The Best Are Different

Farsa Machibi - Tolkien

I open the door to the tiny apartment. Three rooms, maybe, one with a kitchen and a living room and a small bathroom and a small bedroom. There's already a bed and a sink and a TV and other basic appliances, but I'm guessing I'm supposed to buy all the other things. Luckily, my mother might care an ounce about me, so she's paying for the apartment. Anything to keep me out of her house. 

I glance at the TV. I've never really watched anything before. I'll have to do that tomorrow, if I last that long at high school. 

"Wow, that's a bit depressing, Farsa." Maggie says from behind me. I turn around slightly, not making eye contact. She's sitting at the kitchen table, her heels on the wooden surface. "You have so little faith in yourself." 

I close my eyes tightly, and head take some money from an envelope on the kitchen counter. I adjust my jacket and my shoes and head back out the door, locking it behind me. 

When I leave the apartment building, I look around. It's confusing and odd to see it now, the city. I don't even remember if the ward was in Lafayette. I'm in a city with large buildings but not all that many of them. I look down at my feet as I walk quickly down the sidewalk, both hands clutched to my sides, one holding a handful of money. 

A man bumps my shoulder, causing me to hit the wall of a library. 

"Hey, watch it, girl." He mutters annoyedly, glaring at me. 

"Beat him up." Maggie said encouragingly. "He bumped into you." 

I clench my fists, but then turn quickly on my heels and race into the library. 

"Hey!" He yells from behind me. "I'm not finished with you!" I run down the library and into a small cafe section of it. I sit down at a table, breathing hard. My first day out of the ward and I've already annoyed a random civilian. 

I look up, and realize I'm hungry as Hell. I walk quietly to the ordering counter. "I'll have some coffee..." I say. "And, um, a bagel?" I ask, tipping my head to the side. I've never had either of those things. They would never serve coffee at the psych ward, and sandwiches only came in normal squares of bread. 

The woman at the counter hands me a sandwich cut in a circle filled with a layer of pink stuff and a cup of dark brown liquid. I hand her six dollars, leaving me with five. I head into the library for what I came here for, taking a bit of the bagel. It tasted like bread and strawberries. It was good. 

"Excuse me, dear, can I help you?" I'm asked. I turn around, and see an older woman with dark hair tied up in a bun. Probably a librarian. 

"Um, yes," I say. "Where can I buy... Tolkien?" I ask. 

"Which Tolkien books are you looking for, dear?" The librarian asked. 

I remember Nayal saying something about... "The Hobbit?" I ask. The librarian nods. 

"Section H." She says. I make my way to the H section, and see it immediately. It's a small-framed book, but thick with pages. It's apparently quite popular, as their are many copies. I pick up one, and bring it to the front desk. 

"How much for this book?" I ask, putting it on the surface in front of the librarian. 

"Oh, you don't need money, dear." The librarian said, blinking. "You can just check out that book and bring it back in a week or so, or just renew it every week or so. It's free." 

"Oh, okay." I say. 

"Good, just sign this card." The librarian says, and slides me the card. I write my full name shakily in pen. She takes the card and hands me the book, and I leave quickly. I sip from my coffee as I rush back to my apartment building, my book clutched in one hand and my bagel and coffee in the other. I notice a few people glaring at me slightly, or just looking confused as to why I'm alone. 

I make my way up to my apartment room and unlock the door, entering and locking it tightly behind me. Maggie is already resting on my couch, smiling at me. 

I take off my jacket and my shoes and set them neatly by the door. I sit down at the kitchen table with my coffee and bagel in one hand and my book in the other. 

I take bites of the bagel, reading the first chapter of the book. 

In a hole in the ground their lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. 

I'm already captivated. Partially because this is the only book I've ever read that doesn't either teach you stuff or is a children's book, but partially because it's an amazing book. I sip my coffee and read and finish my bagel until maybe one in the morning. 

I then close the book. It was hard to read, of course, with my dyslexia. I probably only got about 30% of it correct, but to me, that's what makes it interesting. I wonder how much worse, or how much better the book really is without my head messing it up. Either way, I close it at maybe the half-way point and climb into bed. Maggie is there waiting for me on the other side, smirking. 

I scoot over dutifully as if I actually have someone lying next to me, and slowly drift off to sleep in my new room. This one time, I am alone just with Maggie and no roommates that might kill me in my sleep. 

I just might like it here.