METAFICTION

Chapter 5. THE LEATHER BOUND NOTEBOOK

MINUTES LATER, EDDIE returned with a chunky leather-bound hardback notebook.

"There," said Eddie throwing the hefty notebook down onto the settee seat cushion next to Maddie. "Don't say I never give you anything. That notebook is older than you."

Maddie's eyebrows arched in surprise. She put her laptop down on the small hardwood table beside the settee, being careful not to knock over her cup of tea, and scooped up the notebook and excitedly opened it...

And the novel, as far as she could determine as she flicked rapidly through the pages, was all there! Handwritten beautifully and clearly in handwriting she did not recognise. It certainly did not resemble her grandfather's handwriting. Near the end of the notebook, a few chapters had different handwriting. Less elegant. Much heavier. It had all been crossed out with long diagonal lines.

As Maddie's face slowly contorted into a mixture of curiosity and fascination, Eddie explained, "As I have already alluded to, the heavy compact handwriting towards the end of the notebook is Neil Barrington's, and the stylish, graceful handwriting preceding and following it is Julia Strauss's. And Charlie and Susan, who I mentioned before, they helped Julia write the ending right at the back of the notebook. See how Neil Barrington's ending has been crossed out before Julia's Susan-and-Charlie supported ending. So if you want to read the better ending, have a read. You'll be the only other person in the world that ever saw that ending."

"Granddad, you'll get done for fraud if this is found out!" Maddie's eyes were wide-open in concern.

"How so?"

"Somebody else wrote your book! Why haven't they come forward?"

"I've been trying to tell you that these people only exist in my dreams. They are not people in our world."

"Oh, come on, Gramps," blurted out Maddie, laughingly, but her wriggling eyebrows betrayed a hint of uncertainty. "I just don't get it...?"

"I would be surprised if you did. It's only because you're only twelve year's old that you're still discussing this apparent literary madness with me. You might be smarter than ninety-nine percent of the adults in this world, but you're still a kid. Thank goodness."

Maddie rolled her eyes, then quickly leafed back to the beginning pages of the Neil Barrington crossed out ending. "Hmmm...okay, let me just read the so called alternative Neil Barrington ending, Gramps. Hmm...it's only about twenty pages. Give me twenty minutes or so. Then I'll tell you what I think. In the meantime, why don't you finish off your tea and biscuits and read your newspaper. You have a nice rest. Let the seat take the heat!"

Eddie gave Maddie a thumbs up, for her suggestion and closing witticism, before picking up his newspaper.

Twenty-five minutes later...

"Cool!" exclaimed Maddie, closing the chunky leather-bound hardback notebook emphatically. "Now that ending had a bigger twist than the published ending, that's for sure. We all know Neil Barrington was evil and ambitious, but..." Maddie allowed her sentence to hang in the air.

"Well, never mind all that. Luckily, Julia, Charlie and Susan convinced me of such an ending's inherent danger."

"Who the hell are these Charlie and Susan characters, exactly? And what do you mean by 'inherent danger'? It's only a story."

"Charlie and Susan come from another universe, basically. They come from a place called the Realm of Fictional Characters. The phrase 'awaiting their turn' is often added, as every character hopes to one day be called up to live in a Novel Realm. So you will often hear people say things like, 'There's a place in another universe called the Realm of Fictional Characters awaiting their turn.' Get it?"