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Post by Miss|Intimidator on May 24, 2014 11:14:34 GMT -5
Kelsey
It was my first time to the city. I was broke, and I was alone. My parents had hugged me and cried, but they knew as well as I did, it was time that I move out and get a job. It was the "normal" thing to do. As if I was normal.
I came to the shining city with brilliant plans and hopes and dreams, but I had no idea how to take them on. So I came to the library. I pushed the swinging door open, smoothed my hair and dress, and stepped in. The tall walls were lined with books. Dark leather bindings, and hard, cloth-covered covers. I couldn't help the wonderous smile that crept across my face. I loved books. I inched across the room to the fiction section. I scanned the books, running my fingers over their rough surfaces. Dust fell slowly and silently to the ground as I pulled a particular favorite of mine, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, off the shelf and fanned through the pages, taking a deep breath of the sweet, musty smell. "Mmmm," I hummed quietly. I took it over to a plushy chair and sat down. Starting on page one, I put on my glasses and settled in to read it again.
The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten... I smiled to myself. I remembered the first time I'd read it. I was nearly 12 years old, and I remembered thinking it was about one of us. Sea monsters. My mouth twisted. No, not monsters. Creatures. Yes, that was a better word. Sea creatures. Some people might have thought us monsters. I took a deep breath, and shook my head. This was not a good thought path. Back to the book.
Then burst forth the interminable controversy between the credulous and the incredulous in the societies of savants and scientific journals. "The question of the monster" inflamed all minds. Editors of scientific journals, quarreling with believers in the supernatural, spilled seas of ink during this memorable campaign, some even drawing blood; for, from the sea serpent, they came to direct personalities... I sighed. Humans could be so funny. And so cruel. See something new? Don't study it. Hunt it. Kill it. Even if you do commit genocide, kill the thing because it poses a threat. I sighed again, and got back to my book.
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Post by Charlie on May 25, 2014 19:25:22 GMT -5
She was beautiful. But her expression seemed troubled. She sighed a few times, and it took Charlotte's attention. Despite her lack of visit to Xanadu, Charlie knew that the girl sitting across her must be a newcomer, because her face was not familiar at all. Everyone knows when someone is new, it just happens. It was meant to be.
Not knowing what to say, Charlie kept her lips shut tight. What could she say anyway? Hi? No, no, no, no, no. She shook her head, thought to herself, a library is not a place to have conversations with strangers, it is a place to read and increase your knowledge. Putting her book up to hide her face, she groaned to herself, as quietly as she could, and blew the strands of hair that stuck out from its place away from her vision.
Now she was beginning to debate with herself whether she should speak to the girl or not, ask if something was wrong because judging from her face expression, it looked that way, or maybe Charlie should just keep quiet, watch the newcomer from a distance while her thoughts take over her mind, then concentrate on the book of mythological creatures she was reading. She thought the latter option was better than the first. Being the conversation starter, she didn't like the sound of it. She was awkward and didn't know what to say. Definitely not the best option to take.
Knowing that she was bad at being the first person to speak and start the conversation, she sighed. Maybe she really should just keep quiet. Giving up to speak, she finally continued reading her book, though unfortunately, there were quite a few interruptions between each sentence she read to herself.
. . . an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps and marine wetlands.
— Charlie, are you sure about this? — Sirenians, including manatees and dugongs, possess major aquatic adaptations: arms used for steering, a paddle used for propulsion, and remnants of hind limbs (legs) in the form of two small bones floating deep in the muscle. — Are you really not going to talk to her? You never know, maybe she's a nice person and would gladly be your friend. So how about it? — They look ponderous and clumsy but are actually fusiform, hydrodynamic and highly muscular, and mariners before the mid-nineteenth century referred to them as mermaids.
— Hey, are you really ——
Okay. She had enough of her thoughts bothering her, nagging at her. It was as if it had it's own mind. Creepy but that was how it was. She tried, but she couldn't put her full concentration in reading her book. Not talking wasn't very helpful. Her thoughts, her curiosity about the newcomer was not going to leave her alone, until she actually talks to her. Charlie grunted again, sighed. Anything. Just come up with anything. When the conversation reaches it's end, and there is nothing else to talk about, yes, nothing, that is when her thoughts would stop bothering her and she can read peacefully and her mind wouldn't explode from thinking too many thoughts all at once.
She leaned in. There weren't many people in the library at the moment, which meant she had the advantage to speak without anyone hushing her. Sliding her book that hid her face to one side, she called for the girl, "Psst."
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