Morning glow shines in a plaza filled with a variety of buildings. The evanescent warmth radiates everywhere, and a young teenager walks across the sidewalk as he goes across to the store he loves dearly. The stone is a dilapidated peach color, the pillars holding up the roof that overhangs, it’s as if it really beckons to readers like him. Past the two green glass doors, he can see the buzz of yellow lights over hundreds of books on shelves and on tables. He walks in, a bell faintly rings and he looks all around him; the walls have a distinct pattern with yellow and yellow-ish green, the tiles are a dark brown wood, and despite the fact it’s the twenty-first century, it felt like he is walking into a time period long left behind in the annals of history.

  “Mason! It’s good to see you again. It feels like I haven’t seen you for a while, like… hmm. One month? You better be staying out of trouble.” She looks at him and chuckles.

  He sighs. “Yeah Macy, I’ve been busy with school and walking here makes me tired enough even after. It feels like it hasn’t been a month and time has just been flying lately.”

  She nods in understanding. “So, what now? You need educational stuff, history books, books on math?”

  “Honestly I need a break from everything. I’m looking to unwind a little, let loose.” Mason then turns to head to the different aisles. “I’m gonna look for something fun to read.”

  “Alright then! Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

  He turns to look around and sees all different genres, realistic fiction, science fiction, non-fiction, but above all else he has a desire to go for the tried and true, the real escape from reality that he wants; fantasy. Mason looks around at all the different covers of wizards, warlocks, tales of legendary cryptids and monsters, but none of the wood and ink on the shelves call to him. None of the books around him sate his curiosity.

  Mason stands there and he looks and he looks, but what he wants isn’t just a fantasy. He wants a fantasy that sounds good enough to be real, a fantasy that sounds true, a fantasy so down to Earth it makes him forget his place here at the book store. But no matter how much he seeks out with his eyes, nothing responds. He has the need to find something that is not ordinary in the slightest, and that would mean looking in areas he usually doesn’t. Behind all the typical shelves and sales, there is a dark corridor to the right, with a dark oak door that has a golden plating on it. He walks over there, to where the wood floors transition to carpet. The lights flicker fast in the corridor, and there is also a door on his left that says “Staff Only”. He pushes past the oak door.. In a way, he was expecting not to find books but rather find storage or something, but his instincts were keen; here was an entire different section of books, with long shelves built into the wall, candles lit on some tables as well as some paintings of all sorts of animals and specimens.

  There are even symmetrical spiral staircases that lead up to more shelves and more books; it’s hard to even think that this could possibly exist. How did he never find any of this? Why is he so far into what seems like an entirely different world? These questions exit his mind as they try to overpower his sense of reason, and frankly he doubts himself a lot more, feeling as though he ought to turn back at this point and disregard everything he has seen up until now. But he is unable to turn back. Every time he tries, his feet instead continue climbing the steps, and he ascends to the third floor. On the third floor, there is only a single book on top of a very high shelf. Normally, this would be some odd random occurrence, but his curiosity that merely burned before now rages like flames. The words infiltrate his mind and elucidate to him:

  I want that book.

  Staring intently, he could see the dust that had formed on top of the cover. It was a thick grey cloud that stirred, and a lot had just settled, forming a coat that obscured the gold trims of the exterior; however he could just barely see the corroded white-ish pages. Eager to satiate his inquisitiveness, he reaches for the book, but alas; he is not tall enough. Mason notices a ladder next to the steps, standing against the wall. Anyone might have given up at that point to obtain the book that was so high up, but the young boy was insistent on his new discovery, and so he took the ladder, which as he struggled to carry and heave, then propped it for his climbing. With a sigh of nervousness, he took one step carefully at a time, rising to the occasion, reaching with his hand wide out. He could finally grasp for the book, and attempted tots, just barely missing every time.

  Just a little more. I’m almost there.

