Simply Complicated

Brown paper packages with no return addresses are usually filled with something really, really cool. They were mysterious and filled with something amazing and just generally awesome.

So you can imagine Sammy's disappointment when he opened the package to find a book. It wasn't even a good book with dragons and wizards and magic. It looked like nonfiction. There wasn't much worse than nonfiction, in Sammy's opinion.

It was an old book and looked a little like the old encyclopedias that were in the stacks at an ancient library. It wasn't dusty but still smelled like it was. The cover was a cracked leather of sorts, with a title engraved on it in a language Sammy didn't know. He cautiously opened up to a random page in the book, only to find more of the unrecognizable language. Some of the characters were like that of english but a few of the symbols were a mystery.

Sammy ran his finger over the words. The page was yellow with age but was still in perfect condition other than that. There was a swirling pattern surrounding the words like a border. They seemed to be hand-drawn. Looking closer, Sammy realized that the words were written by hand as well.

"This book is huge! It must have taken this person ages to put together!" Sammy thought, his appreciation for the book growing (though he wouldn't admit that).

Slowly, Sammy started trying to read the odd words. He stuttered a lot and had to sound out many words but he eventually got through it. And then, all of the sudden-

Nothing happened. Sammy didn't know what to expect but it was disappointing all the same. Sighing, he set the book on the coffee table for when his mother got home.

"I should have known better," Sammy thought. "Nothing cool ever happens from reading a book."

He was crawling into bed when he heard his name called from the living room. Sammy's mother had come home and they ate dinner, making conversations about their day and plans for tomorrow. He had just finished getting ready for bed and groaned as he trudged out of his room.

“Come get your book! We’ve talked about you leaving your stuff everywhere.”

“Mom, it isn’t-”

“Don’t argue with me Sammy, just do it. It’s too late for this.”

Sammy resisted rolling his eyes, he didn’t have a death wish, and took the (really, really heavy) book back to his room. Sammy flipped the lights off, put the book on his nightstand, and collapsed onto bed.

“What have you done!?”

It was a rude way to be woken up and Sammy yelped as he flung himself off his bed. Sammy had to throw his arm up over his eyes to block out the incredibly bright light that was coming from over his nightstand. It was a bluish color and almost too bright to look straight at. It hovered above the book.

"I asked you a question. What have you done?"

Sammy looked around but was unable to identify the origin of the disembodied voice. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, the words echoing strangely around the room.

"I- I'm not sure-" Sammy stuttered his way through a response. His breathing picked up and the world was spinning.

"It's probably a good thing I'm already sitting." He thought, numbly watching as the light moved closer to him.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to not touch things that aren't yours? Or are you really just that dumb?"

Sammy still wasn't completely sure what was going on but he knew he was being insulted. "I didn't touch anything. I don't know what you're talking about!"

A crash sounded from the nightstand. Sammy stared in shock at his lamp, broken on the floor. It's stop on the nightstand had been taken over by the now open book. The tome seemed to be the only thing in the room not affected by the brilliant light. Unlike the cover, the pages stayed dark.

Too dark.

A fog-like substance surrounded the pages of the book. It was dark, saturating the dark wood of the nightstand despite the light.

Sammy stood on shaky legs, trying to get a better look at… at whatever was happening but it was useless. As soon as he got his legs underneath him, he collapsed again. This time, he didn't sit back up.