A Peculiar String of Bizarre Dreams

Chapter 4: Former Azure Glory

The doorbells chime as I walk out of Words Haven Cafe. They don't chime to announce another customer's arrival but to let Vazouk know when he is rid of a customer. Departure-doorbells.

Outside, it's sunny but there is a cool breeze, making it smell glorious with its fresh supply of possibilities.

According to my schedule, I should now head to the library, to see if there's anything that catches my attention or maybe thumb through my favourite books for the millionth time.

You would think going to a cafe that smells like books, would fulfill a person's quota for the day of book-loving. I however, am not this person.

I take a step further and see my dad in his running attire a few feet ahead. I notice Hans, my dad's friend with him, running in his faded Pantera shirt.

Last year, Hans lost his wife in a strange car accident. He took up running with dad since.

When you look at Hans, you don't realize how broken he is until you see his eyes. His deep gray eyes speak of sadness and of an unresolved conflict with death. The love Hans and his wife shared was the kind that teenagers embarking upon adulthood aspire to have one day.

"Daad! Hans!"

They both stop in their tracks to greet me. "Hey Jemma, we almost missed you there! Where you off to, oh favourite daughter of mine?"

"I am your only daughter and it's sad that you feel compelled to choose when there aren't any options. I am heading to the library for a while, then I'll go over to Yuna's and be back in time for dinner. You guys want anything from the library?"

Hans reddens deeper than the rouge he gained through his running sprints. "That's really nice of you to ask, Jemma, but I am still reading the book you gave me, it's taking me forever to get a hang of how the world works in it."

I lent him a high-fantasy novel a while ago when he asked me for a book recommendation.

"Don't give up on it! It gets really good, I promise," I tell him.

"I won't, I won't! But don't read too much, kid. There's lots of time for you to do that when you go to university. You won't even have the choice to do anything else with your time then."

Dad agrees with him, "He's right, you know. You should be out living your own adventures, than reading about fictional ones."

I take my cue to walk away from them exclaiming, "Bye now! Happy running!"

***

The Avian Oaks Library is a massive building, standing tall since the 1800s. Its white walls from long ago are now majestically sepia shaded.

As soon as I enter it, I see Phina sitting at a generous, well-polished, oakwood desk.

Phina looks extremely librarian-like, and hence fulfills her librarian duties impeccably. Her hazel eyes are protected by cat-eye spectacles with specks of caramel in the frame. On rainy days, she makes hot chocolate for the few readers who are fortunate enough to get stuck at the library.

"How's it going today, Phina?" I inquire.

She looks up from a book she's perusing and smiles brightly at me.

"Welcome back, Jemma! It's been divine today, actually."

Her eyes gloss over briefly as she glances up at a circular window pitched in one corner of the ceiling — perhaps at the view of the blue sky above us.

"The sky is churning out poetry today," she says and I listen to her intently as she continues, "Once upon a time, birds and seraphs went into a battlefield and killed each other. This made the sky turn red with fury. But then a bird whose spirit was both avian and seraphic intervened, and the sky redeemed its former azure glory."

She tells me this most sincerely and in response, I sigh in admiration. "That's beautiful, Phina. You make my day seem more poetic than it already is. You're like a hopeful Sylvia Plath from another lifetime."

Phina beams at me albeit her timid demeanor. "You flatter me, Jemma, you kind friend," she says.

"I mean it." I tell her simply.