Silent

The books were lined perfectly along their shelves

Battlements of knowledge

An army of thoughts

I eased my way between the stacks

Careful with each footfall

Paying heed the warnings given

“Oh sure plenty of value to be found there

In thought or coin the library’s a trove

Though…

You must be quiet…”

I slid past adult fiction

Approaching the archive and rare books

I held my backpack before me

Hands gripping the tools within tight

No jingle or rattle would I allow escape

The cabinet stood before me

Cracked leather spines

Cloth worn down to wood

Each one worth enough to feed me for months

Gently I set the backpack down

Undoing the strap which held it closed

I lifted from within my lock pick set

With nimble fingers I tested the size of the lock and tumblers within

When satisfied I began gently lifting and testing each one

Finding the order in which to move them

And the height at which they caught

A smile broke over my face

As I managed the final tumbler

Slowly

Carefully

I turned the lock

Then

click

It turned and opened for me

I had a sack within my backpack

Which I then pulled out

And with greatest care

Lowered the tomes within

A bible

Illuminated and gilded

A Tree of Codes

Barely held together

On the Origin of Species

Signed too infact

creeeeak

Behind me

I didn’t look

I simply grabbed my bag

And ran

Ran with all my might

Behind me something hissed

Serpentine

But footfalls crashed as it followed

Barreling ever closer

I felt the breath

Its labored heat

The doors but feet away

The moment I passed the threshold

The sound stopped

Replaced instead

By churring crickets

And a gentle breeze

Which were quick drowned out

By my own panting

Keeled over

And clutching my books

Months of food

Waiting to be traded

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