The Library: Prompt #7

in The Ink Well3 years ago (edited)

library gif.gif
Pixabay

No matter where she went in the village, she had to pass the Library. Puenta tested this reality of village life many times. She mapped a circuitous route to school that would take an hour longer but would not go anywhere near the Library. It didn't matter. At some point on her journey the Library appeared. And yet, there was no way for her to enter the building.

The idea of the Library had consumed her thoughts and intruded her dreams in recent months. The day was approaching when she would be allowed in. She had received her invitation. All village citizens were granted this privilege in their youth. Some crossed the threshold when they were barely out of puberty. Some, when they entered university. Puenta was just sixteen.

One more week, and she would learn the secrets of the Library. She paused in front of the building and studied the entrance. What might be inside? The door seemed to grow under her gaze. She couldn't remember how it had looked yesterday, but she knew it was different. Even its position changed. She wasn't sure where it would be on the day of her appointment.

The Library did not have a front or a back. It didn't have sides. It was comprised of spokes. She once asked her geometry teacher about its puzzling shape.

"How many spokes does it have?" she asked.

"Try to think of a building without fixed boundaries, Puenta. Imagine a reality that is not contained. If you can conceive of such a place then you are comprehending the structure of the library. And if you have a name for that shape, please share it with me."

Puenta counted the spokes on the building. She marked a starting point on the sidewalk with chalk and went around. Each time she completed the survey the number of spokes altered.

She woke on the morning without prompting from her parents or a clock. She ate a full breakfast, calmly, and went alone to the Library.

The door was where she expected it to be and, for the first time in her experience, it was open. The most ordinary person greeted her. If she'd been asked to describe this Library Emissary, she wouldn't have been able to provide details such as gender, height or skin tone. She would have described a presence, an awareness.

"You are most welcome here, Puenta. We at the Library hope you take from your visit tools that will help you navigate the paths of life."

Puenta was speechless. It wasn't that she couldn't find words. It was that she saw no need to speak. Anything she said would have been superfluous. All she wanted was to go further into the Library. The appetite to discover compelled her to walk ahead of the Emissary.

She came upon a space. Entities floated about. Were they alive? Some of them glowed. Some were dark. Some were strings. A few seemed to be bursts of energy, which shifted as she stared.

"What...?"

She could not form the question. She felt as though she was on a wave, a stream of charged particles.

She turned around to see the Emissary, who had become like one of the entities: glowing, wavering, so there was no definite form. But there was a voice.

"Do you see anything you recognize?" Puenta was sure it was the Emissary who spoke because she saw no one else who could have.

Recognize? How could she recognize when she had never been here? She looked closely. Why, yes. She did sense an affinity for one glowing nebula.

She thought of her grandmother, who had died years before. Her grandmother had been a teacher, had guided Puenta and many other children. Grandmother had volunteered at a homeless shelter, and had perished from a bacterial infection she contracted from one of its residents.

"Grandma!"

"No," Emissary said. "Not your grandmother. She rests, peacefully. This nebula is your grandmother's dreams. All the dreams she had from childhood. Her dreams as she aged. As she evolved. These dreams, all dreams, are in this Library. People who had glorious dreams, who followed these dreams and fulfilled them have left that energy for all of us. The Library is a repository for ambition, courage and hope. When a person comes of age, as you are now Puenta, they may browse through the archives and sample the dreams of others."

Puenta considered the strings and dark entities.

"But what of these?"

"Some, the dark, represent dreams smothered, early. The strings were dreams conceived, begun and abandoned. Do you see the tendrils coming from your grandmother's dreams? Those are dreams she fostered in others, some of them still being realized as we speak. One day, when their lives are complete, those Dreamers may be nebulae, or strings. There is no way to predict an entity's path."

"What about those small lights, quietly glowing near the floor?"

"Ah, those. Yes, Dreamers who borrowed from the Library. They did not form their own destinies, but chose wisely from the selection here. That is allowed. It is possible to borrow a worthy dream and acquit yourself well of that ambition. But these borrowed dreams can never be nebulae. They will never have the full potential of the inspired, self-motivated, and constantly evolving ambition."

Puenta looked confused and discouraged.

"Don't worry, Puenta. Your grandmother spent weeks, on and off, perusing the archive. She was about your age when she did this. In the end, she saw nothing she wanted to borrow, but used what she discovered to form her own ambition. It wasn't grand in the beginning. It was a bright kernel. Once she decided on it, she nourished it, allowed it to blossom. The dream conformed to the contours of her life, and her life conformed to the spirit of her dream. When she died helping the homeless, she was realizing the final incarnation of that dream. Your grandmother's nebula is one of the brightest the library offers."

Puenta impulsively reached for her grandmother's nebula. There was no sensation of having touched something. But something touched her. Very clearly she could see her grandmother's lawn, and rescue animals cavorting.

A dream realized.

Puenta was filled with awe at the possibilities awaiting her. She cast her eyes about the Library. The glow of the nebulae was like an embrace. She walked back onto the street with a sense of optimism, hope and wonder.

