Original Our World , Read Desc

the librarian and their bugs

"Hey.. heyy.. wake up." I heard someone say, their hand gently shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes. It was N. Their face was just about a foot away from mine. "Oh. I thought you died." They looked nervous, avoiding my gaze. I blinked at them and shook my head, before yawning as I rubbed my eyes.

"Good morning, N." I smiled at N as I greeted them. "What time is it?" I asked. N thought for a moment.

"Oh, it's around 8 in the morning." They finally backed away from my face, standing upright. "Do you wanna see my bugs?" N said as they beamed. I'd forgotten all about that and their thing with bugs. I nodded and stood up, reaching upwards and stretching my arms and back.

N was practically radiating with joy at my agreement. "Okay! They're just upstairs!" They giggled excitedly as they squeezed my hand, pulling me towards a door behind their desk.

N dragged me up a staircase, into a humid room with dim lights. I saw a bed, multiple glass cases, nets that when I asked N called "butterfly netting", and multiple plants scattered across the room. It was quite crowded.

"Do you wanna see my centipedes? I'll show you my centipedes," N giggled, reaching their hand into one of many glass cases. I was about to ask what a centipede was, but then N pulled their hand out with giant monstrosity crawling on their hand. "This is Jessie, she is a Scolopendra Gigantea!" N sounded happy, and despite me being frightened, I figured it may be rude to show how much disgust that creature caused me.

N put their hand back into the case, letting the bug crawl back into its home after ranting about the little monster. I shivered, wondering if it would eat me in my sleep. "What a lovely little creature." I said, trying my best to force a kind voice through my fear. Why did it have so many legs?!

"Thank you! Do you want to see my Hercules beetle next?" N showed me to another enclosure.

I did enjoy hearing N happily show me their little creatures and excitedly shake their arms around, but the scary bugs were not my favorite. Eventually, N brought me to the butterfly netting. "These are some of my butterflies. I have 3 monarchs and 2 swallowtails. I don't really know how to handle them, but you can look at them while I go check on my other little insects." They said, turning around. "Oh- and don't open the enclosure please.." They sighed before finally walking off. I nodded.

I watched the butterflies fluttering around inside of the enclosure, almost hypnotized by them. They were very beautiful compared to the other bugs N had showed me. I took a deep, relaxed sigh as I watched the graceful insects.

"SWEET- OOUCHIE-" N screamed. I jumped and a small yelp escaped me. I turned to where N's voice had came from.

"N! You're hurt!" I gasped, looking down at N who was crouched down. Their arm was torn open at one of the sides. I covered my mouth with my hand in surprise. Stuffing fell from their wound and to the floor.

"Yeah- one of my more-" N paused to hiss in pain, gripping their injury tightly as they stood. "One of my more aggressive bugs really has it out for me. Tore a seam. I need to see Mr for this." they sighed. I felt awful!

I followed N down the stairs and back into the main part of the library. "Isn't QT a doctor? Can't he help?" I asked N. They shook their head.

"No, I'm different." N managed. "You can go to QT for your problems, but Mr says I have a condition. I've gotta see him for this." They explained to me. I nodded.

I watched N turn around and close the door behind us as we reached the end of the staircase. "Uh, yeah, so I'm gonna have to go see him." They said, coming closer to the exit before pausing. I blinked. "Oh- and I don't really care what you do. You don't have to stay while I'm gone, I don't mind." They said before leaving.

".. Okay." I mumbled, kind of sad our time together had to end. I hoped N would be better.
I had been fidgeting with my hands, feeling all lonely, before I heard some kind of rattling. It sounded like plastic clicking together in a way. I perked up. "Hm? Hello?" I looked around. I didn't see anyone.

I blinked. No one was there, atleast from what I could see. I looked at the bookshelves. There were so many, perfectly aligned. Hundreds of books were right there. I began to walk down an isle of books, gently running my fingertips over the worn covers. They'd been there a long time.
I wondered how old this place was. How old the town was, how many years it had been there. Nobody seemed old in the town, maybe except for Sophie, but she didn't look too elderly herself.

Not really paying attention until then, a book in particular caught my eyes. I stopped. The spine was a shiny golden metal, and I pulled it from the shelves. I eyed the leather cover, which was blank. I then looked up, seeing the towering bookshelves seem to curl over me from the perspective. I'd noticed the lights had gotten way darker, and I couldn't see very well. Yet, the gold on the book still glimmered. I looked back to where I'd came from, and it looked so far from there.

Redirecting my attention toward the book, I opened it to the first page. Nothing. "Hm." I hummed curiously. I ran my hand over the pages, and it felt worn. I flipped another page, seeing the number 3 desperately written all over the pages in thick, black ink.

I flipped another page and saw the single word "lies." Carefully written in pencil. I blinked before clearing my throat and shutting the book, awkwardly shoving it back where I'd found it. Strange.

I decided maybe it would be best to walk back to the front and get out of there when I heard skittering across the floors. A shiver crawled up my spine. I'd maybe been walking for around 10 minutes, and the bookshelves seemed to never end. I hummed random tunes as I walked back.

I paced around the chairs, walking between and around them in a pattern. The air still smelled nice, but the strong coffee smell wasn't as prominent. I found myself growing lonely. N had said they didn't mind if I left, but I still felt nervous leaving.
it wasn't much longer that I felt lonely. P1 came through the doors, slightly startling me. "Oh, hi, neighbor!" They waved at me. I waved back and smiled.

"Where's N?" They tilted their head, the strings on one of his party hats facing the ground. I shrugged.

"N got hurt and went to go see Mr. Why?" I explained as P1 came closer to me. He wore the same clothes as yesterday, and the same smile as yesterday, too.

P1 shortly explained, "Oh, Milo wants a book. He feels tired today so he can't do much." I nodded.

"Ah, I'm feeling quite lonely by myself. Would you mind if I came and stayed with you just for a bit? I think I'd love to spend time with you and Milo." I asked, feeling a bit awkward. P1's face lit up as he nodded aggressively, shaking his fists.

"Yes!! Yes, yes you can come! I think Milo would understand that N's gone, and I'm sure he'd love to see you too! Let's go!" He excitedly giggled, talking fast again. I nodded, letting him grab my arm and dragging me. I was used to being dragged at this point. I kind of went limp.

Authors Note

Wow going through these old chapters and reworking them while listening to one of my way older playlists is really a rush of memories for me

This was the first chapter that I am reworking, I'm really happy that I met so many great people through this story. This story saved me when I really needed it and I hope that someone else can feel the same 💗