The Library Sprite

Samantha walked into the library, welcomed by the towering trees and the breeze that she never quite knew the source of. She breathed in the fresh green scent of the air and also caught the warm brown aura of pages. The bookshelves were nestled among the trees as though they were trees themselves, growing up and reaching for the sky. It wasn’t really the sky, of course, but the sprites always kept the ceiling looking like a more lovely version of what was outside. Today there were cotton candy pink clouds moving gently across the library. She looked up at them and felt contradicting desires - she wanted the ‘sky’ to match the stormy mood inside of her, but she was also thankful for something so lovely to enjoy.

A little sprite floated up to her, it’s amoebic shape shifting and glowing the same pink of the clouds.

“Hello, friend,” she said. Tears were still in her eyes and she knew it was obvious that she’d been crying. She usually felt sheepish for others to see her cry, but these sprites had seen her through all manner of emotions throughout her whole life. She felt comforted being seen by the sprite and knowing that it would immediately identify her feelings and get to work finding whichever book would best suit her needs as soon as she asked.

The sprite lowered itself in a sort of bow - its way of offering assistance.

“Yes, I could use something to ease the pain,” she told it. It nodded and floated away.

She walked over to her favorite nook. It had big, worn-in pillows of brown, yellow, and green and a soft wool blanket covered in colorful florals and foliage. She plopped down and buried herself in it. Another sprite came, she could always tell them apart but she never knew how. This was the one who would bring tea and sometimes baked goods. It bowed to her and she asked it for some peppermint tea and something sweet. It nodded and whisked itself away.

The first sprite came back to her and brought a little blue book.

“Thank you,” she said as she took the book and they bowed to each other, respectfully.

The other sprite came a few seconds after with a hot mug of tea and two very delicious looking chocolate chip cookies. “Oh, that’s perfect, thank you,” she exclaimed with a bit of glee.

She didn’t know it before, but she was really craving chocolate chip cookies. The sprite had even put a little vanilla in the peppermint tea and it smelled absolutely perfect. The sprites always knew just what to bring her and she was feeling extremely grateful for it. A round, wooden tray floated up beside her and the sprite set the mug and plate down on it. They bowed to each other before it floated away. She took a sip of the tea and it filled her with warmth and comfort. She took a bite of one of the cookies and then found herself unable to stop and finished the whole thing within a matter of seconds. She decided to pace herself with the second one.

Her phone started vibrating and she felt a pang of anxiety when she saw that it was Alex. Her ex. They had just broken up the day before. She stared at it for a while and then finally decided to answer it.

“Hel-“

“Why did you reset your password?” He cut her off right away.

“Hello to you too,” was her response, annoyance rising in her chest.

“I can’t get into the library. What’s the new password?”

“I reset it for just that purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“To keep you from coming in.”

“Why?”

“We broke up.”

“So?”

“So, You no longer have access to the privileges of being my boyfriend. Access to the library is one of those privileges. Besides, I don’t really want to run into my ex here.”

“That’s so cold. We just broke up and you already kicked me out,” he said with an almost whiny voice. “How am I supposed to get through this breakup if I can’t access the library and escape into the books?”

“How am I supposed to get through this breakup if I keep seeing you in my safest of places? Besides, you can always use the public library. They have books too, you know.”

“It’s not the same and you know it.”

“But it’s all you’ve got.”

“Come on, Samantha.”

“This is not my problem. Please don’t call me again.” She hung up and turned off her phone, settling back into the pillows.

_______________

Outside, Alex stared at the red brick wall where the hidden door was. With tears in his eyes, he slammed his fist into the door, but he knew that she would not hear him. He looked up at the sky and let out a sigh.

“I guess I’ll have to try again,” he said. “What a waste.” A light shone from his chest and emerged from his body. The sprite hovered in front of his face for a beat and then propelled itself away, in search of its next form.

Alex looked around in confusion. He didn’t recognize this alleyway and had no remembrance of how he got there. His hand hurt and he looked at it, bewildered to see little bleeding scratches on the side of his fist. He started walking toward the street, retracing steps he had no recollection of taking.