway of the round area on the second floor that they hadn’t gone on.

“Okay, WOAH,” Celine said behind her. “Check out the floor!” 

Lyric let out a giggle, because she thought that Celine was about to say, “Check out the view,” and she doubted the floor was anything special. But. Lyric looked at her feet, and she stepped back from the railing in surprise. Looking all around, she saw the floor was a painted mural. Starting at her feet, she could see scenes that started in the morning, and behind her, she could see that the mural went all the way around, and ended at night. There looked to be several different scenes, some nature and animal areas, ocean, cities with people. There was even a place with dinosaurs.

Most everyone walked around the thing with their heads down, and when they came to a jungle scene, there were definitely shrieks as a cockatoo flew out of the picture and landed on Dewey’s shoulder, feather and flesh.

“Oh, yes,” Dewey said, not sounding surprised at all, “I forgot to tell you about Talk-a-Too. Just so you know, he is the only living animal actually in the paintings, so don’t think that tiger is going to jump out at you. Say hi, Talk-a-Too.”

“Hi,” squawked the bird. “Wordi Birdi.”

“Oh, yes,” Dewey let out a laugh, “But he rather be called Wordi Birdi.”

“Hey!” said Moon Wolf, snapping her fingers. “Yeah! From Wings of Fire, Willow has a cockatoo called Talk-a-Too, but Bumblebee mumbled that Wordi Birdi would be a better name!”

“Oh yeeeah,” Celine nodded. “I remember now.”

And they continued on. When they got to the dinosaurs, Scuttles looked strangely at one of the flying dinos.

“Heyyy…” they said slowly. “That looks like Ptheo, my pterodactyl.”

“Oh, were you the one with the dino?” Dewey asked, Wordi Birdi bobbing on her shoulder. “I should’ve assumed that he would’ve fallen in there. Here-” and she tapped the dinosaur with her foot. 

With a squawk, Ptheo flew out of the painting, small and about the size of a normal chapter book cover. Scuttles laughed, caught the dino, and held the small reptile in their hands.

Once they had gone a full length around the room, sometimes looking out the glinting glass at the world about, and sometimes at the floor, they started halfway back around so they could all go to the second level on the other side. That level had turned out to be mostly a study area, with desks, tables, and computers.

“And here,” said Dewey with a grin, waving her arms around, “the young adult and juvenile section.”

They were all back on the first floor, and Lyric grinned happily at the sight. The bookshelves were so tall, they really did touch the ceiling. The wood was the same color as the reception desk, a soft dark brown. Rolling ladders were on every shelf, and every now and then there was an armchair by a window, or a few bean bag chairs in a corner or at the end of a row. Lyric was fairly certain that this might just be the best place ever in the library. Well, that was before the cafe. 

“Who’s hungry?” Dewey asked as they came back to the place they’d started. Lyric saw that the cafe was open now, with lights on and the smells of delicious food wafting out. 

“Okay, food in a library?” Peri had to ask. 

“Like I said, the brownies come and clean everything, in exchange for living here,” Dewey said simply.

Peri nodded, and then went into the cafe. The others followed, and as Lyric ducked in, she caught sight of the sign, and it read:

Fantasy Foods

~Come for a spell to this charming cafe with hexcellent food and jinx~

Lyric grinned at the wordplay, then looked around the cafe better. There was a counter on the right wall, with stools in the front. Small wire tables with three or four matching wire chairs with cushions. The floor was tile, a tile was white with the golden writing, once upon a time, and then the alternating tile was a green book. The light was a soft golden color, and the walls and ceiling were off white.

“Hello, guests!” a cheery voice came from the counter, and from a swinging door behind the counter, a young man appeared. He looked no older than 15, but he was ridiculously tall, with shaggy light brown hair, a big smile, and kind eyes behind rectangular glasses. He wore a white apron, matching the tiles on the ground slightly by saying in golden writing, once upon a cook.

“I’m Harrison, and I’m your chef/server! Just tell me what food or-” he winked “jinx you want, and I’ll have it! Granted, this IS Fantasy Foods, so it’ll be easier to serve something that you’d find in books.”

“Wait, for real?!” Parody asked. 

“Yuuup,” said Harrison, looking pleased.

“Sooo, if I ask for some mallowmelt, you can give me-?”

Even before Silver Crystal finished speaking, Harrison ducked back through the door, and then came back out a moment later, and set a tray of that food on the counter. “Here!”

Silver Crystal approached the plate, pulled out a stool and sat on it. She poked the food with her finger, then picked up a square and put it in her mouth. She let out a little moan, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they looked a little teary, and her voice was even a little choked when she said, “Thank you soooo much. The Keeper books always have a special place in my heart, and you totally made my day. They taste even better than I imagined.”

“You’re welcome,” Harrison smiled. 

Lyric glanced at the other CBer’s, who were looking excited. Then they all crowded the counter, and shouts ran out excitedly.

