By: Corrine Hung

Vivia wandered through the library on a scorching summer day. As a librarian at the Bookstore Library, she was approached by a calm voice at the counter.

“Vivia, could you please place this stack of books on the fantasy shelf?”

Another woman’s tone filled with sadness added, “Oh, Vivia, could you also carry this stack for me? I fear I won’t find the time.”

“Fine, I’ll handle it,” said Vivia.

As the youngest worker at this library, Vivia has been called to do all the handy tasks. However, she’s okay with all these since this is the only job she has ever done where she doesn’t need to work so hard. Vivia also worked at a coffee shop, a bookstore, and a restaurant before, where her bosses entrusted her with almost every responsibility, especially at the restaurant.

Vivia shivered at the thought of her boss; she then walked to the fantasy shelf and put down those books. Surprisingly, after placing the books down, she saw a book that caught her interest. “Evil,” she mumbled, “I’ve never seen this book before.” She then looked around, not seeing anyone.

“If I only take a peek at this…nobody will notice,” she thought as she turned to the first page, then a note fell out. “what’s this?” she thought as she read the note:

“In pages penned, a tale unfolds,

A story bound, its secrets told.

But hark, dear reader, lend an ear,

For within these lines, a plea is clear.

Pause, and reflect on what this verse conceives.

In every chapter, a hidden decree,

To free yourself, set your thoughts free.”

Vivia looked at the note, not knowing why, but she suddenly felt frightened and curious. Frightened of the unknown person behind all this, but curious why the person did so. Who is the person? She decided to look over the shelves and check if there were any other notes. She removed all the books on the shelves, but she only found a pen. Then an awful idea came out of her mind. She opened the book again and wrote her question on the back of the note.

“What do you mean when you say to set thoughts free?

What is the hidden decree?

And also, I’m not doing sentence number three.

But no fear, I just want to question you and see if you can leave me another key.”

After she finished her writing, she smiled and put it back in the book, wishing that one day she could get a reply.

Time flies, and it’s already been a month since Vivia found the mysterious note. And since then, she always looks at the book to see if there are new notes.

After finishing her job today, she went to see the book again. Much to her astonishment, she discovered a new note in the book. She had already checked it at least eight times and didn’t really believe that someone would really answer her. She happily reads it out loud.

“To the one who took this book in hand,

I won’t answer your question as planned.

Do not dwell in confusion’s abyss,

Carry on, write no more strange tales,

…and find a life where sorrow will cease.”

“Hmm… What does “sorrow” mean? ” Vivia pondered the words for a while.

Then, she took out her pen and disobeyed the note saying, “write no more strange tails”. She wrote out questions again. But this time, the note was simple “Who are you?” After writing that, Vivia returned the note and went home. However, little did she know a man was looking at her in the dark. From that day on, no one has ever seen Vivia, like she’s gone in the dark. Yes, and none of her parents or friends notice. If you ask them about Vivia, they will answer, “Who is that?”