As Lily climbed the stairs to reach the 2nd floor, she felt that each one of her step was heavy, as if gravity was pulling her down more and more. So much it seemed she would never make it to the last step. Still she persisted. She would definitely succeed. Finally, she used what seemed to be a surhuman strenght in order to step on that 2nd floor.
"I knew I could do it!" Sweat beads had formed on her forehead. Her cheeks were rosy due to the effort. She was the living picture of healthy girl and that's how the library's guardian saw her. Well hidden, discretely observing Lily, the library's guardian had noticed her as soon as she had entered the library. Normally, intruders would have been ruthlessly rejected, leaving no trace of their body and soul, but for some reason, Lily had managed to go through the gate. Thus the library's guardian was quite intrigued by her.
Without realizing how she had just avoided a catastrophic fate, Lily started laughing, openly with joy. It had been a very long time she did not feel such a happy feeling. She stopped in front of the first bookshelf and fell a pull as if a string was attached to her hand and pulling towards something. Passing her hand in front of the first row of books, the pull didn't change. While passing her hand in front of the 2nd row of books, a piece of paper stuck out and flew right into the palm of her hand. Lily was extremely surprised.
"What is this piece of paper for?" At first, all Lily could see was a recurring pattern. The same, she once saw on the back of her hand. Then, she was able to see another pattern laid out over the first pattern. Flipping the page from one side and the other, that's all that was shown. Lily couldn't figure out what the laid out pattern out was. In some ways it looked like random dots and splashes of ink. In some other ways, it could look like art. In all ways, it was very puzzling. Not knowing what to do it with it, she folded it and hided it in her secret pocket near her chest. She didn't know why but intuitively felt it would become really important to her later.
"I'll figure out somehow later. I should probably head back to my room"
Because she had eaten a very copious and scrumptious lunch, Lily was not feeling hungry. She realized she actually felt very drained. All she wanted now was to change in her night gown and rest again on her bed. Stepping down the stairs being a much easier feat to accomplish than climbing them up, Lily easily exited the 2nd floor and the library under the keen of the library's guardian.
She headed directly to the last room which, fortunately, was her bedroom. In the middle of the room, a wooden bathub had been filled with steaming water. A chair had been positionned next on which undergarments and night clothing were laid out. Lily was quite surprised. Who had been so toughtful as to prepare her bath and a change of clothing?
Quickly undressing, Lily slided in the hot water and rested a bit. She could feel all her sore muscles slowly untensed due to the heat.
"This must be what paradise feel like!" Lily sighed.