"Do you have any books on grief?"
The librarian looks up at Darry and raises her eyebrows. She doesn't have any glasses on, which is a bit disturbing. Librarians should wear glasses.
"I'm afraid you're gonna need to be a bit more specific, hon."
"Well, my brother, his best friend, uh— he died a couple weeks ago. My brother isn't really functioning, he's forgetting everything, and I— I think he's a bit numb. And I don't know how to help him. He's always liked to read, so..."
"Alright." She stands up. "Do you want a guidebook on how to cope with grief, or a novel where the characters have to cope with it so he can feel accompanied?"
Darry stares at her hopelessly.
"I'll show you both, then."
Fifteen minutes later, Darry has three books in his hands: Healing After Loss, The Grief Recovery Handbook, and Guiding Your Child Through Loss.
The librarian — Stacy, she's called — tells him they're easy to get through, but Darry knows he won't actually read them. Even if he had the time, he wouldn't want to.
"Okay, so these are fine for me, but my brother, he really likes fiction? Even poetry sometimes, I think. Is there anything for him, or something he might like to read...?"
"Oh!" Stacy looks up at him, suddenly excited. "He likes poetry? I just got this book a couple weeks ago..."
She starts walking away so quickly Darry struggles to keep up.
"The Words You Kept by Todd Anderson?"
She nods at him. "It's a series of poems that tell a love story from beginning to end. It starts when they meet. The girl dies around halfway through, and a large part of it is the author's musings about grief and death." She pauses for a second. "I cried at the end, but it really gives the story a sort of clean ending. Nothing is clean about grief, of course, but eventually you learn to live with it. Very, very touching, and I recommend it if your brother likes poetry."
Darry takes the book in his hand. Feels its weight.
"Alright. I'll take these four, I think."
"Great." They walk back to her desk. "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. "
"It's fine. Not your fault."
She nods and takes a seat. "Right. Could you hand me your library card?"
He stares at her blankly.
"Alright. Let's make you a library card."
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