At the Library

This piece was created by Yeah Write! students in a round-robin writing exercise. Enjoy!

“Psst,” my sister whispered. “What happened to her?”

She started to point her finger at the school librarian, Ms. Thomson.

I smacked her hand down quickly. “Don’t point! You don’t need to know. You’ll find out later this year.”

I felt her sigh, her breath fogging the window as she leaned away from me.

“Fine.”

I sighed as well, scanning the library. It was pretty late, but since today was the day before final exams, the school had decided to keep the library open so students could study. Not like anyone in here was “studying.”

Suddenly the light of a flickering lamp sitting next to me caught on something shining on the floor. I bent to pick it up. But as soon as I blocked the light, it disappeared.

“Must have been my imagination,” I mutter under my breath, annoyed at looking like an idiot, bending over and looking for nothing. At least there weren’t many people here.

Moving to sit down, I notice the shining thing has returned again, but I will myself to ignore it—which proved difficult as it grew three times its original size. What was that?

My curiosity got the best of me and I leaned down to pick it up.

Once again, when I blocked the light, it disappeared. I sat back up, and after a few minutes, I saw it again. This time I got as close as I could without blocking the light. I stared and stared but did not know what it was. I was so confused and felt like a fool. Nonetheless, I kept looking finally, I found it.

My hand touched something cool and light. When I tried to pick it up, I found that it was stuck to the floor.

“What can this be?” I wondered, running a finger over the small object.

It felt like a button. I wondered what would happen if I pushed it.

“Do I dare?” I asked myself.

I looked around. The few people left in the library were otherwise engaged, looking at computers or flirting with one another in the stacks. Even the librarian was preoccupied.

I took a deep breath and gently pushed the button.

Nothing happened. I felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. What had I been expecting, a marching band?

A moment later, the lights in the library went out and in the pitch darkness, the roof retracted to reveal a spaceship….

(Photo by Hunter Newton on Unsplash )