Finish the story - The Library That Wasn't There

11:23 pm

I had another weird dream tonight, and honestly, I'm starting to think my brain is just messing with me at this point.

So I was in the school library, except it wasn't just the library. Like, the bookshelves were still there, but between them were these massive trees growing straight through the floor. The carpet had moss on it. There were roots coming up through the tile near the checkout desk. And somehow, this all felt completely normal.

I was supposed to be finding Ms. Dai's classroom because we had some kind of assignment due, and I was already late. The problem was that the library kept going. Like, I'd walk past the fiction section, and suddenly I was in a clearing with ferns everywhere, and then I'd see the reference books hanging from tree branches like some kind of deranged Christmas ornaments.

I grabbed one of the hanging books to see if it had a map or something useful, but it was just a copy of Little Women. Cool. Very helpful.

That's when I saw Daniel.

He was crouched next to this giant mushroom growing out of what used to be the computer lab, and he was... I don't even know. Poking it? Whispering to it? He looked up at me, made direct eye contact, and then licked the mushroom.

I just stood there.

"...Daniel."

He swallowed thoughtfully.

"What?"

"You licked the mushroom."

"No."

I blinked.

"...No?"

"I tasted it."

I stared at him for a solid five seconds.

"Those are not different things."

"They are if you're committed."

Before I could ask what that meant, the mushroom gave a tiny, satisfied hum.

Daniel nodded.

"See? It likes compliments."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"No, I mean... did you just say the mushroom likes compliments?"

He looked at me like I was the strange one.

"Obviously."

The mushroom puffed out a little cloud of glowing blue spores.

"That means thank you," Daniel explained.

"I don't remember asking."

"You didn't. It asked me to tell you."

I looked at the mushroom.

The mushroom... somehow looked back.

"Right."

Without another word, I turned around.

"I'm leaving."

"You can't."

I sighed.

"Why?"

"Because you're late."

"I know I'm late."

"No," Daniel said. "You're 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 late."

Before I could ask what that meant, a school bell rang somewhere in the distance.

Every bird in the trees stopped singing.

Every leaf stopped moving.

Even the mushroom went quiet.

Something heavy echoed through the forest.

Thunk.

Daniel's face lost all expression.

"Oh."

"Oh what?"

"Run."

"For what?"

Another thunk.

Closer this time.

"You'll see."

"I don't want to 'see.' I want to wake up."

"Yeah."

He nodded sympathetically.

"We all did."

That sentence should have worried me.

Instead, I was distracted by the fact that the trees had quietly rearranged themselves into bookshelves.

A wooden sign rose from the moss.

NON-FICTION

Another appeared beside it.

OVERDUE STUDENTS

"...That's a joke, right?"

Daniel didn't answer.

From somewhere beyond the trees, footsteps echoed.

Slow.

Steady.

A woman stepped into the clearing carrying a clipboard.

It was Ms. Dai.

She looked exactly the same as always.

Same glasses.

Same neat ponytail.

Same disappointed expression she wore whenever someone forgot homework.

She glanced at me.

Then at her clipboard.

Then back at me.

"You're forty-three minutes late."

I laughed.

Nobody else did.

"I've been lost in a forest."

She frowned.

"No."

She pointed behind me.

"Library."

I turned around.

The towering oak beside me had little white labels running down its trunk.

500 – Science

600 – Technology

A squirrel climbed past carrying three overdue library books.

I looked back at Ms. Dai.

"...I'm going to stop asking questions."

"Excellent," she said. "You're learning."

She pulled a single sheet of paper from her clipboard and handed it to me.

At the top, in neat black letters, it read:

Assignment 7

Find the Exit.

I looked up.

"...That's it?"

"Yes."

"Where is the exit?"

Ms. Dai smiled.

The kind of smile teachers save for trick questions.

"If I told you..."

She adjusted her glasses.

"...it wouldn't be much of an assignment, would it?"I stared at the assignment sheet.

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Then at Ms. Dai.

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Then at the forest-library around me.

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"Just to be clear..."

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I held up the paper.

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"My homework is to escape a magical forest that is also my school library?"

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Ms. Dai nodded.

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"Yes."

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"And this is normal?"

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"Not particularly."

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I felt slightly relieved.

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"Finally. Someone admits it."

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She tilted her head.

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"I meant it is normal for this assignment."

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The relief disappeared.

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"Of course it is."

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Daniel walked over and looked at my paper.

