Desperate to impress them

Image Source

I circled the old house once as I parked my car at the curb. The house definitely looked like it was in a historic district. I always made sure that when I changed my image, I looked like someone who belonged in whichever time I was currently mimicking.

I grabbed my pocket-size notebook, and made a few notes. I wanted to glance at the house before making any decisions.

My mission today was to change the reading habits of a young woman. It was part of my separate mission to bring back the classic novels.

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the car. I closed the door. I had to admit this mission was much easier than I anticipated. I just had to sit comfortably in the library, skimming books, reading journals, and now I was about to meet the target of my mission. With a little luck, the mission would be completed with just one more visit to the house.

My best friend, Dan, and I sat on the patio of his house, drinking old fashioned drinks. The library was across from his house, just a five-minute walk from me.

“The library is huge,” I said. “I need to study the history of the area, get background information on the family, too.”

Dan looked at me in surprise. “You’re talking about the library.”

I nodded. “They have a huge collection of books and journals,” I nodded. “The place is awesome.”

Dan shook his head, laughing. “I don’t know why you’re so into reading, especially old fashioned books,” he said. “It’s not like you need to read much.”

I shrugged. “I have a photographic memory. I can glance at a book once and remember everything in it, almost like I wrote the book myself.”

Dan stared at me in awe, not the first time I saw it.

“And you come up with inventions,” he said. “Do you want to build me one of those book scanners?”

I shook my head. “No, that’s a separate mission. I just have one to bring back the classics,” I said.

He shook his head. “Who is going to read the classics when modern books have pictures and illustrations. That’s so lame.”

I sighed. “I don’t see that as a problem. The classics are classics for a reason. The novels are timeless and classic because they are vividly written and people can still remember the book by just reading it. It’s not just like everyone can just look around and find it on the shelves.”

Dan shook his head. “We can go to torrent sites where we can download books,” he said. “Those are the classics.”

I sighed. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I want people to read classics. I wish I could share some of these classic books with you.”

“So, you can read them when you are in the past?” he asked.

“Yes. I can read some of the classics and share them with people,” I said. “They can read it, too.”

Dan stared at me again.

“I think you should try to talk to the woman,” he said. “I can come in with you and introduce myself, if you need to, or you can go back to the house where you will have time to read. The library is always open as long as there girls are working there.”

“What would stop me from bringing them in?” I asked.

“You could be banned for trespassing, causing trouble,” Dan said. “This is a small town. They can always find you in a few minutes.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I should just go back to the house, before we get there.”

He nodded. “Then I’ll go in with you, since I’m getting my book back.”

I nodded. “Then we’ll be back,” I said.

I hopped back in my car and started the move. I drove past all the houses. They were all nicely kept, the lawns were perfectly maintained, and everything looked clean. There were no squatters in the street, nor people sitting on lawn chairs wearing flip flops. It was like my town was a perfect little place.

After a few minutes, I drove into the driveway of the old house in the historic district. I turned off the engine, hoped I didn’t get towed away, and went up to the door.