I LOST MY
SISTER IN THE LIBRARY
It
was summer break and we were spending two weeks in the city with my
grandmother. She lived in this old house
right on the fringes of downtown. There
were parks and playgrounds just down the road too. The first couple of days were great. Granny took us to the movies and to a big
arcade place. We went to the park and
had a picnic, and played on a jungle gym in the shape of a rocket ship. Then it started to rain, and rain, and
rain. We didn’t think it was ever going
to stop.
We
were so bored. There were no other kids
to play with and Granny had gotten rid of all the games a long time ago. We explored the old house from top to bottom
and then back again. Then we made up
stories about the stuff that we found in the attic. There were trunks full of old clothes and
pictures, furniture from days gone by, and lots of other stuff. We found two swords hanging on the wall that
my grandmother said belonged to her great- grandfather. He had been an officer in the Civil War. My sister and I spent hours in the attic
playing. I was a dashing Confederate
general, and my sister was a sweet southern belle. Then I was a pirate and my sister was a
kidnapped princess for ransom. I was an
Indian brave and my sister was the daring squaw. I was a handsome knight on a horse and she
was the damsel I had to rescue. But soon
we grew tired of the attic and each other’s company. Would it ever stop raining?
My sister and
I could find nothing else to do, and so we took to pestering our mom. She got tired of us under her feet as she
helped her mom around the house, so she told us if we were good we would go to
the library the next day. She told us it
was only a couple of blocks away, and that was huge. She also said that if we couldn’t find a
certain book there, well then it wasn’t in print. We promised to behave the rest of the
day. My sister and I went out on the
porch to talk about what kind of books we were going to look for. We discussed it all through the day and into
the night.
The
next morning, we were both up before anyone else at Granny’s. We ran outside. The sky was clear and dry. It had finally quit raining. We tried to wake up mom, but she said the
library doesn’t even open till ten so go back to bed. But of course we couldn’t go back to sleep,
so we sat on the porch looking downtown trying to guess which big building was
the library. There were so many
buildings though it was really hard to guess.
Finally Mom said it was time to get
ready. We were already ready to go. We had been for hours. She said we had to walk because it was easier
than driving in downtown traffic. My
sister and I ran out the door and were already half way up the street when Mom
yelled at us to wait up. She had a stack
of books to take back for my grandmother and she wasn’t getting in a
hurry. Besides, it was a beautiful day
to be out walking, especially with all the rain we’ve had.
As we walked down the street, I was
so excited to be in the big city. There
was so much going on. People in suits
with briefcases hurried about their business.
They rushed past without a second look.
Cars went from traffic light to traffic light. Most of the streets were one way. And the buildings soared into the sky. On the other side of the street, I saw a
statue of a man and a dog. I asked my
mom who it was and she told me about it.
It was a man named O’Henry, and he wrote a
story called “The Gift of the Magi”. He
was from the city we were in, and he was a historical figure. She said there were a lot of famous people
from that area. Who knew the city was so
cool?
I figured we
must have been getting close. My mom was
going over the rules on how to behave.
"Stay quiet, stay together, no messes, blah, blah, blah." She also told us that it was BIG...about ten
of our tiny library back home. That is
why we had to stick together and stay in the children’s section. I was wondering just how big it could really
be. All of a sudden, Mom stopped and
pointed at a huge building on the corner.
“There it is kids. The downtown branch of the library.” All I could think was WOW.
The front was made entirely of glass
and there was a large, carpeted staircase to the upper floor with a little sign
saying "children section upstairs."
My mom walked us up the stairs, and we discovered a large room full of
books and puzzles and games. Huge arches
separated each section. Scattered around
were small chairs and cushions for reading.
It was the most awesome place I had ever seen. I couldn’t wait to find the dinosaur section
and my little sister was dying to find Dr. Suess. Mom reminded us again to stay together and to
take turns looking for books. Then she
went downstairs to look for something to read while we were visiting her mom.
My sister and I looked at each other and went
our separate ways. I went to explore for
T-rex and she went to find THE LORAX. As I walked, I checked out the books that
surrounded me. In my head, I could see
all the people and places and adventures swirling around me. I couldn’t believe the selection of dinosaur
books there was to choose from. I was in
heaven. Somewhere in the racks, I could
hear my sister squealing with delight, then she was
quiet. Oh the wonders in this room. If I
had a thousand years I could never absorb the excitement these walls held. Thousands and thousands of worlds all
condensed and stored in one room. Completely amazing to my overactive mind. We spent quite a while aborsbed
in our favorite subjects. We knew not to
hurry because mom always seem to take forever to pick
out books. Mom could read a chapter book
a day and needed a whole armload for a week.
We were only allowed 3 books apiece because we were at someone else’s
house. I was sure going to chose
carefully.
I looked through the books and was
lost in
I
came upon a section that sent me into fantasies of cowboys and Indians; daring
train robberies; and showdowns at
As
I walked through an arch to the other section, it became a wardrobe and I was
transported in Narnia with Peter, Susan,
I
kept looking for my little sister, she must be here,
somewhere. Suddenly I could smell the
ocean again. I was back on the docks,
but it wasn’t a Narnian ship at the pier. There was a huge Viking ship docked there
while the beserckers robbed and pillaged. I was grabbed from behind, thrown on board
and off to sea we went. As we headed
into deep water, a fierce storm blew up.
The sea tossed and turned the ship and I went overboard, only to be
picked up by Captain Nemo and the crew of the
Nautilus. When they dropped me at a
port, I saw a dark haired little girl reading in the corner. MY SISTER…I had completely forgotten about
her.
I
peeked into another arched section and was suddenly on a mission to Mars. Through the window I could see the Earth and
the moon. They were small and getting
smaller by the minute. I looked down and
discovered I was floating about 3 feet off the floor; I could do flips and
tumbles in mid-air! In front of me was
the cockpit with the crew navigating the ship into the unknown. There were hundreds of thousands of stars all
around us. Could any one even see them
all? The co-pilot turned around and it
was a pretty little green-eyed girl and I suddenly tele-a-ported
back into the library where my little sister was lost.
When
I walked through the next arch, Mary Lou Who waved at me from in front of a
giant Christmas tree. I could see the
cat and the hat juggling a rake and a book and a cup and a plate and a dish and
a fish while standing on a ball. The Lorax was under a Trufflula Tree
that was swaying gently in a breeze. Mr.
Brown wanted to know if I could moo. And
Sam I Am offered me some green eggs and ham.
This was where my sister was supposed to be…I wondered if she could be
off looking for me.
I
searched around frantically as the lights started to dim. It was closing time and my sister was lost in
the library. I turned a corner and was
thrown in to a dim wooded path. There
were spooky sounds all round me and it was growing darker by the second. I could see glowing eyes in the trees, but
when I looked they were gone. From out
of nowhere, a man stepped into my path.
He had a sword sticking out of his chest and his coat was torn and
dirty. He smiled and his teeth were as
black as the night around me and I realized I could see the path behind
him. He was a GHOST! I screamed and ran for the light I saw in the
distance.
As I burst into the bright light I
couldn’t believe my eyes. There, waiting
anxiously by the stairs, were my mother and my sister. I was the one who had been lost in the library.
By: Decie L. Hadley