Meredith and the Magic Library

by Becket

  Uncle Glitch, Sir Copperpot, Peter Butterpig, and little Meredith Pocket all went across the street, up the stairs, and to the front doors of the Magic Library.

  Locking the doors was a thick chain and a large iron padlock.

  Uncle Glitch shook the front doors. The chain and padlock rattled.

  Meredith looked down the street. It was mostly deserted. At either end, far in the distance, were a few meager shops trading with magic dust.

  There was Woewiggle’s Wand Shop that sold magic wands for five pinches of magic dust, but the wands were poorly made and they broke after seven or eight uses, so you had to buy another if you wanted to weave more wand magic.

  A little farther down was Gobblebug’s Cauldron & Potion Emporium that sold shoddy cauldrons and slipshod potions for a bag of magic dust. But the cauldron usually melted after four or five uses and the potions would often blow up in your face.

  And then even farther down was Hagglehog’s Mock Market that sold third-rate robots for a treasure chest of magic dust. If you bought one it would usually last a month before it broke down and started chasing you across town. And if you wanted another the next month, you could only buy one by spending another treasure chest of magic dust.

  “Why would people spend something so precious for things so cheap?” asked Meredith.

  “Some people call that good business sense,” said Sir Copperpot.

  “I call it cheating and greediness,” snapped Uncle Glitch.

  “But that is part of the WORM’s work. He infects all kinds of systems, even the system of kindness.”

  Meredith shook her head remorsefully. “If I ever have enough magic dust, I don’t think I would do anything with it but weave magic spells, or perhaps I would give it to anyone who really needs it.”

  Peter Butterpig grunted at her.

  “You’re right,” she replied with a little chuckle. “Perhaps I could do both.”

  “But you can’t do any or either,” growled Uncle Glitch. “None of us can. Only the very few, very privileged can because only they have enough magic dust to waste on things they want but don’t need.”

  Right at that moment Sir Copperpot’s mechanical eyes noticed a small glittering mote on the ground. He bent to pick it up. It shone between his metal fingers like a little star.

  “Magic dust,” he said in a tone of awe.

  Immediately he handed it to Meredith.

  “Here,” he said, “you take it. Maybe you can use it to buy warmer clothes.”

  Meredith held the mote of magic dust in her hand as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

  “I would never use this for anything but magic,” she said. “You cannot put a price on that. It is too wonderful, too rare, too beautiful. Magic dust should be free for everyone. No one should have to work tirelessly or spend a fortune just to have so little.”

  “Of course you’re right,” said Sir Copperpot with a melancholy sigh. “But when people become desperate for just a little magic in their lives, they will do mad things for a simple pinch of dust.”

  Peter Butterpig squealed and snorted.

  Meredith agreed. “The WORM can’t keep the library locked forever,” she said in a tone of determination, although she did not know what she could do about it. “Someone has to open it.”

  “Someone did try once,” Uncle Glitch said, recalling more old memories. “The only one who came close to thwarting the WORM’s plans was that elderly ghost, the friend of those two young ladies who repaired us.”

  Sir Copperpot’s memory banks were also starting to recall more. “The elderly ghost came not long after the WORM infected the Magic Library. At the time,” he said to Meredith, “you were a very little girl.”

  “What was the ghost’s name?” Meredith asked.

  The two old robots thought for a moment. But neither one could remember.

  Sir Copperpot said regretfully, “Perhaps I shall remember soon.”

  Uncle Glitch nodded. “I can only recall that he said he was going into the library to stop an odd and odious kerfuffle, whatever a kerfuffle is. He said his name was… Mr. Fuddle… something.”

  “I remember he had a bowler hat,” said Sir Copperpot.

  “With goggles around the rim,” added Uncle Glitch.

  “With a mustache and goatee.”

  “He also wore a pinstriped suit with very fancy shoes.”

  “And he had a dandelion pinned to his lapel.”

  “And an umbrella.”

  “Yes, that’s right. It was bright red with a black handle.”

  “And he glowed with a green light.”

  “And he was as see-through as a green bottle.”

  Meredith and Peter Butterpig moved a little closer. They did not want to miss a word.

  “So what happened to him?” she asked.

  But the two old robots blinked at each other helplessly, shaking their heads and shrugging.

  “We can’t recall,” Uncle Glitch said.

  “That ghostly gentlemen entered the library,” said Sir Copperpot, “but he never came back out, at least I don’t think he did.”

  The four friends stood looking at the Magic Library for a little longer. But it was getting colder as the night grew later. So they started to walk back down the steps to go back to their boxes on the streets, but right then Meredith happened to look back over her shoulder at the large padlock on the front doors. And it was at that moment when she also noticed a little miracle.

  In front of the front doors, beneath the thick lock and the heavy chains, was a note with shimmering letters that said:

  HELP WANTED

  NEW LIBRARIANS

  CHAPTER TEN

  New Librarians

  Below the large shimmering letters there were much smaller letters, and they grew smaller the further down they went.