  But every time he tried, it’s almost as if the shelf got taller, or he got shorter. His vision narrowed. He felt dizzy. Somehow, he didn’t feel like himself at all, and something was amiss. After so many tries, his fingertips came into contact with the tip of the novel, but just as he fumbled and threw the book off of the highest shelf, he had not realized that his mind’s absorption and focus had deterred him from realizing one problem: he was on the brink of falling over his feet were shy of falling over, and suddenly, he slipped. The world was upside down, the colors spinning, for what felt like the blink of an eye, and from one second to another, his back hit the ground after falling from several floors below. Mason took a blow that forced his soul upwards, and his head also hit the floor with his legs coming right along, hitting the ground with a sound that made his ears ring. The light was fading, and the regret washed in as he laid there, with nobody to help in a place so isolated as he acceded to hopelessness.

  . . .

  Poor thing… You took a bad fall, didn’t you? I’m sorry that happened, it must have been scary. It’s unusual to see a kid like you picking up such an old book… I never expected anyone like you to be so… zealous. You’re safe with me now, but you have to read the book! Please hurry. She is still out there, waiting for you to listen to her message. At least hear her out… no?

  . . .

  “Mason! Mason, can you hear me?”

  The fogginess of his vision cleared like a lighthouse over the sea, and suddenly out of shock he took the breath of air he was deprived of. The sensation of a sweat drop running aimlessly down his cheek along with his mother’s face, a pair of brown eyes staring into his, took him a couple of seconds to process while he still tried to process the voice in his head.

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  “Sorry, mom,” Mason replied. “It was just a bad dream.”

  Mason’s mom checked him all over, to ensure nothingcheck if anything had happened to him. “You were really struggling in your sleep; I thought you were having a bout of sleep paralysis there!” She looked at his bedroom’s door for a moment, glancing around with paranoia. “How did you get in?”

  “Oh, uh… dad let me in.” Honestly, I’m not sure why I’m back home. I could have sworn I was at the library. But I’ll figure this out later.

  “Alright, but let me know if you need anything, okay?”

  Mason nodded.

  Her mom stood up from his bed, pacing around the room a little, tinkering with the action figures on his wooden shelves. “Looks like you found a book you liked! Did you take a peek?”

  “No, actually. I haven’t even looked inside it-”

  “Mason!” She looked at him surprised, gawking even. “Did you take a book on a blind date? I’ve never seen you do that; you always spend hours looking at the first pages and then move on to the next. What’s special about this one?”

  He scratched his head. “I’m not sure. I guess today was just a red-letter day.”

  His mom put the action figure back where it was in a pose, setting it carefully. “Alright, I’ll let you go. They scheduled me for the night shift, again.”

  “Honestly… You shouldn’t be working so hard, mom.”

  She sighed. “Night shifts aren’t hard at all for me. I’m just worried that you know, you’ll be without me, doing who knows what!”

  “I’m fine! Stop worrying so much.” They looked at each other for a moment, then his mom hugged him.

  “I’ll be back soon, okay?” She closed the door carefully, peering through the small crevice. “Take care.”

  Mason was left to himself as he looked around his white painted room, still processing what had just happened. His back only felt a little funny after what was supposed to be an eight-foot fall at minimum, which just seemed too good to be true. He looked back at the book on top of his small, flatscreen TV with doubt in his mind. Was someone really talking to me? His mind focused as hard as it could, trying to picture a face, behind the slithery, but somehow whimsical and comforting voice. Somehow, it was unlike anything he had ever heard before, and he had trouble trying to think of anyone familiar. But he put his thoughts to rest as he laid his hands on the book slowly, picking it back up as he sat on his bed’s baby blue covers. With a snail’s pace, the pages uncovered with the base, a heavy yellow tint outlining their time. Within the pages was a letter that was separate from the book. Unusually so, glancing at the pages and the letter, Mason had realized that the lettering was written in a font that seemed almost medieval in a way. This couldn’t possibly be centuries old… could it?

  Mason had decided that his irrational fear over the secrecy of everything that had just happened was to be overcome, and with no hesitation left, he opened the letter. It read:

  Greetings, benevolent and curious reader. The choosing of this book like befell because thou hast the like query and dilemma I had years since, so I interest to bid; doth thou receive 'i fate? That thy actions and their decree are predetermined? Be prepared; neither lying on thy bed nor cursing fickle fate shall affect the future.

