The Perfect Book
By: Sydney Kwan
“What a
twist!” yelled Samantha as she read the book ‘Number the Stars’.
“Keep it
down up there!” called her mom who was cooking what smelled like rotting eggs.
But Samantha couldn’t help it, she just loved reading! Her shelves were
overflowing with books and every day she would purchase a new one. Today she
wanted to buy the most perfect book ever. She ran down the stairs rapidly.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to
come with you?” said her mom who was still mixing her soup monstrosity.
“It’s okay,
I can go by myself.”
Samantha
was in front of Chapters, one of her favourite bookstores. Just as she opened
the door, she saw a new store across the street with books in the windows.
“I don’t remember that being
there.” said Samantha. She crossed the street and dusted off an old sign that
read: “Mr. Linden’s Library. Lots of new books.” Immediately, Samantha opened
the door and stopped in shock.
The library was gigantic! The
shelves were neatly lined with books. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, making
it look like a ballroom. The top and bottom level of the library were filled with
chairs and lamps for people to sit and read. An older man that had white hair
and circular glasses greeted her at the front desk.
“Hello there! Welcome to my
library! My name is Mr. Linden.” said the man cheerfully.
“I’m Samantha Sapphire. So this
is your library?” she asked.
“Yes, it is. And all books can
be taken out by people I know. I just met you, so pick a book!”
“Seriously?”
Mr. Linden nodded.
“Sweet!” Samantha sounded
excited.
“But do know this, Miss
Sapphire. Some of the books here do terrible things. If you fall asleep while
reading an enchanted book, the words in the book become true.”
Samantha looked at the old
geezer like he was crazy.
“O-Kay....” she slowly said and
started to walk away from the desk while looking at all of the books, “This is
going to take awhile.”
She searched through the
fantasy book section and found nothing interesting. She glanced through the
drama books. “I don’t want to cry” thought Samantha as she moved on to another
shelf.
After ten minutes of browsing,
she finally saw it. Over in the adventure aisle on the second floor, a book
bound in leather and sparkling with gold trim caught her eye. Samantha grabbed
the spine and pulled it off the shelf. The title on the cover was written
beautifully in an old cursive style, “The Girl in the Woods.”
“This book is perfect!”
Samantha yelled, holding the book up like a trophy.
An older woman sitting at a
nearby table jerked her head up, “SSSSHHHHHH!!!”
“Sorry,” said Samantha
sheepishly as she made her way to the front desk.
“This one please!” she handed
the book to Mr. Linden proudly.
“Okay. Take it.” Mr. Linden
smiled as he pushed the book back to her.
“You don’t need to scan it?”
“Nope.” said the old librarian
in a carefree manner.
“I love this library! Thank you
sir! Goodbye!” hollered Samantha as she walked out the door.
“Be careful!” warned Mr.
Linden. His face had ever so slightly shifted from happy and cheerful to
worried and concerned.
When Samantha arrived home, she
dashed to the couch and started reading.
“What book did you get?” asked
her mom who was pouring that same smelly soup from earlier in the day into a
bowl.
“I got a book called The Girl
in the Woods from the new library!” replied Samantha showing her mom the
gorgeous cover.
“I guess you don’t want dinner
if you’re too busy reading.” Mrs. Sapphire started to pour the soup back into
the pot.
“Sorry mom, but I just can’t
put this book down!”
A few hours later, Samantha was
in her bed reading the part about how the girl ended up in the woods. She had
moved from the couch to her bedroom to get more comfortable just as the story
was really getting good. Even though she was excited to read on, Samantha’s
eyes were getting tired and she struggled to keep them open.
“What if I do fall asleep while
reading this?” she thought. Samantha pushed through the next page but her
eyelids felt heavy and thick. Mr. Linden’s kind, wrinkled face appeared in her
head just as she drifted off to sleep. He
had warned her about the book. Now it was too late. Vines and leaves
sprouted from the enchanted gold and leather tome. Branches covered the walls
and grass grew on the floor. Her room looked like the woods.