  “Was that note there before?” Meredith asked the others.

  “I’ve never seen it,” said Uncle Glitch, moving a little closer.

  “Read what else it says,” said Sir Copperpot, who was eying it warily.

  Peter Butterpig put his snout against it and started reading it with squeals and snorts.

  “Not you,” snapped Uncle Glitch, interrupting him. “Meredith, you read it.”

  Little Meredith Pocket cautiously moved a little closer to the note to better see its small shimmering letters. This is what she read:

  Four librarian positions are now open. These fortunate four will have the responsibility of lending books and ensuring their safe return to the shelves. However, they will also be responsible for the buildup of the magic dust on each book as well as for its distribution among the public. You will be in charge of every room in the library, from the Chocolate Chambers to the Vegetable Vaults, from the Dangerous Dungeons to the Heavenly Halls.

  The four librarian positions are open to anyone with enough courage and knowhow to open a book and start reading. Thus, to apply for this position, you must find one of four magic books that are currently lost in the town. Their magic dust is probably gone by now, so the only way to see their magic power is to read them all the way through to the end. Then, once you have finished the magic book, and once you see its magic power, please return it to the library and the position of librarian will be yours.

  These four librarians will become the most popular people in the world since everyone will come to you to borrow a book.

  Lastly, one of these special four will also serve as head librarian. It is a position that will go to the one who not only has the greatest love for reading and the greatest respect for books, but who can also keep their heads throughout the many wonderful book stacks, especially in the Decapitation Section. Remember, you must resist the temptation to sit down and read every book you look at, as well as every book that might look at you too.

  The two old robots clicked and snapped their circuits, not quite knowing what to say or do. They could hardly believe what was written.

  Peter Butterpig snorted.
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  Meredith agreed with him. “Being a librarian of the Magic Library would be absolutely wonderful!”

  Uncle Glitch’s robotic eyes were twinkling with excitement.

  “Just think of it,” he said, “we could have our old jobs back. We could be librarians again. We could lend and borrow and read countless books, books, and more books! We could be swimming in books!”

  Only Sir Copperpot was doubtful. “This must be a cruel joke,” he said. “The WORM is playing a cruel joke on us. He has to be.”

  “Look,” said Meredith, pointing to the note, “there are more words.”

  They were very tiny and she had to squint to read them. They said:

  Best wishes,

  (Signed)

  Egbert Fuddlebee, SPOOK

  P.S.—This is not a joke.

  “Fuddlebee,” said Sir Copperpot, slowly recalling the name. “You know, I think that was the elderly ghost who disappeared inside the Magic Library all those years ago.”

  Peter Butterpig snorted a question.

  Sir Copperpot shrugged and answered, “Maybe he’s defeated the WORM.”

  “Can you imagine it?” said Uncle Glitch in a cheerful tone. “Finding one of those four magic books and reading it all the way to the end to find out its magic power would be a robot’s dream come true.”

  Meredith was happy to see him so happy.

  Peter Butterpig pranced excitedly and squealed in agreement.

  “But,” said Sir Copperpot, his gloomy tone returning, “the only place you can find a book is in a bookstore. And most bookstores will not allow you to sit and read a whole book. They’ll want you to buy it. And we do not have enough magic dust to buy a book with. There is no chance we will ever get our old positions back. And even if we did, we are too old to be useful. Oh, it’s hopeless.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The First Magic Book

  The next morning everybody in town knew about the new note outside the library.

  Not long after that, every townsfolk in every home and shop on every street was talking about the four magic books, about the four new librarians, about the reopening of the Magic Library, about all those magic books, and most especially about all that magic dust inside.

  Now everyone wanted to be a librarian too.

  Many grownups quit their jobs and devoted all their time to finding one of the four magic books. Other grownups took all their magic dust from the bank and spent every pinch buying and reading books, hoping one of them might be magic.

  School children skipped classes to read as many books as they could get their hands on. And when teachers discovered what they were doing, they punished them by making them stay after school and read more books.

  No town in the history of the world had read as many books as that town.

  There was a woman named Cornelia Fudgewhopper who claimed to have read a magic book, but it turned out that she had watched the movie instead, which did not count since the movie was completely different from the book.

  There was an inventor named Ignatius Whizzbuster who invented a machine that would read several books in less than a minute. Unfortunately, it read so many books so quickly that in an hour it became smarter than the inventor. So it packed its bags, went to college, became a doctor, and made lots of money.

  There was also a wizard named Wilbert Dimwinkle, who tried to cast a magic spell that would make magic books fly into his hands. Unfortunately, he was not very good at catching, and the first book that he tried to catch missed his hands, struck his head, and knocked him out cold.

  But beyond the belief of many in town, the first magic book was actually found later that day by none other than our dear Peter Butterpig.

  He happened to be flying over the town, flapping his bright butterfly wings, and looking for an apple tree where he might find some delicious lunch. He was not having much luck; it was fall and all the apple trees were fast asleep, rustling and creaking and snoring. But he had hopes of finding some forgotten apples on the ground. He was circling over one of his favorite orchards just outside town when he suddenly caught sight of a glint of light.

