Stories Attack

Justin sat at the library table, the one place he found comfort when he felt down. Being surrounded by piles and piles of books filled with faraway stories and tidy endings was his favorite feeling. Clara tapped him on the shoulder. He didn’t even realize she had sat down.

“You alright?” she asked.

Justin groaned as he dropped his head into his crossed arms, lying on the table.

“What happened?”

“Kayla dumped me.”

“What is that, like your fourth one in two years?”

Justin’s head shot straight up. “Celia doesn’t count. We had one dinner.”

“Kayla makes four.”

Justin dropped again.

“You refused to take the blame for something, didn’t you?” Clara asked knowingly.

Justin turned his head sideways so his mouth was free to move. “Is it my fault the stove in the girls’ dorm gets hotter than the one in the boys’?”

“Really?”

“After all, she’s the one that left me unattended.”

“Justin!”

Before Justin could react, everyone in the library hushed them.

Clara whispered, “Can we please go somewhere we can actually talk?”

Justin said as he turned his face back into his arms, “Just leave me alone.”

Clara stood up. “Come on.” She tugged on his arm, making his face hit the table.

“Hey!” Justin snapped.

They got more shushes.

Justin groaned and followed Clara.

They walked to his dorm and sat in their usual places, Justin in the chair and Clara on the bed. He didn’t have enough room for another chair, and he sure wasn’t going to let Clara sit on the one with no cushion.

“Why do you never admit to being the one at fault? It’s the reason you’re single… again.”

Justin crossed his arms. “Not everything is my fault.”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact I can’t bring us into another story.”

“How is that not your fault?”

“Because you don’t believe it can happen again. I can’t work with a doubter.”

Clara crossed her arms. “I believed the first two attempts. It’s the third time I stopped. It’s all on you.”

Justin dropped once more.

Clara added, “Besides, who ever heard of stories coming to life?”

“Stories themselves don’t come to life, you doubter. That’s a different concept altogether.”

“Alright, tell me. What is it like for stories to come to life?”

“Well…” Justin thought hard. He could see it in his mind, but how to describe it eluded him. “Well, you see, the difference is the things that come alive are the elements in the story. The people, the-the animals, the objects. The stories themselves are everything all at once. Maybe…” Justin felt like he was losing the argument, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “It depends on the format of the story.”

“The format?” Clara asked incredulously.

“Yeah. Is it on paper? In a computer? How was it written? With letters or is it an audiobook?” Justin began drifting in his thoughts, trying to understand them more than he was trying to convince Clara.

“When stories come to life, they don’t have bodies. They’re just dreams, at first. That’s why there are letters. They’re the gateway to a world that previously only existed in the author’s brain. When stories come to life, it’s harder, because certain elements can come out, but if it’s the whole story, it’s a whole world within our own. So, in order for them to live without destroying everything around them, they must stay in the bodies provided for them. The books, the pages, the letters.”

He stood from the chair as he continued. “You see, they stand, and look around. They stretch and yawn in such a strange way because they don’t have arms… or legs. Their form is created by the letters. But they have to maintain their order, or the story is lost. It’d be a mixed alphabet. See them… they come to us now… Look at them… They want to say hello. But… Some are not so nice. You see, some are darker genres than others. It’s not their fault. They just… they have a natural inclination to attack.”

“Justin! Make them stop!”

Justin opened his eyes to see three little paperback books trying to kick at Clara’s shins. They didn’t have legs, just like he said. Instead, they were wiggling and hitting her with the corners of their covers. The pages swung and closed to create the desired movement.

“It worked! It worked!” Justin cried, dancing in a circle around the room.

Clara curled into a tight ball on Justin’s bed. “Yeah, it worked! Now get them to stop!”

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This story is a continuation of “The Door of Nowhere,” which can be found in Adventuring Together: A Flash Fiction Anthology, Season One. You can read this collection for free and learn more about Justin and Clara’s friendship. Download now from Amazon or Nook.

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