Justin laid in bed, not being able to sleep once again. He had insisted to Adius that he didn’t need any help, and that he could absolutely fall asleep on his own. He had never had any issues before. He had been kept awake from the noises on the floor below him, wrapping up for the day as they, too, wanted rest, putting objects away and preparing for the next day. Now, the sounds were over, and it had been dead silent for what felt like several hours.

  It wasn’t his fondness of the past which kept him thinking, but the opposite—the barrage of his new life happening to him, and his anxiety from it. A constant battle inside of him fought, the two ideas, trying not to worry about everything that was taking place around him, and the fact that what was happening was lucid and livid, pushing its way back into slot #1 in his brain as the other attempted to win in the footrace, ultimately falling short again, as it had the previous twenty-five times. Staring at the black wall in from of him, he looked at the door. Though he could not make it out, a tiny sliver of light could make itself bigger at any point if it wanted, as if it were inevitable, baking a warm glow into the darkness, forcing itself into the bedroom, as if light itself was looking for a place to hide. This was a new confliction, one that didn’t have any basis, as with many thoughts within the brain at any given time, popping in and retreating. Yet some stuck.

  Adius was sound asleep. Justin could feel it.

  Noon broke the next day, and Justin decided he would return to the library to escape. Looking at the numerous works, he had finally found one to ease his mind: A book of poetry. Justin was never a person who indulged in poems, nevertheless he picked it, turning to a page that interested him.

In His wake I do wonder

Why every man asunder

Every woman and child, too,

That begs for reverence of someone who

Tries but doth not succeed.

Causing unfortunate calamity

Amongst the people, he must decide

Who will live and who will die,

For he will never cease to put forth

A bade in seeing their lives come apart.

For he has no shame, no understanding, nor

Faith in ones’ own people, he shall awake

A new group, one of more confidence

And one with less defiance

Towards him, so that he shall not have

To murder them in risk of becoming deprave.

Under one’s own life, common man wonder

How he who he raised under

Could possibly cause a stir like none other

Truly, this causes the biggest blunder

Of them all.

  It was surely thought-provoking. He could only wonder if it was based on true events? Flipping to the next page, there was another, this time shorter poem.

In a dream, I do lay

For my dream, I do say

Was well underway

To put my mind at bay.

And so I rest,

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

My mind, by behest,

Was put to the test

In doing what it does best.

  The collection was titled: Rusk S. Kairne: A Life’s Work. Instead of checking out the book, however, Justin considered keeping it on the shelf, coming back to it to look into if he needed.

  “Oh, that is a good read,” The black rabbit behind the desk said, “Very informative!”

  “Hey, what’s your name?” Justin had never asked the librarian.

  “Burian, Burian Laringer, and yours?”

  “Justin.”

  “Ah, nice to meet you Justin. I would shake your hand, but mine are full” Joan joked, papers scattered in front of him on his desk.

  “You own this library?”

  “I operate it, yes. My father owns it but I will end up inheriting it. My brother used to sit behind this desk, but sadly he passed.”

  “Oh, sorry for your loss.”

  “Yes, it was very sad... I never intended to be surrounded by books all of my life. I get too engrossed in my work, but I feel I should do it for my father. He’s too old to run this place; he would be sad to see his work go to waste.”

  “These are all his books?”

  Yes. He was an avid reader. He enjoyed collecting, as you can see.” Joan looked from side to side marveling at the shelves. “Unfortunately... My father will pass soon, too. He’s holding on, always has...” Joan picked up a stamp beside him and marked a paper. “Late.” Justin chuckled. “Sometimes it amazes me how many book around here are late.”

  “I guess they can’t put ‘em down!”

  “I’ll say!” The two laughed.

  “Well, nice meeting you,” Justin said.

  “Yes, you too. I appreciate you listening to my rambling.” Joan smiled, with Justin giving a narrow smile back.

  Adius’ body sprung up forcefully, flying without wings as he lauched himself higher, again and again, like he had done so many times before. His weight formed an arc, barely grazing the crossbar, and immediately, he understood he would need to do it again. Turning to his back, he spread out wide, allowing gravity to bring down his disappointment in himself as he hit the landing area with a thud. Sinking, Adius laid on the padding, thinking about what he and Justin were going to do. What to actually do in this day-to-day boredom without his duties, without Justin’s whatever-he-had back home, and he sighed.

  Adius looked to his left, watching Wyver run at a peculiar angle—up. He sat up, now seeing Wyver run normally around the large track encompassing the various sports activities. His friend had always been an athletic prowess, putting himself outside as if by an uncontrollable force every day, no matter if he had had his duties recently or not, and it showed. Adius was self conscious about how much stronger Wyver was than himself, but it didn’t matter now, now that he couldn’t put his strength to good use day after day, at least, not like he used to.

   The mat beneath him began to burn under the sun, and he rolled off. His streak of touching the crossbar was now at 5, and he needed to break it if he wanted to subtly show off to his friend at the upcoming fair, showing him in a ‘Hey, I can do it, too’ sort of way. His friend always took small jabs at him, boosting their own ego with claims and boasting about their personal goals they had completed recently. ‘I ran five miles in ten minutes.’ He remembered him specifically saying, and while it may have been impressive, two people were able to play the game. If he wanted to prove something to Wyver, he could afford no mistakes. His goal? Ten trials with no crossbar contact. As Adius walked to the beginning, his vaulters pole in hand, he had to admit, having an exercising addiction didn’t sound so bad. Lining up, looking forward to the exhilaration of the swing and row, Adius took another breath and started again.