  Whe'r it is a pleasant or unpleasant forthcoming; I am not quite convinced. All that I warrant thou is this: I have endured this thorny path, this cunning crusade of mine with the one I love, and 'twere worth the time and the effort. It may have been o’er our blood and drops of sorrow, yet exhilaration of victory was as sweet as milk and honey. I could not be any more joyous with what haven join of our adventure and peril.

  Yet enough about mine enlightenment, I am hither to inform of upcoming utilizations. After all, thou were belike searching for this book precariously, so is it not mine office to reward thee? Now that thou are hither, I shan’t waste any more of thy precious essence. In either of existence are thee a Draken or a human, I shall say to thou many things that appall happiness. Realize that if thou course this supposed path that I entrust to decide on, thou shall break principles that hast been embedded into thy culture for centuries, millennia, eons, epochs, and e'en. Fear not, but be prepared to brow opposition and oppugnancies’, unlike aught thou hast aye encountered so as far hast traveled this soul of thine. Only the strongest wills shall prevail through such tyranny.

  I shall say to thou what hath befell ‘i mine life, as it could serve as a decent guide for the upcoming events upon this reading; that is if thou are content to course mine instructions. I didst not assay to run aroint from the knowledge this experience granted me, so I would not want what would befall if thou scanted mine advice ‘i thy current state. And yet, if thou find out about sooth and choose to shun it, ‘tis like that thy knowledge shall haply end up costing thy most life one day, and eventually, everyone shall see through thou like stoup with, and thou shall be slaughtered, haply e'en worse if those whom capture discover spite.

  This issue, of course, is not what I intend; alas, might as well with the issues that may or may not befall if thou ne’er take mine counsel to heart. There are many steads, yet many demerits if to course the trail of drops of sorrow that I hast walked. Be this said, I do now know if thou hast a romantic interest or if thou hast not seen the want to hast a lover, yet all I ponder is that this info may affect the current relationship with whoever reads this in the future.

  I was once an ordinary being, living an average life.

  Yet all's changed when I saw the one who made my heart leap. Mine whole life morphed into something else from the instant I realized what kind of gentle traits he had (I had been lying, would I quoth those dashing good looks didst not sway me either). I could had scanted it all, I could had thrown every single piece of emotion I aye had into a blazing pit of flames, and I could had easily forgotten about it.

  And yet… yet I refused.

  Something told me that this was the right imagining, and so I followed willingly. Little didst I figure that something so simple could turn into something so big over the timespan of a mere couple of months. For me, oh, it had all changed. I live a life of caution, where if anyone sees me, it could be the end of all's, as a ripple ‘i the water could cause a tsunami of trouble. Yet e’en with all of these dangers, the trade-off was fabulous.

  I live happily ‘i an issue of four, and I love mine children and beloved one dearly. I’ld be speaking thee ‘i person, if possible, yet if thou are wondering where I am located, I canst not disclose that information. Because if this book falls into hands o’ sin, I may be risking mine family’s safety. Should thee would, it may forbear reading at any time if thou decide that thou never crave to course through. And yet, if thou choose to fearfully course 'i mine footsteps, I shall offer as much exemplary assistance as possible through the art of storytelling so that focus be thine. May it be to crave comfort, because although thou hast a fairly long way to hie ere thou reach the end of thy extensive journey, take into consideration how enduring this shall take. The comfort thou hast, this book ‘i thy possession, is precious. Be sure to keep it safe at all times, and if thou feel thou are not worthy, return the book to its rightful place.

  Meetest of luck; thou shall most forsooth want it.

  After reading the letter, he was greatly confused. Mason was not sure who this was nor what the purpose of it entailed. But he knew there was more to this story. He knew that deep down, there was an important message being relayed, and that if he left it alone, he knew he would never forgive himself. A grandiose adventure awaited his arrival; and who was he to deny a grand adventure?