by Shantara Johnstone

Created on: September 03, 2009   Last Updated: September 07, 2009

The Book of Endings

Stella entered the grand library room, as she had done many times before. The only sound that could be heard were her footsteps - a soft padding of bare feet. She looked up to the ceiling, a coloured glass dome of intricate patterns. The midday sun shone through the dome, filling the floor with enchanting colours. It was a beautiful library, built especially for her, many decades ago, woven from dreams and aspirations. No one else ever came here - no one else knew of it.

She stepped into the centre of the room. A thousand shelves surrounded her, filled with books of every sort. She closed her eyes, and made a wish. She needed a book. A very special book, although she wasn't quite sure exactly what it contained. But the library knew what she wanted. Once Stella had finished making her wish, she heard a new sound. It was a low hum, like a song. It came from all directions. She waited patiently, her eyes still gently closed. The song grew stronger and louder, blocking out all other thoughts from her mind.

Gradually, in her mind's eye, a picture appeared. It was a book, bound in dark blue material and engraved with gold stars. It had no title, but Stella immediately knew that this was the right book. It called to her.

The song of the library slowly faded to a low hum once more. She opened her eyes, but the image was imprinted in her mind, It was the book she now had to find, but where, she did not know. She started her search on a shelf labeled "Fairy tales". They came from her childhood, when her mother read stories to help her get to sleep. Her hand gently stroked the spines of each book. As she did so, the book would sing to her. Each had it's own unique song, that helped her to remember times when she read that particular book, what story unfolded, and what emotions the story would give. But none of these songs were quite right.

As she neared the end of a third row of shelves, Stella paused. She could hear a faint call coming from the north of the library. The image flared in her mind, and she knew she was close to finding it. She followed the book's song, and as she got closer, the sound grew louder. It had a sorrowful tune, like of the ending of those fairytales where the princess didn't live happily ever after. She got closer and closer, until she arrived at a low shelf in a corner of the library. She rarely ever came here. It was the farthest part of the library.

At the very end of the shelf was the song at its most powerful. She knelt down and took a book by its binding, lifting it up and out. It was exactly like the one the library had recommended to her before. She opened it slowly. On the first page was a title, "The Book of Endings". Stella knew exactly what this meant. She turned the page, and as she began to read, she began to say goodbye to all that she knew, and as she faded, so did the library.

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