Chapter Two:
Breakfast was queer.
We all dressed and came downstairs to eat at seven. We all sat at the table. The cook bustled out with six giant of bowls of…noodles? We all sat dumbfounded as the cook placed a bowl and chopsticks and silverware before us. Mom's jaw had dropped completely along with Jason. Amber took one of her chopsticks and poked suspiciously at the soup. Mr. Linden gave thanks and he started to eat. I followed his example.
"Mommy, why are we having weird spaghetti for breakfast?" Amber asked.
"Amber!" Mom exclaimed. "It's not polite to ask that sort of thing." She turned to Mr. Linden. "I'm so sorry, Sam."
"It's perfectly fine. Youngsters are usually curious about strange things." He turned to Amber. "Amber, this is pho." He said. Amber's face scrunched into confusion.
"What's pho?"
"Pho is a Vietnamese breakfast dish. The noodles are called bánh phở and the rest is just a few herbs, broth, and beef." Mr. Linden explained.
Amber dipped her spoon into it and took a bite. Her eyebrows went straight up.
"It tastes good. And weird. But together." She said incredulously, curiously cocking her head to the side. Everyone laughed. The soup was delicious; savory and filling.
After breakfast, I wandered into the library. A strange tingling went up and down my spine, like I was being watched. Shivering, I went around to all my old favorite places. Thumbing through the fantasy section, I noticed not much had changed. My eyes snapped wide as I realized what the strangeness of the library was. It wasn't the musty smell of old pages, or the acidic scent of fresh ink that permeated the whole place.
Magic. That's what the whole place almost burst with.
All the books tingled with enchantment.
My fingers retracted from the books.
I frowned. Why weren't all libraries like this? Sure they had some degree of it, but they didn't produce the impression so strongly. I walked over to my favorite reading nook. It was an alcove with a window, overlooking the massive groomed maze in the garden. Chewing on my lip, I still wondered if all the most strange things here were real.
"Mr. Linden, why don't you have a TV?" I asked.
"Why on earth would I want one of those?" He laughed. "Jane, you don't need one and neither do I. We have books."
"So? What makes books so special?" My tiny ten year old voice whined.
"Books are magic, Jane. All the books here are." He told me with a twinkle in his eye.
"No," I muttered to myself. "None of it happened, you were just a dumb kid with too much time reading books and wishing you were a heroine. You're not. That wasn't real." My fists clenched and I inhaled; shuddering. Libraries are just buildings full of books. Nothing special at all. No magic. It's all just your imagination. Get a grip already.
"Janey-Jane!" Amber's voice jolted me out of my mental debate. I got off the cushy armchair.
"What, Amber?" I snapped.
"Where's the picture book part?" she asked.
"Wander around. You'll find it." I said.
"What?" Amber asked.
"Just... you'll find it Amber. It'll show you." I walked away, towards another part of the library.
I stopped dead in my tracks. It'll? Where did that come from? It doesn't have a conscious just like she isn't real. She isn't real. It is not real. Grow up already, Jane! You're freaking fifteen! Stop all this nonsense. You are not the heroine of some fairy tale. You have to grow up now.
I went back to my room. This was eating me from the inside out. At the end of the day, all that really mattered was whether or not I believed what Mr. Linden had said.
Were books really magical? If so, was everything magical real?
I remembered how many times I'd gotten lost in a book. I'd taken countless journeys throughout the globe and to mythical places. I'd met hundreds of inspiring people and watched heroic deeds take place.
Could something as ordinary as a simple set of pages and ink cause an effect without anything else?
I guess books are magical. In their own way of course.
But… was everything else I remember like that too? No. No. No. Don't go back there, Jane. You're too old for this. You're supposed to be mature now. Smart, capable, and down to earth. Not entertaining childish dreams of magical beings.
Were they real?
I walked over to my bookshelf. An old grammar book innocently lay on the top. I picked it up, shivering from the strange tingle, and sat back on my bed. The hinges in the mattress squeaked. I turned the book over and over in my hands, like an ancient key to a lost treasure.
It's not real. It's not real. One side of me chanted trying to drown out my intuition.
How could they, so vivid, no be real? They had substance, were memorable. They didn't flee like dreams at the break of dawn. My intuition found its voice.
In my heart of hearts, I missed it. I missed them. I didn't care if I was insane or not. I missed it all.
"I miss you, Julia." I whispered, waiting for silence to greet me.
A fist connected with my face instead and I flew backwards over the bed. Rubbing my aching nose, I looked up at a very annoyed girl hovering, literally, above me. Her massive black curls shook around her dark face.
"Took you long enough!" She snapped. "After all the work Iphi and I put into you too! And it took you FOREVER to figure it out last time! Stupid!"
"Nice to see you too." I said dryly. She landed on the bed and crossed her arms.
"Apologize for forgetting me!" She demanded, but there was a humor to her words, like it was a joke.
"Sorry for forgetting you, Julia." I appeased, trying not laugh. Julia jumped and tackle hugged me. My head hit the hard wood floor and I winced. Well, that fist certainly wasn't a figment of the imagination.
"..ow." I murmured.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" she yelled, inches from my face.
"I will be when you get off and stop yelling."
Julia sprang up and hit the ceiling in her haste. She rubbed her black head, annoyed.
"So, Julia, how've you been?" I asked, sitting cross legged. Julia stuck out her tongue.
"Only the absolute loneliest kami here!" She yelled, puffing up her chest. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that. But I thought you were a book? What's a kami?" I asked. Julia huffed, her curls jiggling. How on earth is that mass of hair staying up like that? I marveled.
"In boring grown-up terms, I'm a personification of my book. Or its soul, spirit, whatever. But we like to call ourselves kami."
"Okay, so are there others? Besides you and Iphi, obviously." I tapped my chin thoughtfully. I'd met few of these so-called kami, but it had been so short-lived, I eventually wrote it off as a dream. Among other things I'd seen, of course.598Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoUS7W3HQe
"Of course! There isn't a single sleepy book in the entire library!" Julia proclaimed proudly.
"Sleepy?" I was confused. Julia and Iphi had only been visible to me for a very short period of time six years ago. Less time was spent on the details of existence and more time on just being childish friends.
A knock sounded at the door. Julia was suddenly a book lying on the floor. I answered the door. It was Amber. Her eyes were wide, as if frightened.
"Jane!" She whispered. "There are ghosts here!"
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