She enjoyed the old tales. Stories of magic, fantasy, and times gone by. Things were simpler then, and held none of the trappings of modern life and the burden of society. She wanted–needed an escape, and she knew these tales were the key to what she desired.
She spent hours buried in dusty tomes; eschewing her daily existence for the fantasy worlds she created around herself. She neither heard nor cared about the pleas of concern issued in her direction. She would find her happiness, and they would eat their words.
She wandered down the street in the picturesque, older part of town. It was quieter, calmer here, and there were plenty of shops she’d yet to explore. The warm summer day begged for doors to open, and a fragrant breeze danced along the tree-lined avenue.
She smiled as the scent of dust and old leather mixed with the heady fragrance of flowers and sun-soaked pavement. She swept up her heavy skirts, and set herself to discovering what delights this bookseller had to offer.
The young man lounging behind the counter looked up startled by the appearance of someone dressed so lavishly on such a sweltering day. He waved, and stood up to offer assistance.
“Is there anything special you’re looking for today?” he asked.
She looked up startled and looked around blankly for a moment.
“Old books,” she stammered. “Lots of old books.”
He chuckled lightly. “Try the back corner,” he said. “Plenty of old, rare stuff back there.”
She dipped into a curtsy and disappeared between the shelves and found her way to the back corner of the store. She ran her fingers lovingly over cracked and crumbling spines. She was lost in the revelry of being among old tomes, and didn’t feel the electricity in the air building steadily around her.
Her eyes fell on a gleaming black leather cover of a book nestled on a shelf all its own. She couldn’t read the bright red title, but the beauty of the book intrigued her, and she was drawn to it without quite knowing why.
She reached her hand out and the lights flickered, but she simply had to caress such a beautiful old book. As her fingers brushed the cover the world started to spin, and she screamed.
The shelves shook as a tremor ran through them. The book fell from the shelf and thudded to the floor. Its pages fluttered open revealing a ghastly portrait of a women chained in a damp dungeon.
The caption under the picture read:
Understand your wishes before you make them.
Scribble City: Write Now 