Escape From the Library

The very next day, when it was dark and quiet and we were meant to be sleeping in our natural and beautiful yet fabricated cabins, without a word exchanged, we met in the courtyard and decided on a path to follow. Anches chose it, so I suspect it was one he knew well already and perhaps there was a place he remembered that he thought might lead somewhere promising.

We didn’t dare speak. Not that we knew we’d be discovered or heard if we did. Something within told us that silence was necessary if this was going to succeed.

We could create stained glass windows of our homes and escape through them, but some intuition made us both feel this was the wrong way. We wanted to get out on our own terms, not those set by the Library. 

Would it be possible to open the heavy stone door I walked through at the entrance when I first arrived? It seemed too exposed in the grand hall to go that way without being noticed. There had to be a back door somewhere. 

The green plants and the dirt of the central gardens passed away and we were in a gray stone passageway. It was not long before we came to a very familiar meeting of the paths. In a unison of thought, we chose the first path to our left. It was narrow and continued tapering. There were no doors or rooms and the ceiling dropped lower and lower until Anches had to bend so he wasn’t scraping his head. When our eyes met, it was clear that we both felt claustrophobic in the confined space and it was becoming uncomfortable. Would the passage lead somewhere or continue to go on and on? How long had we walked? Would it be possible in such a place to keep walking and walking without end? If Guardian could see everything we did, perhaps even know our every thought, then this would be the fitting punishment for our disobedience: a path that never ended, escape eternally just out of reach.

And then the hallway appeared to lead to a place with a lamplike glow. Was it a lighted room or an exit point to the outside? Could it be this easy?

We walked and walked and walked and yet it seemed we were never closer to that lighted room. At some point, I put my hand out to indicate that I needed a rest. We sat in the narrow tunnel and I knew I was going to fall asleep. Anches wouldn’t let me. Some intuition must have warned him that sleep was dangerous and that was a good thing because we realized later that we were probably suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning in the enclosed space. Anches pulled me to my feet and, a bit like dragging a child’s doll, he brought me back to my cabin and laid me on the bed. I don’t remember it now, but he did, and he went to his own bed and we slept until morning breakfast. 

We had no idea how long we walked in search of a way out. Did we miss a day or more? Did Guardian notice we were gone? 

“I trust you rested well. Today, I have a task for you. There is a garden here that needs tending, some weeding and care, and you can select your food for lunch.”

It was appropriate to follow a being who looked like a beanstalk on Earth, or no, no, more like a bamboo stalk, into a garden. 

There was no indication that Guardian was aware of our activities or that anything was amiss. We worked in the garden. I selected a colorful array of root vegetables for my lunch, none of which exist on the world where I had spent a lifetime. 

Lying in bed that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the light at the end of the hall. Was that a way out? Part of me wished Anches had just drug me there so that we would know one way or the other. Another part of me was glad that he was looking out for me. 

That night, we met in the darkness and followed the dirt trail once again to the confluence of paths and chose the second left this time. 

Suddenly, there was a flash of color. A Welchefarbe! What was a Welchefarbe doing inside here? Anches and I exchanged a quick glance. It was moving fast, so we couldn’t hesitate. We started running to follow.

What was it about a Welchefarbe that makes us trust it immediately? I didn’t know, but I wasn’t the only one willing to follow one anywhere.

I suppose that some intuition told us that the Welchefarbe is not an indoor beast. If we kept up, it was likely to lead us directly outside.

On and on we went. Not galloping, not even running, but we had to jog a bit to keep up with its swift walk. 

We were in a broad hallway with many doors on both sides. It was familiar. Could we be near where I stayed when I first arrived? As we walked and walked, I realized that I had yet to reach an end to any hallway or path in the Library. What if none of them had an end? And why were we looking for an end as if certain an exit in such a place at the Library would be at an end of something? Perhaps there was another way to find an exit, but I didn’t know what it was. 

And then, the Welchefarbe stopped in front of a door, looking at it expectantly like a dog would on returning home not that anyone in this world would know what a dog was. I stepped to the door and turned the handle. It opened easily.

The person seated at a light table jumped, startled from deep concentration. Our eyes met. It was my brother.

Next: Pintor’s World

This is the ninth part 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
4. Anches
5. A Question in Colored Glass
6. How a Lifetime Friendship Began
7. In the World I Created
8. To Make Things Right Again