  He swooped down and landed in the middle of the orchard. To his great surprised, he saw a book leaning against one of the trees. The glint of light had come from a large jewel in the middle of its old leather cover. He snorted at it, and was about to take it back to the others, when a strong gust of wind knocked it over.

  The cover fell open and Peter’s eyes happened to read the first few words.

  From the first sentence he was hooked. He forgot about his lunch almost instantly (as a good book can often make us forget about eating and drinking and going to the loo).

  Peter Butterpig plopped down on the snowy ground and started reading right there and then.

  He turned the pages with his snout and kept reading, word after word, page after page, chapter after chapter. He couldn’t stop.

  The story was called Aiden the Unfortunate Android. It was about a boy who was cursed by a witch and turned into a robot because no one loved him.

  Peter loved the story! As if by magic, the whole day went by for him in what seemed like the blink of an eye. He finished the book by sunset.

  And by the end of the story, the boy who had become a robot was turned back when two people, who turned out to be his mom and dad, said the magic words that released him from the witch’s curse: “I love you.”

  After Peter Butterpig read those last words, he was surprised to see next that the book did not say THE END, like most ordinary books do. Instead this extraordinary little book said, THE BEGINNING.

  At the very moment Peter Butterpig read those words, the book leaped off the ground and spoke to him in the husky voice of an old man.

  “Congratulations on finishing the first of four magic books. My name is Mr. Fuddlebee and you have been selected to become one of four new librarians of the Magic Library. Please report to the library’s front doors on the morning after the other three magic books have been read, but only if you believe this work is right for you. And please bring this book with you as it belongs on the library’s shelves. However, if you do not wish to become a librarian, please return the book and someone else will be selected.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The Second Magic Book

  Peter Butterpig flew as fast as he could back to the others.

  He landed in the snow with a thud right at the feet of Uncle Glitch and little Meredith Pocket.

  Immediately he got up and began squealing and snorting excitedly.

  Meredith could hardly believe her ears.

  Uncle Glitch snatched the book from him and began turning it over in his hands.

  “I think I remember this book,” he said in a tone of awe. “It was one of my favorites when I was a young bot, although I would have preferred it if the hero had stayed a robot in the end. But that’s just me.”

  He flipped it open to the first page and was about to start reading when Sir Copperpot came dashing up to them too, panting, completely out of mechanical breath.

  “I have found it,” he was trying to say. “I have found it.”

  “Found what?” asked Uncle Glitch, raising his wiry eyebrow.

  “Found…” panted Sir Copperpot, “one of the… magic books.”

  Uncle Glitch snatched it from him too.

  The cover was soft and felt as smooth as velvet. The title was Teatime With Two Terribly Entertaining Trolls.

  The story was about how two trolls named Tuk and Muk went traveling all over the world to have tea parties in various places to see if they could figure out the meaning of life. They had tea in graveyards, in boneyards, in junkyards, and in various other yards, all while wearing special lanyards with their names printed on them in bright letters, so that no one would mix up these two terribly entertaining trolls. They had tea with zombies, with skeletons, with witches and warlocks, and with several other interesting Mystical Creatures, yet none knew the meaning of life. Most thought it was
about weaving spells or having twenty-two lumps of sugar in their tea. But at the end of the book, the two trolls had tea with a little mouse called Tedric Tinker. He fixed watches and other mechanical things, and he told the two trolls that the meaning of his life was not about fixing broken objects, but about fixing the broken heart of his wife, Strawberry, and giving strong hearts to their two children, Mote and Sprinkle.

  Peter Butterpig snorted when he heard this.

  Meredith agreed with him. “That is indeed a lovely ending.”

  “No, no,” Sir Copperpot exclaimed excitedly after finally catching his mechanical breath, “that was not the end at all. When I got to the last page, I read the words ‘The Beginning,’ and instantly the book leaped up out of my hands, floated before my face, and told me that it was the second magic book found, that I had my old job back, and that I should come to the library with this book, but only after the other two magic books had also been read.”

  “Where in the underworld did you find this book?” Uncle Glitch asked.

  “Not in the underworld,” said Sir Copperpot, “but under a table. You see, I happened to be passing by our favorite coffee shop, The Zombie Cafe, when I caught sight of a mote of magic dust under a table. There were many other people inside, sipping warm coffee, and talking about what they would do if they found one of the four magic books. Their heads were so high in the clouds with these thoughts that they did not see the magic dust at their feet. My first thought was for you, Meredith, to fill your thimble. So I crawled under the table and picked it up. That was also when I happened to notice the book lying nearby. I held it up and asked if it belonged to anyone, but no one pays attention to a homeless old robot, except the store owner who threw me out the next moment. So, walking away down the street, I tucked the mote of magic dust in my pocket and opened the book. I have to tell you that I was entranced from the very first words. I read and read, and then I read some more. And before I knew what had happened, I had finished.”