María continued rummaging through the bookshelves, running her fingers quickly along the spines, but to no avail.

Minutes passed, and the weight of the task began to sink her into despair.

‘Not a single book about aura!’ María thought, as her frustration grew.

Hugo, impatient, turned to her with an expression of exasperation. “

Hurry up! How much longer is it going to take?”

María, who was on a ladder on one of the taller bookshelves, felt a chill run down her spine.

Hugo's words made her speed up her clumsy, nervous movements, until a misstep caused the ladder to wobble.

Suddenly, she felt the emptiness beneath her feet and knew she was falling.

She screamed and closed her eyes, expecting the impact with the floor that never came.

With her eyes still closed, she realized that although she should have been falling, she was suddenly motionless.

María cautiously opened her eyes and found herself floating inches from the ground.

The shock left her speechless; she could feel the magic enveloping her, a strange and almost imperceptible sensation, like a faint tingling on her skin.

She had never experienced anything like it before.

“Stop wasting time and keep looking for the book,” Hugo said to her in his impassive tone, as if he hadn't just saved her from a painful fall.

María swallowed hard and nodded, still a bit bewildered.

Just then, Aria, who had been watching in silence, raised a finger and pointed to a high section of another shelf.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“That book says aura.”

María, still recovering from the scare, stood up with effort and moved the ladder to the new location.

She climbed carefully, this time making sure not to repeat the same mistake.

When she reached the top, she saw a red book with the word ‘aura’ clearly written on the spine.

‘How did I not see it before…?’

María felt a bit foolish, but at least she had found it.

With the book in hand, Hugo, seeing her rush, yelled at her:

“Be careful.”

‘Damn it, I know!’ María thought, gritting her teeth as she descended more cautiously.

Upon reaching the ground, she handed the book to Hugo, hoping this would end her torment.

However, Hugo, without even looking up from the book, ordered:

“Keep looking, there are more.”

María froze for a moment, her mind screaming:

‘What?!’

María felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as she looked at the vast number of books that still remained to be searched.

Despite everything, she sighed, and with the weight of fatigue on her shoulders, she climbed the ladder once more.

Each step felt higher and heavier than the last.

Once at the top, she began to search with her eyes for the books she needed. However, her eyes began to burn, and her vision became blurry.

María blinked several times, trying to clear her sight, but the effort only made the pain in her eyes worse.

‘Why is reading so difficult?’ María thought as she noticed how hard it was for her to read the book titles fluently, feeling as if the words were blending into one another.

María tried to concentrate, but suddenly she felt a sharp movement beneath her feet. The ladder wobbled, and a sudden fright surged through her.

María clung to the nearest rung, her heart racing as the ladder threatened to collapse.

She was sure she was going to fall, but, to her surprise, she felt as if an invisible force stabilized the ladder in place.

“I told you to be careful,” Hugo’s voice rang out harshly, his tone laden with impatience and reproach. He watched her from below with a stern expression. “If you don’t focus, this will take longer than necessary. There’s still a lot of work left, so concentrate.”

María nodded weakly, swallowing her frustration and exhaustion.

The ladder was stable again, but the tremor in her hands didn’t fade.

She knew she had no choice but to keep searching, even though her body was begging for a break.

María took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and resumed her search, battling against the weight of fatigue and the pressure Hugo imposed on her.

‘Just a few more books…,’ María repeated to herself to stay motivated, even as the words continued to blend together.

Every second in that library felt eternal, and María couldn’t help but wonder how much longer she could endure before collapsing from sheer exhaustion.