"What are you doing there, sitting on the floor?"






I looked at the books that surrounded me like mini mountain ranges and constellations upon the library floor; hardbacks, paperbacks, some large and fat, some small and thin, some with spines that glistened invitingly with gilt font. "I'm looking for something special!" I said without looking up still studying the authors, titles, musing on what lay within their covers, what journey awaited. "I'm tired of detectives, murder and mayhem." I continued almost to myself.
"So, then," said the small voice, "what is it you are searching for?"
"Adventure. Chivalry. Romance. I want to leave this world behind and venture into the impossible; pack a bag and wander in the realms of dreams and Faerie." I chuckled thinking I was stepping back into childhood. "I'd like to catch a falling star! Guess I'm searching for a little piece of magic."
"Ah! Magic is it? That's an easy one!"
"Close your eyes!"
I closed my eyes.
"Feel among the books on the floor!"
I reached out, my hand touching this book and then that, finally, "There you go!"
I opened my eyes, picked up the book, read the title. "Oh!"
I turned to thank my helper, but there was no-one there. I looked around surprised to find myself completely alone. It was then that I noticed the small elfin figure sitting on the bookshelf above me, a mischeavous smile on its stone face. Was it my imagination or did I see a glint, a sparkle, in its eye, a wink? Silly! I turned back to the book in my hand, "Stardust" and read the cover, "Tristran vows to retrieve the fallen star and deliver it to his beloved...a world that is dangerous, strange beyond imagining..."
I opened the book, hefted my travelling bag and stepped into an adventure.