"Hey," I said.
✧˖°.✧˖˚▹ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ༺༄ؘ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 10 ༄ؘ༻ₓ˚ .୧ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୭˚▹ₓ˚.✧˖°.✧
"𝘏𝘦𝘺," I heard someone say in a mocking voice. A boy about my age stuck his head out from behind a shelf. He looked as if he were the offspring of an egg and a log, with a big, thick neck and round, bulbous head. He had one of the worst hairstyles you could have, a bowl cut, and his hair was greasy, to make his appearance look worse. He had a slingshot tucked into his pocket and a nasty look on his face.
"You almost hit me," I informed him.
"I'm trying to get better," he smirked, stepping closer. He tried to tower over me, but his height wouldn't allow that. "I can't be expected to hit my target every time."
"That's your idea of fun?" I asked. I was quite nervous since these types of situations barely happen to me, so my armpits decided to soak themselves in sweat. "Slinging rocks at people in the library?"
"Birds are preferred," he said, "but there aren't many birds around here anymore."
"I don't know why they'd want to stay frolicking with someone like you around."
"Hold still," the boy replied, taking out his slingshot, "lemme see if I can hit that idiotic mouth of yours from across the room. You obviously don't know what to do it with, because who do you think you're talking to like that?"
I noticed Naceir marching up to us. "𝘉𝘰𝘣𝘰," he said, a word that sounded much scarier in his deep voice. "Leave this library, now."
Bobo glared at the librarian. "I'm allowed in here, this is a public place."
"And 𝘺𝘰𝘶 are a public annoyance," Naceir shot back as he took Bobo's arm and practically dragged him towards the door. "Out."
"I'll be back for you," Bobo called out to me nastily. He left without further insult as Naceir came to inspect the wall.
"I am so sorry about that," he said to me while frowning at a small dent and rubbing it with his finger. "Bobo Tolman is such a nuisance. Such a disappointment. Such an annoyance. Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yup," I replied. "Can I still check out books if I don't live in town?"
"Unfortunately not," Naceir answered. "But you can still come to the library anytime you want. We don't usually get very many people that are interested in theater."
I did not bother to remind him that the theater section was not the section I was interested in. "Thank you," I said. "I suppose I should get going."
"Of course," Naceir said, "if you have a library card, you can send book requests from this library to the one that you live close to."
"You mean my library in the city can send books here that I can check out?"
"No," the librarian replied, "but you could fill out the paperwork here, and the book would be waiting for you in the city."
"I don't know when I'll be back in the city," I told him. The city and the people who I liked best in it seemed farther away than they actually were.
Naceir reached into a pocket of his jacket and took out a blank card. "You see, how it works is that you write down your name and the title of the book, then the person working or the research desk sees what book you're requesting."
I thought quickly. "So the person at the research desk sees the title of the book I want?"
"Precisely."
"Or their apprentice?"
"I guess so," Naceir replied. "Have you changed your mind?"
"Yes," I answered. "I'd like to request a book from the Four Branches."
"The Four Branches?" Naceir repeated, taking a pencil from his ear. "Isn't that near where some people're building that new statue?"
"Not certain," I said, totally certain.
"And what is your name?"
"Ravon Corlorown."
"How do you spell that?"
"R - A - V - O - N," I spelled out, "C - O - R - L - O - R - O - W - N."
He wrote my name down in careful block letters and then paused with his pencil in the air. "And the author of the book you're looking for?"
I paused for a moment, not knowing what to say. Then, I finally came up with a response. "I am actually the creator of the very book," I said.
"Oh wow? I didn't know you make books!"
"Yeah, sometimes," I replied.
"Interesting," he muttered. He stared at me for a moment, wrote it down, and stared at me once more. "Book title," he demanded. It was a perfectly reasonable demand, and I hoped that my reply would be just as perfectly reasonable.
"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"So... the book you want is 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 by Ravon Corlorown?"
"Correct."
"Oh...'kay," Naceir muttered before slowly writing it down.
✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻✧༺♥✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻
I walked back to Emerald Inn feeling much lighter than I had all day. The library had been restorative, a word here that describes activities that clears the brain and makes the heart happy. An orange-flavored soda is restorative, as is managing to open a locked door. Hopefully, I thought, this associate of mine would see this request that was sent to her and save some time.
