I opened my eyes, which was a challenge in itself. I didn't get much sleep last night, but not for reasons you'd probably assume. Many would probably think it was because I stayed up late because I was busy playing my Game Boy, or some other activity. Yet, they'd be wrong with their assumptions. I was actually busy creating the poison my parents adore so much. Alcohol.. It's actually rather simple, if you're aware of what you're doing that is. Plus, even if I wanted to play my Game Boy, I couldn't. It was snapped in half.

I looked over at my old clock, it was 9:31am. I would normally go back to bed at this hour, but today was Saturday. Meaning the library was open all day. I quickly stumbled out of bed, as I got out of bed, I tripped on a wooden plank that wasn't correctly nailed. I instantly hit my face on the floor. The fall created a loud bang, I was worried I awoke my parents, I heard no sound after the bang, so I shrugged off the fall. "Phew," I said, sighing.

I then walked over to my clothes pile, being careful to make no sound. I didn't have a dresser, so I simply stacked up my clothes in large piles. It probably looked lazy, but I couldn't say. I grabbed a pair of white boxers, a black shirt, a pair of dark blue pants, and two unmatching socks. The left was a long black sock, the right was a short black sock.

I quickly tore off the shirt I had on, and threw it into a pile of dirty clothes. Then I put on my new shirt. It had many wrinkles, but it was the best I had. Even though it was my best shirt, it still wasn't anything to show off. It had two holes, both where my arm pits were. At least these holes were easy to hide. Yet, they still made being in public restricting. I removed the shorts and boxers I was currently wearing, throwing them into the pile I had thrown the shirt. I then placed my boxer on, which like my shirt, had many flaws. They were rather small, and tended to create imprints on my skin, mainly around my waist and at the ends. Which wasn't all bad, it could be worse. The pants were probably the worst of the collection. They appeared to be more black then the dark blue they were originally. It became this way from the many falls I've had when outside. Stain, after stain, eventually leading to this color. With falls, holes also appear, exposing more and more skin. I then put on my mitch-match socks. They were surprisingly swell, the only flaw was the hole on the right sock. Which exposed my right big toe. With shoes, it makes it easy to hide.

At that point, I was practically finished. I quickly walked to the bathroom, making sure to avoid the creaking planks. Even with my extreme efforts, I wasn't succeeding in the slightest. I might have even been louder then if I wasn't trying. I eventually made it to the bathroom, I quickly grabbed my toothbrush and began to brush. The bristles were bended, so it made it hard to brush. I brushed quickly, mainly because I was in a hurry; as I brushed, my teeth ached slightly from how bristles were arranged, the speed I was going was probably a factor as well.

When I finished, I put down my tooth brush and ran to the door. I then placed my old shoes. Which weren't the pretties of sights. They surprisingly had no holes, but the souls of them were missing. To add to the misery, the heel on the left was falling off. I opened the door, then left. Shutting the door closed as I left.

One good thing about this hamlet, is it being so small. Which in a way is bad, but at least it makes transportation easy. I can literally run across the hamlet without hassle. Unless the thugs spot me that is. They aren't the nicest of people. They usually only take your money, (which I never have any) but after that- they give you a large beating.

I arrived at the library in less than a minute, and quickly walked in. "Hello Carter," A Liberian greeted from behind her desk. From my many visits, I've gotten to become good friends with Liberians here.

"Hi Miss Carthy!" I greeted back waving.

Miss Carthy waved back with a smile, "Have fun Dearie," She said.

"I will," I said, sounding sure of myself as I walked off deeper into the library.

Miss Carthy was a 72 year old woman. Her hair already grayed, and she wore large glasses. She used to be married, but with drama- can come divorce. Which sadly happened to her. She is extremely kind, and as long as you didn't damage one of her books, she tended to like about anyone. She always seemed unsure when being around other adults. She becomes nervous, and filled with anxiety. Most adults in the community don't even come to the library, mainly because most are illiterate. That, or they're too drunk.

As I walked, I felt- odd. Like something was pulling me towards a certain object in the library. I moved towards this object, confused what it could be. I eventually found an odd book that was so large that it was only half way on the shelf. I tried to pick it up, I failed instantly and the book crashed onto the floor. It missed my feet by mere millimeters. (One Millimeter is 0.0393701 inches) "Ahh!" I yelped jumping backwards.

Miss Carthy rushed over looking worried, "Are you okay?" She asked, breathing heavily from her run.

"Ya- I'm fine," I replied with pain in my voice, putting up a shaky thumbs up.

"That's good, I was worried," She said letting out a sigh.

"Thanks for worrying," I said smiling slightly.

"Of course," She said heading off again.

I looked over at the odd book. It was huge, how could someone even read this thing, it was also kinda creepy. It had a large eye in the center, which was now closed. The eye looked extremely realistic, as if it was recently removed from a large creature. To add to the creepy effect, it also had what looked to be dark veins, that bulged out from the cover of the book. I then opened the book, the first page was rather simple and empty. It read, "ｲん乇 丂ｱ乇ﾚﾚ 乃ののズ" I looked at the almost empty page in wonder, curious about what this book was about. The book seemed to be old, the pages were more of a yellow then white, and the pages were no longer smooth. I turned to the next page, it was a table revealing where the chapters were located.

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 1: 丂ㄩ爪爪ㄖ几丨几Ꮆ, 卩Ꮆ1-105

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 2: ㄒ尺卂几丂千ㄖ尺爪卂ㄒ丨ㄖ几, 卩Ꮆ106-209

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 3: 匚尺乇卂ㄒㄩ尺乇丂 ㄖ千 ㄒ卄乇 几丨Ꮆ卄ㄒ, 卩Ꮆ 210-321

The chapters went on and on, with what seemed to have no end.

I then closed the book. What I saw placed shivers down my back, the eye- was now open.. It was also extremely familiar, I then realized- it looked like my own..

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Word Count: 1305

Published Date:August 17th, 2020. Monday, at 9:08am.(Est)