nanobooks

Enlightenment and Endarkenment

"Careful of your eyes. I'm turning on a light," Marj advised the girls. A disc of glass rose up from the table and hovered between the domed ceiling and the book on the table. Marj leaned back so that the shadow of her head was not upon the book. The page became substantially brighter under the light.

The letters darkened from forest to viridian green, then shifted in hue to a burnt umber. As that one line darkened, other words appeared upon the page above and below, slowly darkening into view. The hue of the background, the page itself, flushed out the tans and became a more consistent pale green.

"Kella, now I would like you to pet the page," Marj suggested.

Kella tried to remember not to nod. Her hand started at the top corner of the page, which was toward her, as the book faced Marjoram. Kella ran her index finger along the edge of the page. She repeated this motion a few more times, then asked, "May I turn it toward me?"

"Certainly."

Kella turned her book so that the letters faced her. With the frames of the glasses still resting on her ears and bridged at her nose, she flipped up the magnifying lenses. She began to read the page silently, tracing underneath each line of words with her finger as she read. She placed her other hand on the facing page and held the book with both hands as it rested upon the desk. As Kella read, each letter and each word darkened until they were nearly black. The book seemed to emit a soft muffled sound as Kella read.

Momoka raised her lenses and looked at Kella's book with naked eyes. The words on the facing page were darkening into view as well, but didn't differentiate beyond a dark green. Only the page that Kella was reading became dark brown and then black.

As Kella was reaching the bottom of the page with her finger, Marjoram interrupted.

"Wait. Keep that page." Marjoram pulled two suction cups from the drawer, and placed them on opposite pages, one on the page that Kella had been reading, and on the facing page. Once each was affixed, she pressed the hearing at the lobe of her ear, tapped on her wristwatch and adjusted its crown, then tapped on the tops of both suction cups.

A graph appeared on the display of Marjoram's watch. She was holding it so that the girls could see. Kella look at the watch but kept her finger on the last word she had read and the other hand on the facing page. The graph was just axes at first with an empty center. After a few moments, the image of a seed appeared as a small flashing icon at the top of the watch display above the empty graph. Then a number appeared beside the seed. Over the next minute, Momoka, Kella, and Marjoram patiently watched the watch and the book, as the value of the number shown fluctuated and the graph filled in across the face of the watch.

"What does it mean?" asked Kella. "Is my book going to be okay now?"

"The diagnostic I just ran means that your book is feeling better now. It is no longer sick." Marjoram reached out her hand and collected the glasses from the girls, then stashed them along with the suction cups in the drawer. Then she deactivated her watch and earring tracers. She took off her own glasses and let them dangle as they had originally.

She continued speaking as she summoned back the lens that had focused the light from the skylight down to the book. "But your book isn't at full strength again yet. You need to take good care of it. Read it every day. Get it plenty of light. Sunlight is preferred, of course. I know that you know this. Hopefully this is just a reminder."

"Yes, Miz Sylvania. Thank you for healing my book!" Kella closed her book gently and held it to her chest. "You can be sure I'll take good care of my book from now on!"

"Thank you. Do we owe you anything?" asked Momoka.

"No, Momoka," said Marjoram, having remembered Kella's sister's name from her prior visits. "Your thanks, and knowing that Kella will take good care of her book, is enough for me and for the library. Remember that we are here for you whenever you need us."

Marjoram turned to Kella. "Would you like a tour?"

Kella looked around the room in awe. "Yes. I would love a tour!"

Momoka placed her hand on Kella's shoulder. "We have to get home soon."

"Maybe another time, then?" noted Marjoram.

"Yes. We'll be back for a tour. I promise."

Kella smiled and she and Momoka turned toward the doors through which they had entered. Marjoram watched them until another patron approached the desk and asked her a question.

As they walked out, Kella was gawking at the pillars of books, the staircase, and the many-textured ceiling. She eyed the other visitors to the library with curiosity.

Kella let loose a barrage of questions upon her sister. "Why did all these people come here? Why are there so many books here? Don't they all have one of their own?"

"These," Momoka said as she tapped the hood of her cloak. Momoka's viridian-black hair was tied up in a bun. The hood behind her neck made a warm resonant thud as he hand tapped it. She took her hand and gently tapped the book at Kella's chest. "These are our personal books. The books in the library are shared by all people. We can come here for a tour. Then after that, we can come here as often as you want to visit, and to read the other books."

"But we won't neglect ours? I mean, if we spend time reading other books, won't our own books get lonely and sick? I don't want that to happen again."

Momoka opened the door and followed Kella out. "Oh no, Kella. You know, how our books talk at home?"

"Yeah," Kella confirmed.

"You can teach your book to talk with the other books. The books of other people who aren't in our family, and any of the books here in the library. I'll show you how when you're old enough."

So we can teach our books to be more social, and how to get along with other books?"

"Exactly."

"Wow! Then the books can play together, and make friends. I can't wait. I think my book will love that."

"Well, you have to take good care of it so that it can grow up like you, so that it is ready for that."

"Oh, I'll have the strongest and smartest book of anyone!" Kella exclaimed proudly.

She placed her book on top of her head. The sunlight shone upon the cover of Kella's book, and the cover seemed to purr. The luster of the green of the cover and the binding became richer. The shade of the letters on the cover darkened until they were black. Kella Weald and her sister, Momoka, walked their books home.