“Butterbeer, please!’

“Prattles!”

“Custard bursts!”

“Ambrosia and NECTAR!”

“Lushberry juice, AND cinnacreme!”

“Chocolate Cauldrons, 100% PLEASE!”

Harrison laughed, whipped out a notebook, and jotted down all the orders. Then he bowed, turned, and left the room. The group chattered excitedly as they found seats at the counter or table. Lyric sat at a table of three chairs, and Celine joined her with Parody. The two talked excitedly with each other, then turned and talked to Lyric about the library. Lyric warmed up to the two CBers, and then excitedly ate the food once Harrison came out with the food. Everything was amazing.

Once everyone was done, they all asked how to pay for the amazing snacks and meals. 

“Usually, you’d pay with money,” Harrison admitted. “But since you are guests, everything is FREE! But I wouldn’t say no if some of you would like to help here sometime.” And then he waved them out the door.

Dewey was behind the reception desk, typing out stuff on a computer that hadn’t been there before. She smiled when she saw the group streaming out of the cafe, and said,

“Same with y’all! If you want to help, say the word and I’ll give you something to do. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, the books are sorted by author's first name.” she glanced around, then found a clock above the revolving door. “People should be coming soon. But other than that, just do what you want to do!” 

Dead: 0

Alive: 15 (CelineBurningBright [Celine], WildWolf, Hex, Lyric, Periwinkle [Peri], Moon Wolf, pangolin, Eclipse, Scuttles, Cillian, Marin, Endless Parodies [Parody], Silver Crystal [Silver], Seadragon, Bushy Tail [BT, Bushy])

i love this so much! this is a wonderful story, and i love how descriptive you are. it's such a pleasure to be in it. <3

are you jaybells, hex, or perhaps…artemis? you seem more like artemis, to be honest.

I'm really enjoying this so far! It's so creative. I love the idea of a cafe where you can go eat foods from books! 

Day 1, Part 3

Scuttles decided to turn right back around and wander back into Fantasy Foods. They bet that they could be of some use to Harrison- probably. For some reason, whenever they made food, anyone who ate it gave politely strained smiles, set it down, and never finished it. Which was strange, because Scuttles thought stuff like popcorn and cheese on toast was really good. Plus, people always complain about needing a variety, right? So… 

“Hello,” Harrison was collecting the dishes the CBers had left on the counter. “Mm, Scuttles, right?”

“Yep,” Scuttles agreed, then gestured to Ptheo on their shoulder. “And this is my pterodactyl, Ptheo.”

“Haha, cool! I love his glasses,” Harrison smiled.

Scuttles glanced sideways at Ptheo, who looked slightly less indigent at the praise. Hopefully, he was getting over being small for the stay at the Booklyn Library.

“Are you here to help? Or are you still hungry?” Harrison asked.

“Whelp, both,” Scuttles admitted. “But I’ll help before eating anything else.”

“Okay,” Harrison agreed, balancing the plates as he looked Scuttles over. “You good at cooking?”

“I like sandwiches with peanut butter, Vegemite, salt and vinegar chips and pickles,” They replied innocently, as a way of answering. 

Harrison choked, then roared with laughter. “You-” he said, pointing his free hand at Scuttles, “are MY kind of eater. I’d put you on cooking duty, only the customers probably wouldn’t be as pleased as you or me if you put something like that on their plates. Sorry…” He grinned, shaking his head, and disappearing through the door behind the counter. 

He came back out a moment later, with a notebook and a broom. “So, that leaves either serving or cleaning. Which do you prefer?”

“I’ll clean,” A voice came from behind Scuttles, and he glanced over to see Hex. 

“Then I’ll serve,” Scuttles said, then coughed and bowed slightly, saying “I am here to serve.”

That earned another laugh, and Harrison passed the broom and notebook with a pencil over the counter. “Switch off every now and then,” he suggested. “And any cleaning supplies you might need are just through that door, to the right. There’s a closet.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the swinging door.

