Anches

The Library’s heavy stone door scraped shut just behind me. Immediately, there was a feeling of immensity even greater than the one I felt approaching the Library and its lake from outside. The floors went up and up and up, staircase after staircase, spiraling level after level, all windowed with colored glass. Light poured in, mixing colors in patterns everywhere. It was such a singing of colors that I gasped up at the beanstalk of a man who responded with a terse, “Hm.” 

“I see you have colored glass,” I said in a rush. “My father taught me how to work with colored glass. If I’m too late to be instructed in the usual way, put me to work.”

His eyes were white, as was his skin, and I had a wave of fear that he might be a Glowing One and it was all a trap. 

“We were expecting you ten years ago.”

“Ten years ago! But I was practically a baby then!”

“Indeed. You appear to be the usual age. Where have you been?”

And so, I told him about Grent and the Welchefarben and the Glowing Ones and Listen, Move, Hide, Repeat, and how I’d stayed alive. 

“Time played a trick on you. While you were in this so-called forest, days passed for you and years passed for your family and friends. You missed your appointed time to learn at the Library. Your people believe you to be dead or lost. They’ve looked for you, but haven’t found you. They’ve grieved. They’ve moved on. And here you are on our doorstep. What a curious opportunity!”

My head swam and I put my hand out to the stone wall to steady myself. The thought of my father and brother grieving my loss, not knowing what happened to me was overwhelming.

“I must see my family,” I said.

“In opportune time. In opportune time. First, I think some refreshment and rest is in order. Many things changed in your world and once you’ve had a little rest, I’ll tell you these stories.”

“Stories or real events?”

“Ah!”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“You don’t.”

I followed the reedy man, thinking that he resembled the shape of his building, as he led me through the stony, hollow halls, the echos of our steps ringing in all directions, passing colored glass story after colored glass story. There were Welchefarben and Elchbaren and other creatures I’d never seen before with noses that went on forever like tubes and enormous ears and long necks and spots. And there were Glowing Ones riding horses and holding sticks in their hands. They were so beautiful, so intricately drawn, that I kept stopping to look and fell further and further behind the Keeper of the Library. That’s what I guessed he was, so that’s what I called him until I found out his name.

Even though I pressed to keep up, the distance became greater and greater until I couldn’t see him anymore and suddenly, there were four different ways I could go and I didn’t know which way he went. 

I listened for his feet and thought I heard them down the hall to the farthest left, so I started that way only to hear steps coming from another hall. I started down the other hall only to hear steps from yet another one. I returned to the starting point to see if there was another way to determine which way he went, but by then I figured it was too late and I was lost.

“Hello,” came a voice behind me. I turned to see a Glowing One. I shouted out and almost ran, but where would I run to if there was a Glowing One inside the Library. Again, I thought this might be a trap. Maybe the Keeper of the Library had lied about the time difference, too. I backed up slowly between two pathways thinking that I could choose one to run down if necessary.

“Are you lost?” the Glowing One asked.

“Who are you?” 

“You must have just arrived. Are you from Stroma?”

Stroma was what foreigners called our homeland. I wasn’t sure if it was best to acknowledge where I was from or not. Would someone from Stroma be killed on sight?

“I only say that because people from Stroma usually have black skin like you,” the Glowing One said. “I can help you find your way, if you’d like. You don’t want to get lost in here! What is your task?”

He genuinely seemed to want to help and he didn’t appear dangerous. Was it possible that there were kind Glowing Ones? I supposed it was just as possible as the violent ones from my home who stole and hurt others. 

“Ah! There you are!” The Keeper of the Library sprouted from an archway. “You must keep up or you’ll get lost and it is possible to get lost forever in here, so I wouldn’t advise it. For that reason, too, I wouldn’t recommend exploring. You can become irretrievable. I see you’ve met Anches. Fortuitous, that. Anches, go to Concise and I’ll meet you there. I have a new task for you. Something so important it might save a world this time. Or at the very least get an annoyance off my back at last.”

Anches pulled out a disk, flicked his fingers into it, and held it out, turning it slowly all around him at the different paths until a blue light pulsed from it. He stopped and stepped into the hall the disk was pointing toward, moving there quickly as if concerned he’d forget which hallway if he didn’t get there right away. 

“I’ll meet you again,” Anches said and I realized he wanted to know my name, but I didn’t want to say it. And toward the Keeper of the Library, “Awaiting you in Concise.” We heard the echo of his feet.

“How big is this place?” I asked. 

“Size is not a characteristic here.”

“Anches is a Glowing One. Is he dangerous?”

“No. Anches is not dangerous. He’s not a Glowing One, either. There are no Glowing Ones, Althea.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Of course, I know your name. Always, I know it. There is so much to share with you, but we must go a little at a time. The first thing you need is to wash up, eat some food, and get some rest. Before that happens, there is nothing I can teach you.”

I almost asked what Concise was, but stopped myself because I realized there would be no complete answers until I’d rested. So, I followed the Keeper of the Library through the halls until he stopped at an easily overlooked door, unlocked it with a long key he pulled from around his waist, opened it, dust flying everywhere, and indicated that I enter. 

I hesitated. It felt like a trap, but did I have a choice? I was in the maze of the Library now and had to rely on the Keeper of the Library or I was lost. 

I stepped inside. There was a bed, a washroom, and food on a table. I saw bread, pears, and oranges. The bed had coverings, although it wasn’t cold in the room. There was another table with pieces of colored glass that caught my attention. The Keeper of the Library saw that it did and seemed pleased. It was probably a way to appease me. I could occupy myself making stories in glass until he came again to teach me whatever he thought I should know.

“You noticed the key. I am locking the door for no other reason than your own safety. You are curious about so many things and I’m certain that curiosity would lead to exploring and you could be lost forever. I’m going to protect you from yourself in this case. I know it seems extreme, but you’ll have to trust me. It won’t always be this way.”

He stepped to the door, preparing to depart. “Get some food and rest and I’ll see you when you are awake again. You can put your questions into that glass, if you’d like.”

“What do I call you?” 

“Call me Guardian.”

He shut the door and I heard the clicking of the key in the lock. 

It was unsettling to be trapped in a place. I hadn’t known before how important it was to walk around outside of something in order to get a sense of where you are. I had a frightening feeling I wasn’t anywhere.

The choice I made was so quick. Was it the right one? I was determined to get to safety in the Library, but was it actually more dangerous than the woods? Had ten years passed? And if so, what did that even mean in a place like this? If size wasn’t a characteristic, what was time?

The washroom had a pulley system for water to come down over me. I took off the clothes I’d worn so many days, laid them over the chairs, and washed the forest from my skin and hair. There was a long, one-piece white garment hanging on the wall that I pulled over my head to wear.

It felt good to sit at a table and eat bread and fruit rather than those tough Gummartigs. I touched the colored glass pieces, moving them around. There were some cutting knives at the top of the table. And then, I realized how sleepy I was.

Lying down, I noticed the bag Grent asked me to carry, as if it was trying to tell me something I needed to know. And then I slept.

Next: A Question in Colored Glass

This is the fourth in a series of stories. Following are the previous installments starting with the first:

1. The Library
2. Listen, Move, Hide, Repeat
3. A Necessary State of Alarm