It was trouble that was waiting for me at Emerald Inn, and as one could spot half a block away, there was a car parked out front with a red light on top. It looked somewhat like a police car, but when I got closer, I saw that it was a run-down station wagon with a flashlight taped onto its roof. There were also two adults in uniforms standing on the steps of Emerald Inn, where Shaniya was sitting. She had to look up to speak to them and her eyes look serious and worried behind her long hair.
"Corlorown," Shaniya said as I reached our hotel, "these are the Officers Zheng."
The two officers turned to look at me and I looked back to find myself facing a man and woman who looked so much alike that I thought they were twins at first. They both had pear-shaped bodies with short, thick legs and grumpy-looking arms, and it looked like they had both tried on heads that were too small for them and were about to ask the head clerk for a larger size.
"My name is Ravon Corlorown," I stated.
"My wife and I have questions for you," said the first Officer Zheng instead of "Hello," or "Nice to meet you, my name is..."
"Jing," the other Officer Zheng said sharply. "You're not supposed to call me your wife on official business."
The first officer sighed. "Mimi, you're my wife whether we're on duty or not."
"Don't remind me," his wife replied, "I'm having a bad enough day already. It was your turn to take out the trash, Jing, but as usual, you forgot."
"Mimi, stop annoying me."
"I'm not annoying you."
"Yes, you are."
"Jing, softly reminding you of something is not annoying you."
"That was soft? I've seen a gang of lions act as soft as that."
"When have you ever seen a gang of lions?"
"Well, not actual lions, but I've visited your sister's place, and her kids-"
"Why were you at my sister's house? What were you both doing?"
"Nothing you're thinking of. I just wanted to... eh..."
"JING."
"I didn't do anything! I swear on-"
I can't imagine that there is anyone reading this who needs to be told that when two married adults argue, it can last for hours, if not for decades, and the only way to stop them from bickering at each other is to interrupt them.
"Your questions again?"
"We'll ask the questions around here," Mimi Zheng snapped. "We're the law in Murthorn Marine. We're the ones who catch criminals and put them on the train back to the city to be locked up. From the border of town to the drained sea to the Forest of Seaweed, we know every single thing that happens in this town. Because of this, when strangers arrive, we feel the need to introduce ourselves and tell them what goes around here."
"We're crazy about ink," Shaniya stated.
Mimi Zheng stared at her. "You told Mr. Wahalian that you were crazy about lighthouses."
"We're crazy about everything," Shaniya said with a desperate smile.
"What my chaperone is trying to say," I said, "is that even though we're new here, we hope to take in the amazing sights of this town. I was just admiring your police station, for instance."
"I hung that sign up myself," Jing Zheng boasted.
"It's true," Mimi Zheng added, "but what we're here to say is that one sight we hope you'll 𝘯𝘰𝘵 get to find amazing is the inside of our jail cell. We noticed that right as you both came into the town, there was a crime that was committed. It's a small crime, but it's a crime nevertheless."
"What crime?" I asked.
"A streetlight was vandalized," Jing Zheng replied. "Right around the corner from the library, someone slung a small rock and shattered the bulb. It's still too early to jump to conclusions, however, where were you in the last hour, Ravon?"
"The library," I answered.
"Is there anyone who can verify this?"
"Naceir Norway, the sub-librarian."
"That pauper," Mimi Zheng scoffed. "I don't trust people who don't spend time on their appearance. How can one present themselves as a librarian when their outfit isn't even making sense?"
"I'd say he spent lots of time," I stated. "That haircut looks like it took hours. He and I were also rudely interrupted by a young man with a slingshot, and Naceir said that his name was Bobo."
The Officers Zheng looked sternly at me, their mouths locked in identical snarls. "Our son, Bobocar," Mimi Zheng said, "is a genius and a gentleman. He even begged to come with us just so he could welcome you."
She gestured to the station wagon, which I glanced at to see someone that had an onion-shaped head with a sneering expression. When the eyes of the adults were upon him, he found an enormous smile and plastered that on his nasty expression instead. "Nice to meet you, Ravon," Bobo greeted me in a false, cheerful voice. "I just LOVE meeting people my own age! I do hope that we become to bestest of friends!"