“Okay,” Hex agreed, and started sweeping. Scuttles stood awkwardly at first, but then people started trickling in, and they soon found a rhythm.

~~~

WildWolf glanced over her shoulder at Fantasy Foods, considered going back in for more Keeper treats, but then patted her stomach. Nope, she was way too stuffed to do that. So, she wandered over to the reception desk, where Periwinkle and Silver Crystal were standing. 

“Hey,” she said to the other two girls, “What’s up?”

“Hello,” Peri said with a smile. “We’re going to be shelving books. You can too, if you want. Dewey said there are plenty of carts full of returned books!”

“Oooh, okay,” WildWolf agreed, and Dewey grinned at her from her seat. 

“Great! Thank you girls for the help,” she said. Then she got up, and went to an opening in the desk and walked out of it, then around the curved desk over to an area were carts full of books. “Just take a cart of your pick! Have fun,” she said, walking back to the desk. 

The girls considered the carts, and WildWolf picked a cart that had juvenile fiction books on it, dragging it away to that section. It was quite heavy, but the wheel rolled well, and she managed to get it over to the first shelf. 

“OOF,” WildWolf stated, and then pulled out the first book, searching the section in front of her before putting the book in its proper place. 

She wandered throughout that area, slowly moving down one aisle, then up another, the cart growing steadily lighter. Up ladders and down on her knees, and by the time the cart was about three fourths empty, she was wiped out. By now, she had gotten to the S section with the authors names, and she promised to put one last book away before she took a break. Pulling the book from the cart, and then looking at the cover, she saw with a jolt that the book was Stellerlune, by Shannon Messenger. She hadn’t read this last book yet, and she hesitated when she found the Keeper series on the shelf. She glanced to the left, and then the right, and then slouched down against the back of the cart, opened the book, and began to read. She didn’t see Dewey pass by the aisle with a knowing smile on her face.

~~~

“Hmm,” Marin said, up on the top of the ladder. “W.I.T.C.H. sounds interesting. A graphic novel. We could give it a whirl,” she decided, handing down the book to Cillian before shoving the bookshelf sideways and zooming down the shelf, stopping herself at a new section of books.

“Marin,” Cillian called softly to her.

“What,” Marin pulled out another book then started down the ladder.

“I think we, um, have enough books for now,” Cillian sounded like she was stifling a laugh.

Marin reached the bottom of the ladder, and looked over at her friend. “Oh. Yeah, you are probably right.”

Next to Cillian, there was a stack of books that was at least 4 feet high. Marin blinked at it, then laughed. “Think we can read them all?” she asked.

“Yep. For now,” Cillian reminded her friend with a smile.

“Where to?” Marin asked, glancing down the aisle. 

“Just a minute,” Cillian rushed off, soon returning with an empty book cart. “Help me load these on.”

And so, a few moments later, the two friends were trudging down the aisles, dragging and pushing the cart of their reading books. Once at the back, they both entered an area that looked a bit like the story time place at the opposite end of the library. But here there were bunches of bean bag chairs, overstuffed armchairs, a few couches, and lots of lamps and small tables. The windows here were covered with soft velvety curtains, blocking daylight, but successfully making this area feel like a cozy place to read on a cold and rainy day. The two girls got their cart by two large bean bag chairs, grabbed a book, and then took turns reading softly aloud to each other.

~~~

Seadragon was up in the area with all the desks and computers, typing furiously on one of the keyboards. She paused, then clicked on a link, grabbed a pair of headphones and stuck them on. Then she leaned back, listened and learned as somewhere above, pangolin was thoroughly enjoying switching between looking out the glass dome, and down at the mural. Parody and Lyric enjoyed the same.

~~~

Celine was somewhere in the children's section perusing books similar to the one Dewey had shown them earlier (she’d looked at that one first). She would find a book, and then sit in the aisle, looking through it before replacing it. After she must’ve read about half of those books, she spread out and got to know the children’s section extremely well.

~~~

Moon Wolf, Bushy Tail, and Eclipse were in that open area with the chairs beneath the domed roof high above, playing a game of chess. Well, Eclipse and Bushy Tail were playing, and Moon Wolf was watching, planning to play the winner. People definitely filled up the library. Babies who could just only walk to 8 year olds to teens to young adults to parents and old folk entered the library, chatted with Dewey for a moment before finding their desired area. Sometimes people returned books, or asked to help find some, or simply talked to Dewey about things as trivial as; “Dewey, I just LOVE your shoes! Where did you get them?”

Moon Wolf liked seeing all of this, how at ease these people were with the library and Dewey.

~~~

Somewhere, perhaps below the library, perhaps above it, perhaps right in the middle. Or maybe lurking around the next corner. But wherever it is, someone, or something always was. Just existing. They belonged to the library, heart and soul. They watched as children rushed by, excited for story time. They watched as older children and students quietly searched the shelves and read. They watched as people wrote on paper that was scattered around the library whenever an idea struck. That was a clever thing, that paper everywhere. They had thought of it themselves. They watched as adults followed their children, forever their guardians. Up in their own books, or in the computer room, with others, old or young. Everyone who went to the last story, where the dome was the ceiling and walls, were scenes changed with every step. They watched, and listened. And never, never had there been any guests who stayed at the library, all day long. No, that was new. And it was a chance for them to BE.

Dead: 0

Alive: 15 (CelineBurningBright [Celine], WildWolf, Hex, Lyric, Periwinkle [Peri], Moon Wolf, pangolin, Eclipse, Scuttles, Cillian, Marin, Endless Parodies [Parody], Silver Crystal [Silver], Seadragon, Bushy Tail [BT, Bushy])

@Celine, I would HAPPILY welcome that list of foods! I need some more stuff… I only could think of stuff out of Keeper and HP :/