The rest of the afternoon passed like a gentle breeze while my ordinary library duties kept me occupied. Still wondering what Paco's pictures might look like, I checked my email during a quick break, but he hadn't sent me the link yet. I knew patience was my only option, but I couldn't help imagining the wildest combinations. What if I found his art horrible?

It was close to five o'clock when I began rearranging the returns before the last customers called for my attention to check their loans out. When I turned into the aisle with the classic section, the light started flickering in the old pattern. So much for solving that problem, Paco.

Annoyed, I stopped and looked out for an otherworldly guest. As expected, Cat lounged in the same corner he did the first day, right in front of Pride and Prejudice.

"Cat, why the dramatic light effect?"

He glanced at the offending light. "This is not my fault, I swear. Whoever installed the lamp in the centre of the friction zone had a special sense of humour or—" He interrupted himself to frown. "Who knows, it might have been a deliberate attempt at creating a beacon for travellers between the worlds like me, or to alert everyone of activity in the zone's core."

"A beacon to show you folks where our world lies or announce to us when someone crosses over from your side? Does the light do the same on your plane?"

"Nothing is the same on our plane, but I can't show you, can I? Many a human has tried to visit our world and few succeeded. Or none, to be more precise."

"None? I think it's kind of unfair that you can visit our world, but we are kept out of yours."

He folded his paws. "That's true, but it's not in my power to change it. Humans lack the incorporeality needed for the transfer."

This made sense, but I couldn't help wondering. "So, if not even Carroll or his famous protagonist, the real girl Alice, visited your plane, how could he write in so much detail about it?"

"Ah, you're jumping to wrong conclusions, my dear Lynn. Our plane doesn't look like Wonderland at all. Just because Carroll was fascinated by the fact of another reality doesn't mean he or Alice ever crossed over—or that his description is accurate. Give the man and his imagination some credit. Carroll may have glimpsed a few creatures in the friction zone, but his stories are his own invention."

"Creatures like you or the Jabberwocky?" I tried to process this additional information while I sorted a few books back into their slots. "I think I get the concept, or the gist of it." And I felt relieved that not even Cat denied us humans a sense of imagination and creativity. "Is it right then that not every character of every book is an inhabitant of your plane?"

"Not at all—I mean, yes, you're right. Most books in this library are just about real human beings and things happening in the long distant past, right? The author just tells the story of their own or another person's life, or of a war or something. I find it rather boring, to be honest." He yawned, showing off his adorable pink tongue.

"You're talking about history books and biographies, I reckon. Well, as always, it depends on the point of view. Many readers enjoy these books, since they offer a glimpse into another time or another person's life and mind. Also, some of these contain as much fiction as any science fiction or fantasy novel."

"Now that's an interesting notion—and explain perhaps a few weird encounters I had on my plane. But why would an author claim to write about actual events and then sneak in fictional parts?"

"Hm, I guess it's because every author hopes to get the readers' attention and praise. Some will go to great lengths to make their books attractive. And some might just prefer to convey a romanticised version of history."

Another sharp-toothed yawn. "Fine by me, but I still think filling whole books with facts about the everyday life on your plane is overrated. Aren't stories meant to open a door into a different world?"

"I guess that's one way to see it, and a valid one." His perspective caught my interest. "I agree, a story can be much more than just a retelling of facts, and more fun, too. But keeping records of things is also important, for the sake of archiving the history. How else can a future generation learn from the mistakes of the past?"

He squinted his eyes and hopped from the shelf onto my book trolley. "Interesting point. I have to think about this."

While I pushed my trolley with its passenger into the next aisle, he remained silent, his eyes closed. At my next stop, he blinked and glanced up at me.

"You made a good point, there, one I haven't considered yet. Seen like this, there is value in all these tomes." A sweep of his paw included the history section.

Who would have thought a week ago my temporary job would lead me to discuss philosophical questions with the Cheshire Cat? I withstood the temptation to pat his head. "There is. I believe every kind of book merits to be considered a contribution to our view of the world."

"You might be right. But the magic works best with genuine stories, not collections of naked facts."

"I agree. But talking of stories, you still haven't told me what's up with Luca. Why is he so special? I doubt he he falls into the category of persons appearing in a biography or a history book."

"No, since he is neither a politician, a soldier, nor a murderer."

