A Library’s Secrets

By Mattie Brown

It was just another quiet night for Sam, the night guard at the Alderbrook Public Library. This being only his fourth day on the job, he is starting to become familiar with the twitching broken screen of the security camera computer and the eerie silence of the empty library. The only noise being the tick of each second from the clock that hung high on the wall and the air conditioner humming in the background. Sam liked it like this, lonesome, quiet, only the weekly paper to keep him company until the end of his shift. 

Tonight was different though, after noticing it just turned midnight, he hears a rustling noise on the other side of the library, at first, he thinks it’s surely just his ears playing tricks on him. The staff and patrons left hours ago, and he wasn’t expecting visitors. The only one that’s supposed to be in that library was him. A few minutes later he hears a similar noise but dismisses it, deciding it’s most likely the wind and continues to work on the crossword in the puzzle section of his newspaper. The clock nears 12:20 and he hears murmurs from the tall dark shelves of the fiction section. 

This time there’s no denying it, there is someone there, he places his newspaper down on the table beside him and his coffee atop that, accidentally spilling it as he sets it down. He sighs as he rises from his chair and starts toward the fiction section with anticipation of what might be waiting for him. “It could just be them racoons that have been hanging outside the library lately, maybe they got in before I locked the doors” he muttered, attempting to reassure himself that there was no true danger. Little did he know what would be waiting for him. 

As he approaches the end of the first dusty row of the fiction section, Sam notices three open books on the floor. The first book had a green cover with a farmhouse and three people on the cover titled Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery. The second, a hardcover copy of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach. Finally, a copy of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi with a wooden puppet representing a boy pictured on the cover. After standing there, confused for a moment, Sam comes to the conclusion that the racoons he had thought of earlier must have knocked the books off the shelf. As he bends down to retrieving the books and putting them back in their rightful place, he hears the same murmuring he heard earlier this time louder. He freezes, this time he’s sure Sam is not alone. 

He grabs the shelf beside him for support as he rises back up attempting to stay quiet so as to not scare the intruders. Carefully stepping over the books and rounding the corner to where the noise is coming from, Sam peers around the bookshelf and discovers three dark figures standing before him. He raises the shaking hand that holds his flashlight to reveal their identities. He’s shocked at what he sees. 

Upon casting light on the strangers Sam is shocked to see three children. One, a tall girl with freckles and long, red, braided hair who turns and smiles excitedly at Sam, seeming eager to talk. Standing next to her is a young boy no older than 7 or 8 wearing a vest and hat that look like they were from the mid 1900’s. Finally, behind him is a boy wearing suspenders and a blue bow tie who seems curious about Sam. Not knowing how to react to this variety of characters standing in front of him he asks unsteadily, “w-who are you kids and what are you doing here?” 

The young girl steps forward and reaches out to shake his hand, “ I’m Anne Shirley of Green Gables, that’s Anne with an E,” she then introduces the boys “This is James Trotter and that boy behind him goes by Pinocchio, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance” she says as if this is all completely normal. She continues, “as for why we’re here, every so often when the clock strikes midnight, we can come out of our books and meet other characters and we talk about our stories but only until sunrise, then we all go back to our books to bring the words to life for our readers.”

Sam stood there shocked, processing everything that a literal book character had just told him. The boy called Pinocchio stepped forward asking if he wanted to join them on exploring other stories for the rest of the night and he did. When morning came and after all the characters returned to their books, Sam realized this world that he never knew existed until that very night could be explored so easily. That’s also the day Sam understood why people come to libraries, to read, to get away from their own stories and explore for a while, much like the characters did that night. 

Mattie Brown is a young writer, a Junior at Buckhannon-Upshur High School and an active member of the schools FBLA and Esports teams. She is also active in her community, volunteering at the Upshur County Library every week and a member of the local teen leaders 4-H club, she is always busy outside of school. Mattie aspires to someday graduate college with an Information Science degree and become a Library Director. She loves to spend her time baking, anything outdoors, spending quality time with family and playing video games.