Samantha woke up, yawned, looked around and then screamed. She
bolted out of bed holding the hard cover and suddenly realized she was in the
woods!
“I’m...in...the...book!!!”,
shouted Samantha. She didn’t listen to Mr. Linden and now she was trapped. “The words in the book become true.”
Samantha thought long and hard about what Mr. Linden had said.
“If that’s what he said, let’s
see if it’s true.” thought Samantha who started flipping through the book. The
page read “She saw a path of stone that led to the city of Calmo.” Just then, a
pathway made of stone appeared in front of Samantha. She followed it all the
way to a gigantic castle.
“Wow!” exclaimed Samantha in
amazement. She kept reading, “Another girl who looked like a warrior came up to
her.”
“Hi.”, said a voice. Samantha
looked up at a girl. She had a high ponytail and jet black hair. She was
wearing metal armour and a sheathed sword hung from her left hip.
“My name is Isabella.” The girl
smiled. “Welcome to Calmo!”
“I’m Samantha. I’m not from
around here. I didn’t know there was a city in the woods.”
“Only very few people can see
Calmo. You are one of them.” explained Isabella.
“Oh. Well, that’s very nice but
I need to get home and this book can tell me what to do to get back.”
“At least stay here for the
night Sam. It’s hard to travel in the night.” Isabella started walking back to
the castle.
“Wait up!” called Samantha as
she caught up to Isabella. She certainly did not want to be left alone here in
the middle of nowhere.
At the gates of the castle,
Isabella pulled her sword out of her scabbard. In the moonlight, Samantha could
make out beautiful engravings and symbols etched in the steel blade. Isabella
plunged her sword between the two swinging gates like a key. After pulling the
weapon out, the gates opened as if by magic. The young warrior girl smirked at
Sam and started walking inside. Sam followed Isabella along a path all the way
to the back of the majestic castle into a small room.
“You may sleep here for the
night. I will come and get you in the morning.” Isabella told Sam as she closed
the door and walked away.
The room looked eerily similar
to Sam’s room back home only it was much cleaner and there were fewer books on
the shelves. The bed had freshly washed sheets and when Samantha lay down, she
sunk into the soft, plush mattress. As she stretched out comfortably, Sam
thought “If Mr. Linden said the words in the book become true, what if I wrote
my own words into the book?”
When Sam woke up in the
morning, she saw Isabella standing in the door way waiting.
“Rise and shine! I’ve decided
that I will take you home with the help of your book, okay Sam?” asked Isabella.
Samantha thought about it.
“Okay, c’mon!” replied Sam who
grabbed Isabella’s arm and headed for the gates of the castle. After they
passed the gates, Samantha asked “Why do you call me Sam?”
“I call you Sam because I have
a feeling we are going to be close friends for a very long time and I want to
have a nickname for you.” Isabella gave her a warm smile.
They kept walking for hours and
hours. Samantha got tired and sat down on a large rock. She started to read
what will happen next.
“What is a lomer?” asked Sam.
“A lomer is a monster. Why do
you ask?”
“I ask because my book says a
lomer is coming!!!” shouted Sam in a wild panic.
Just then, a hideous creature
sprung out of nowhere. Isabella drew her sword. Sam shut her eyes, covered her
face with her hands and waited for something to happen. Nothing did. She opened
her eyes and saw Isabella stroking the creature’s fur. Suddenly, the feeling of
cold steel pressed against her neck.
“What...a...twist.” Sam
whispered under her breath.
“Sorry Sam. Looks like you
won’t be going home today. Or ever!” Isabella had an evil smile on her face.
She pulled her sword back ready to slice when Sam felt something in her pocket.
A pen! Quickly, Sam scribbled out the words in the book with the pen.
Everything froze except for Sam.
“It worked!” Sam wrote in the
book “This never happened.” She blinked and found herself standing in front of
Chapters holding the door while looking across the street. No new store was
there. Sam breathed a sigh of relief and went to find a new perfect book.
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