“Flora this is the tenth time this week." the librarian said to the pretty teenage girl that stood before her with several book cradled in her arm.
“I just couldn’t stop reading Mrs Grimm and before I knew what was happening, I was already done with them and I’d die of boredom if I do not come back for more." she replied with a spark in her blue eyes.
Mrs Grimm the librarian is the complete opposite of her name. She is bright, pretty and friendly to everybody that visit the library. She recommends good books too and that’s one of the reason why Flora loves the library even though it’s a tad bit far away from her neighborhood.
“You should be outdoors Flora, not just burying your nose in a book all the time. The world is a jungle of adventure which I recommend exploring more often." She said and ruffled the mass of golden curls on Flora’s head.
Bright but stubborn, Flora always has the exact response for everything Mrs Grimm says,
"there are lots of adventure in books too Mrs G, the real world doesn’t have aliens, dinosaurs or awesome fairytale characters in it. Reading all these books makes me wish I could transport into them and be one of the characters. How cool will that be?"
“Oh! Flora dear, you make every argument interesting." said Mrs Grimm with a chuckle. "Your birthday is next week right?"
Flora nodded, amazed that she recalled and wondered why she asked in the first place.
“How about we have a little birthday party after school that day? I have a surprise for you."
Flora’s face lit up like a thousand fireflies. Presents and books are few of her favorite things and a present from Mrs Grimm will be borderline perfect.
Flora sat behind her desk in class a week later, her entire attention devoted to the ticking clock on the wall. When the school bell went off at 3pm signaling the end of school for that day, she took off like a space rocket and ran all the way to the library.
She ran in all sweaty, breathing hard, "I’m here Mrs G." she said
The surprise on Mrs Grimm’s face was evident because she wasn’t expecting Flora to show up that early.
“I couldn’t think of anything else all week long Mrs G so I ran all the way here immediately school ended." she explained.
“Well since you are here, let’s get right to it." she said with a smile.
“Get right to what Mrs G? I thought I’m here for my birthday present." she asked puzzled.
“Yes you are, so follow me to where it is." Mrs Grimm replied mischievously.
Mrs Grimm walked down the hallway, took a left turn with curious Flora at her heels and walked up a flight of stairs which led to an abandoned attic or what seemed like it because the place was much bigger than a regular attic with five shelves of dusty old books.
Flora glanced around like a lost child in a strange land then she turned to Mrs Grimm and asked, “is this place part of the library too? I have never been in here before."
“This is a special part of the library, Flora and only few privileged people get a chance enter the magical attic .”
“Magical? This looks like an dusty attic with old books Mrs G, nothing out of the ordinary." Flora said, disappointed while hoping the attic wasn’t her present.
“These books might be old and dusty but they are unpolished gems and far from the ordinary. Its exactly what you wished for .”
Mrs Grimm pulled out a book from the shelf close by and Flora could have sworn she saw the book gleam for a second despite the layers of dust and dirt on it but she dismissed it as a trick of the sunlight filtering through the dusty window.
Mrs Grimm blew the dust off the book and gestured at Flora to come closer, she opened to the first page where the names of the characters in the book was written.
Flora noticed the book was gleaming, “this is a peculiar book Mrs G, its shining too, is that normal?" Flora asked.
Mrs Grimm smiled at Flora’s adorableness and patted her head affectionately, “nothing is normal in this part of the library dear, this books are portals into the stories."
Flora looked confused and lost, so Mrs Grimm handed the book over to her. “why don’t you pick a character of your choice from the story.
The book fortunately was one of her favorite “Beauty and The Beast” so she picked Belle, the first character on the list.
Mrs Grimm urged her to open to any page her choice and read the first sentence out loud.
Flora at this juncture wasn’t sure what she was doing but she obeyed Mrs G without any hesitation. She opened the book and read the first words on the page, “Belle slowly opened the door to the huge castle where...
She didn’t finish the sentence before she was thrown into a whirlpool of blinding colors, It felt like she was falling into a endless pit. The screams she let let out bounced of the walls of colors and echoed. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping it was just her imagination and she will back in the library if she opened them.
She cautiously opened her eyes after what seemed like a zillion seconds and found that she stood at the foot of a gigantic staircase that led into a very dark place. Confused and terrified, she turned to make a run for safety but her feet seemed to be fastened to the spot and could only move forward despite her protests.
Her will seemed to be lost as her disobedient body slowly ascend the stairs. She wasn’t sure if it was the darkness but her hair seemed so much darker and she was dressed in a clothes completely different from the denim and sneakers she had on a while ago.
She was still deep in thought when she stumbled upon a grey haired man locked up in a cage, he held out a hand when he saw her and croaked out a single word, “Belle.
She glanced around wondering who he was referring to, then she realized she was the only one in the room besides the old man and it dawned on her that she was now “Belle” of “Beauty and The Beast”.
She instinctively rushed forward and held the cold hands of the old man, “father,” she said, "I’m here to rescue you."
Flora realized her body follow the narration of the story so which means she will soon encounter the beast, she had seen many beasts in the zoo so she wondered what he would look like.
Even though she anticipated his appearance, she wasn’t expecting him to be bigger than life and absolutely ferocious. She jumped in fright when she saw the angry, furry, eight feet tall, man beast. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, “I want to go home."
When she finally opened her eyes, she stood in front of the smiling Mrs Grimm who said, “back so soon?".