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"You're lucky."

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"How?"

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"Last year's assignment was worse."

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I looked at him.

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"What was it?"

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"Find a missing book."

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"That doesn't sound bad."

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"It was the book."

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I waited.

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"The book was missing itself."

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I decided not to ask.

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At this point, curiosity was becoming a safety hazard.

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Ms. Dai tapped her clipboard.

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"You have until the final bell."

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"And what happens if I don't finish?"

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She looked toward the trees.

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The trees looked back.

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I did not like that.

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"Then you stay."

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"Stay where?"

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The birds above us suddenly started reciting multiplication tables again.

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Daniel answered quietly.

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"Here."

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I looked around.

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The glowing mushrooms.

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The walking books.

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The squirrels with overdue notices.

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The trees pretending not to listen.

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"How long?"

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Daniel shrugged.

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"Depends."

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"On what?"

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"On when you find the exit."

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"That's not an answer."

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"It's the only answer."

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I sighed.

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This was officially the strangest day of my life.

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And considering I once accidentally walked into the wrong classroom and sat through fifteen minutes of a chemistry lecture before realizing I wasn't supposed to be there, that was saying something.

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I looked down at the assignment.

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Find the Exit.

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Simple enough.

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Except the problem was...

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There were no doors.

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No hallways.

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No signs pointing anywhere useful.

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Just endless shelves, trees, and suspiciously intelligent mushrooms.

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I turned to Daniel.

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"Where do I start?"

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He pointed.

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I followed his finger.

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At the edge of the clearing stood a small wooden sign.

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I walked closer.

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It had only two words written on it.

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EXIT →

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I smiled.

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"Finally."

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I took one step forward.

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The sign immediately rotated.

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The arrow moved.

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Now it pointed behind me.

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I stopped.

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"Did the sign just move?"

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Daniel nodded.

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"Yeah."

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"Why?"

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He shrugged.

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"Some exits like attention."

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I stared at him.

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"That sentence should not exist."

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"You're getting used to it."

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I hated that he was right.

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Behind us, the school bell rang again.

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Ms. Dai checked her watch.

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"Forty minutes remaining."

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The trees whispered.

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The books rustled.

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The mushroom beside Daniel opened one tiny eye.

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"Good luck," it said.

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I froze.

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"You can talk?"

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The mushroom looked offended.

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"I've been talking this entire time."

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I looked at Daniel.

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"You could have mentioned that?"

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"You didn't ask."

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I opened my mouth.

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Closed it.

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Then opened it again.

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There was no possible response to that.

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So I did the only logical thing.

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I followed the moving exit sign deeper into the forest.

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Because apparently that was my life now.

---

The sign led me through three different sections of the library.

Which would have been impressive if those sections had made any sense.

The first was Fiction.

The second was apparently "Extremely Fiction."

I did not know books could become more fictional than fiction, but I had stopped questioning things after the talking mushroom.

Finally, the sign stopped beside a plain wooden door.

No glowing symbols.

No magical vines.

No suspiciously judgmental birds.

Just a door.

I reached for the handle.

"Wait."

I looked back.

Daniel was staring at it.

"What?"

He hesitated.

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

I frowned.

"Yes?"

He nodded slowly.

"That's usually what people say."

"Usually?"

Before he could answer, the door creaked open by itself.

Behind it was my normal school library.

No trees.

No moss.

No mushrooms.

Just bookshelves and a very tired-looking librarian.

I stepped through.

The moment my foot touched the carpet, everything disappeared behind me.

I turned around.

Nothing.

Just a normal wall.

I sighed in relief.

Then the librarian looked up.

"Finished?"

I froze.

"Finished what?"

She pointed at the paper in my hand.

The assignment.

Except now, beneath Find the Exit, there was a new line.

Student successfully escaped.

I stared.

"How long was I gone?"

The librarian checked the clock.

"About five minutes."

I blinked.

"Five minutes?"

She nodded.

"Dreams are strange like that."

I looked down at the paper.

At the very bottom, someone had written a note.

𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣.

𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴.

I slowly looked at the librarian.

"Did Daniel write this?"

She smiled.

"No."

A pause.

"Daniel was never a student here."

I stared at her.

Then at the note.

Then back at her.

"...I'm going to pretend that makes sense."

The librarian returned to her book.

"Good choice."

And honestly?

After everything that happened...

That was probably the smartest decision I'd made all night.

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