The Library - a photo on Flickriver

The Library

Be sure to read the first three parts of the story here: one, two, and three.

As the leaves turned to orange and then to brown, George spent most of his days in the archivist’s library. Like his mother before him, he spent hours reading everything he could find about the mysterious machine. Sometimes the archivist would join him, reading aloud from old volumes while George listened carefully and took notes. Other times he would sprawl out on the carpet in front of the fire and read, or just stare into the crackling flames and hope.
It was in these autumn days that George came to think of the archives as his home. While he still visited the clocktower once or twice a week, it was a chilly task, and he would return cold from the early fall winds, ready to sit in front of the fire, read, and dream. He intended to learn all he could this fall and winter, and set off as soon as the warmth of spring arrived. This would ensure a safer trip, with no fear of the dreadful winter blizzards.
Also during these fall days he began to make preparations for the journey. As he learned more about what he would need, he found ways to acquire it. He was a hardworking young man, the type that was willing to work to get what he wanted. By autumn’s end he had acquired a small airship of his own. It was a dingy, dirty thing that no one wanted, but the archivist was kind enough to let him dock it behind the archives. And so, for several hours each day, George would bundle up, head outside, and work on the airship. By the time it was too cold to work, George had it shipshape and cleaned up nicely.
As autumn turned to winter, George taught himself all the skills he needed to maneuver the small craft. He also learned the mechanics of the ship, so he could repair almost anything that could go wrong. Next, he turned his attention to geography, studying all the known islands, in an attempt to navigate his course to where no man had sailed in recent memory. He studied the stars, and how to navigate using astronomy, for when he reached places labeled on no map.
And as winter turned to spring, he studied history. He delved into the annals of all the wandering skies found in the archives. He read stories of civilizations long gone, learned what technologies they used, and how they guarded their secrets. He read volume after volume describing this thinking machine; its rise and its fall.
And through it all, he dreamed. He dreamed of finding his mother again. He dreamed of freeing the children in the factory. He dreamed of returning no longer a nobody, but a hero. The boy who finally found the lost machine, and bent it to his will. He dreamed because he had hope. And that hope would carry him through a long and arduous journey, for soon it was time to leave.
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This was built for the Seasonal Bliss category of the Wandering Skies contest 2024, emphasizing the cozy blissful feeling while reading by a warm fire as the leaves turn orange in the crisp autumn air outside.
Thanks for checking it out,
Math Wizard

Taken on: October 17, 2024

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