The Green Light

Have you seen the lights? The ones that no one else sees? You have to squint - really squeeze your eyes - but if you do, you can see shapes, traced in thin lines of light, all around you. For instance, right now I'm sitting in class. My Teacher is gesturing at the board and maintaining what must be his third marathon monologue of the morning. You might think I'd be bored, but I'm not.

You see, we moved classrooms this morning. Lucy Brandybutt left all of the taps on in the girl's washroom and the sinks overflowed. Rumour has it that the water broke through the ceiling all at once, right over Miss Oathlaw's head.

Anyways, my point is, that I've never been before. Everything here is new and by golly is it more interesting. There's this broken bridge crossing diagonally across from the white board to the art tray. The stones on it are engraved with pictograms - or maybe hieroglyphics - of some sort.

"Sir! Sir!" I shoot my arm up and squirm in my sweaty seat. He's pretending not to hear me, rubbing that thin bit that's at the top of your nose. I know his tricks.

"Excuse me! Sir!"

I'm always asking questions. Mr Ethery told my parents that I'd either be a lawyer or an actor because I like the sound of my own voice so much. He answers my question, but it turns out he doesn't know much about ancient hieroglyphics and would like me to concentrate on differential equations.

Yeuch.

He thought the cat next to wavy lines might mean the cat is a long hair, but I know it's not that. It's definitely something to do with water. Perhaps I'd better sketch it in my notebook. In fact, perhaps I'd better try and get it all down. That way I can check them out with Miss Smythe in the library after lunch.

Well, that didn't work out. Miss Smythe is out on maternity leave and her replacement is severely lacking in imagination. He told me to sit down and be quiet and get on with some 'real work'.

Huh. Yeah, I know. So I'm heading to the City Library. It's quite far away and I had to go home first and raid my piggy bank. I'm down to my last pennies and a piece of toffee. Me Mam doesn't like me eating toffee. She says it's bad for my teeth, but Grandpa sneaks me some of his favourites whenever he babysits. I couldn't print the map out, because - you know - carbon costs, so I took a screenshot on my phone. That wouldn't be a problem, except my phone's battery is getting pretty unreliable. I really hope it doesn't die before I get there.

The bus isn't so bad, I get to sit down and it is quite interesting looking out the window, but the train is horrid. I'm sitting on my rucksac and it smells of wee. There's something weird and sticky on the handrails. I don't really want to touch it, so I'm holding onto my ankles instead. With the smell and the stuffiness and the weird white noise of the mag-lev train, I'm feeling both sleepy and sick. When the doors finally open I'm going to jump out.

I'm here! City Station. This is one of my favourite places to explore. Okay, so it sometimes smells of burning metal and it's always busy, but it is crammed with layers and layers of green lightlines, tracing all the buildings that used to be there. I've had a long time to think about the lights and I've realised that they only ever show me solid man-made things that have been there a long time. The thicker the line, the longer it stood there. Kind of like an after image. There's usually a spiderweb of thinner lines inside the thick ones where the building slowly fell apart. This station has been rebuilt many times, so it is a den of glittering green.

Does that sound right to you? Yeah, I think so too. So, I can see a building where it used to stand, but I wouldn't see people or a car. Which of course I never do. Just statues and buildings. All the stuff that gets left behind when we all leave.

No time for that now though, I need to get to the library and I ain't never been there before. It's also getting dark and raining. My socks are getting all cold and damp. I'm not overly fond of the wet hair that is sticking to my face like it's been glued on with glue by an enthusiastic toddler.

The City Library is a sad little concrete block. The cement that it was made of is flaking and tarnished. I've never bothered coming here before to be honest. The school library is so much easier and Miss Smythe is my only real friend in that place.

At least it's dry, eh. I scuff my feet on the small mat that's been left out for visitors and push open the heavy door. I'm excited to see the green lights here. I always am when I get somewhere new! A City Library should be rich pickings. Wait. This is odd. I'm not seeing anything. There ain't no green lines anywhere. Nothing at all! That's pathetic! Actually.

That's kinda odd.

Like I said, I'm always seeing the green lights. Always. They are all around me, criss-crossing in different directions and at every height. Surely, there must have been something here before this lump of a library was built.

It's very quiet here. I know you're meant to be silent in a library, but this feels quiet too. When I walk over to the reception, there's no one there, just an empty tea-stained mug that says 'BOSS' on it. There's still a little tea left in the bottom and a few leaves too.

I feel a bit weirded out by the silence and the lack of people, but I'm not easily spooked, so I head over to the section I'm interested in and start scanning the shelves for books that mention hieroglyphics.

Holy mackerel. There are so many books here! How many would be too many? I think I'll start with the thinner, flat ones and then go from there. Is it bad that I can't see my feet anymore? You can't have too many books though, right? That's what me Nanna says anywho.

Did you hear that?

I'm sure I-

Never mind. Let's just get this lot and get out of here.

Still no one at the desk. I'll just have a look behind it, they're probably just taking a break. There's no one here either! Wait, that door over there is ajar. I'm sure that sign saying 'Staff Only' can't apply now. How am I expected to get books out when there is no one here to check them out?!

The stairs do go down a long way though. It's so dark down here, I'm sure glad of that green light. Wait a minute. Green light?

The building that was here must have been truly ancient. The lines are so thick that even the lines of bricks and cracks in the stone are clear and visible. This part of the wall almost feels solid. Huh! It is solid!

I'm in over my head here. I need to get back so that I can tell my bestie what I've found. Strength in numbers and all that.

I freeze. I'm standing as still as I've ever stood, praying that the sweat on my cheeks doesn't drip down my cheeks. Somewhere up above, the door has been shut and all I can see is a soft green light.

It washes over me and when I open my eyes I'm somewhere else. Or should I say, some WHEN else.