In this oddly configured building, the Library, lay the key to her future.

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The GIF was made from a Pixabay photo by EdiNugraha.

The story was written in response to Prompt #6, The Library. The idea came to me, and I had to write it :)

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A beautiful concept, artfully expressed @agmoore

"No," Emissary said. "Not your grandmother. She rests, peacefully. This nebula is your grandmother's dreams. All the dreams she had from childhood. Her dreams as she aged. As she evolved. These dreams, all dreams, are in this Library.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this short story succeeded in reaching for something sublime and effusive, the library of dreams... a vision of an afterlife? A repository of inspiration?

There were parts in this story that made this gruff Scouser blink back a few tears. Very well done. I personally think that the ultimate goal of good fiction (or poetry) is to elicit emotional response like this, obviously within some type of recognizable structure/plot, which this story had. Also loved the strength of the narrators voice, I heard a voice in my head, like a story read out by someone.

Thanks for sharing 📖 🙂

Hi @raj808,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the story. You have always encouraged me and that played a role in my posting here. Sometimes we writers struggle to come up with ideas and sometimes the ideas just come to us. This one came to me when I started to think about a library.

Thank you for telling me it moved you. That's the most a writer can hope to achieve. For me, writing is about affecting the reader, not just passing a few entertaining moments. I think the idea was my voice, speaking through me :)

Thank you again for your encouraging comment, now and always. I'm more likely to write a story again with that in my head.

Amazing writing! It flows wonderfully and makes you want to keep on reading. Excellent story @agmoore!

Thank you @litguru! I appreciate that very much. Sometimes I have to struggle to make an idea take shape (I don't have the patience for that anymore!). This idea was just there and so I wrote it as it came to me. Interesting to see the fluency comes through.

Looking forward to reading more of your material.

Wow!! What a unique story. It takes some imagination to come up with that idea. Wonderful job.

Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate the comment.

I love this story, @agmoore. It brings a world to life, where bright possibilities and interesting dreams can be sampled. What a great coming-of-age story, as Puenta begins her journey into adulthood!

Thank you very much for those kind words, @jayna . The Ink Well environment is contagious. So many wonderful stories. And I do love libraries. I used to hire a babysitter when my kids were young just so I could go to the library :)

This story contains a great analogy to the true values of the accumulated knowledge. But additionally, this beautiful story tells how important it is to gain experience and to follow your own dreams.

I like your clean, empathic and at the same time exciting writing style. The story is also very nicely told. It was fun to read.
Above all, the concept of your story is very creative.

Thank you my friend for stopping by my post. I love libraries...not as much as dogs, but a lot :) Libraries and books--they open universes for people, especially children.

My language is what my writing workshop leader used to call 'plain language'. I"m a plain gal :) Thank you for appreciating my simple style. Most of all, thank you for allowing me to share my story with you.

See you over at LMAC, I hope. Working hard on a GIF that is stubbornly resisting me!

This story is well organized. It expresses what the library represents as a place to create your dreams. And the way it expresses that they have different dimensions or shapes is also great. Incomplete dreams, borrowed dreams, and dreams of your own you thought of it all. A magical library that guides you to follow your destiny I like it.

I hope Puenta creates something wonderful.

Thank you very much for reading my story and commenting, @ricardo993. I do try to organize my stories logically. Geometry was maybe my best subject in school many years ago. When I write I think of essays and stories like that--logical. So that's a great compliment you've given me :)

I also hope Puenta creates something wonderful. I look forward to reading more of your very creative stories!

Beautiful realistic story.

Thank you very much for that lovely comment!

A beautiful and thought-provoking story. I had to read it again to draw out the morals I wanted. I particularly liked this statement - the Library is a repository for ambition, courage and hope.

All books written contain a piece of the author's personality, emotion and heart. Puenta identified her grandmother's nebula easily because the light could not be hidden. I like that the grandmother is a courageous person with a heart set on helping people. That's the reason her nebula shone brightly.

The library is certainly a place we can find the key to our future, if we search. Glad Puenta found hers. ☺️🍀

Thank you very much, @kemmyb. As soon as I saw the prompt I had this idea. When I was a child I had no access to books outside of school until I was about 11. Then I moved and discovered the public library. I think there must be children all over the world who find libraries to be a doorway to ideas, and dreams. I really love the library :)

You lovely comment is much appreciated.

This story encapsulates a great deal about how I feel about reading in general, and thus, about libraries, especially in my childhood ... but this opened a door to an entirely new civilization and its ideas about what a library, extended, can be, and our journey is led by a young woman named "possible" (my childhood Spanish lessons came in handy here)! Well done -- it is a pleasure to read you at last!

Thank you very much for reading. I guess this is my debut in the Ink Well community. As you explain in your comment, libraries have meant a lot to me in my life. The temptation to write about what I felt was strong. I appreciate your kind assessment of my story.

You're welcome -- welcome to the fun on the WRITE-HAND side!

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