I shook my head. "Cat, I bet there are more biographies of musicians, painters and other artists than of politicians and murderers in this library."

"Perhaps, I never checked. But Luca isn't a musician or a painter, either."

I had gathered as much. "Right, and since we have established now what he isn't, would you mind telling me what he is?" I was losing my patience again.

A blink of emerald eyes. "I don't know. And what's worse, he doesn't know either."

"Oh." That was a twist I hadn't expected. "I'm sorry. Is this the reason he always looks so sad?"

Cat scrunched his nose. "Does he? It's hard to read human expressions for me most of the time."

Fair, I found it hard to read Cat's expressions, too. But did I know Luca well enough to be sure? "Well, he's the first and only human from your plane I've met, and I might be wrong. So, let's say it's just his normal pale complexion. Then allow me another question. Why are the two of you so keen on me playing the matchmaker for Conny?"

As often, Cat answered with a question of his own. "What's wrong with helping a desperate person to find love?"

I heaved a voluminous encyclopaedia back onto its shelf. Who in the time of Google cared for so much accumulated wisdom in fine print on paper? "It's intruding—meddling with their lives. Besides, how would you want me to proceed?"

"That's easy. Just get her to acknowledge the man at that fancy event you're planning. Make them spend time in each other's company, or let them run a small errand together—you could ask them to fold paper napkins into tiny birds or something for the party."

The thought of Conny and Paco doing origami with napkins made me giggle, and I failed to imagine how I should task them with something as silly as this. The idea wasn't bad though, and I might find a similar job...

"Okay, Cat, I'll see what I can do." The words were not yet out of my mouth when—too late—regret hit. Where had my rock solid resolution to avoid this game gone? "But only if you answer my question. Why do you want me to do it in the first place?"

"Another easy one. Luca and I can't do it ourselves, can we? They both don't even acknowledge our existence."

He had a point, but it didn't explain his interest in Conny and Paco. "Hm, after all I've read about the Cheshire Cat, I can see him as someone who takes an interest in meddling with random strangers' feelings." This wasn't nice, and I knew it.

He sent me a stare like a sharp dagger. "Ha, that's unfair of you, but I'll forgive you since you don't know better, young woman. Many things have been spread about me through the centuries, and not all true and favourable." He licked a paw, an indignant gesture if I'd ever seen one. "Besides, Conny and Paco are not random strangers, but regular visitors to this friction zone. Since Luca and I live here too, we're allowed to take an interest, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry, Cat. I didn't mean to offend you. So, let's assume your motives are pure and altruistic. What about Luca? Why is he so interested in two strangers who can't see him?"

Cat squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them wide to give me a blank emerald stare. "Now, our friend Luca is an altogether special case."

"I gathered as much, but why's that?" I'd already lost hope this conversation was getting somewhere.

"Ah, did I mention it is possible for a human to glimpse an inhabitant of our plane in rare moments?"

"Cat, I glimpse you every free minute."

"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about humans without Marjorie's and your special talent."

Oh—he hadn't told me this before, and the implication that I had a special gift sent a shiver down my spine. "Okay, you're talking about adult people like Conny and Paco?"

"Yes, those who don't have your natural and accepting attitude towards things outside a human's narrow everyday scope."

Okay, put like this, my so-called gift at least didn't sound like a dangerous illness.

He blinked. "They might see one of us a in their dreams, perhaps, if they fall asleep in a friction zone. Or if they are in a relaxed state, drifting in the borderland between asleep and awake. Most of the time, they'll forget about it when they wake up and are distracted by other things. But with some people, those with a vivid imagination, an impression may linger."

I nodded. "It sounds weird but makes sense, I guess. Still, it doesn't explain why Luca is engaged in matchmaking."

Cat snorted. "As I told you before—when someone writes a book about a being from our world, it opens up the equivalent of a gate for us." He groomed his paw while I waited for him to continue. He took his sweet time. "Right. The more readers think about a protagonist, the stronger their connection to this world gets, facilitating the switching over. At least that's the normal way things happen, but Luca is a unique case." Another pause.

I moved my trolley to the next aisle, checking the front desk. No customers were standing around and waiting for my attention. "Go on, Cat, I don't have long."

"Right. My theory is that Luca's story was abandoned, never finished or made available to a greater public. This left him stuck halfway between our world and this one, with no possibility of leaving the limbo this library has become to him."