Welcome Everyone!

In the cold of winter, Shadow the Hedgehog stops in a small town.While officially boasting a sizeable number of citizens, they are scattered with large swathes of fields between them, making the actual town center a small, homely place. One where he could explore every nook and cranny in maybe half an hour, if he took his time.

It is in this town that he happens to stop in front of the public library, only marked as such by a small sign on an otherwise unassuming brick building. The windows are illuminated by the soft glow of fairy lights, and the cheery faces of various snowmen grin at him from the window pictures.

Shadow peers at it, watching it from a safe distance. He’s visited his share of libraries since his life on Mobius began, from gigantic university libraries to regular public libraries. None of them had looked this… quaint. What knowledge could possibly wait for him there? Nothing but old, outdated books.

And yet… his hand is already on the door handle. The door groans welcomingly and a wall of warm air wafts over him, pausing him in his step. From behind the information desk situated a bit to the side, a blue cat beams at him and whispers a “Good morning!” so jovially, he almost considers turning on his heel. Instead, he simply nods in return and stalks inside.

His eyes roam over the big shelves filling out the floor. Old, wrinkled, dusty books huddle against the scarcer shiny, new books. While he intends to stride past the children’s section as quickly as possible and see what non-fiction they have for adults, his eyes catch on something. He stops in front of a shelf that’s barely as tall as himself labelled “Fairytales and Legends”, an untidy shelf full of books in mismatching formats. Something draws him to it, makes him trail his finger along the spines as he slowly walks down the aisle.

There, hidden between two oversized fairytale books, he finds a book he recognizes. One he had almost forgotten, barely able to recall its story. But suddenly the memory is crystal clear, of reading it together with Maria, sharing a blanket, safe, sound. The many, many times she had him read it to her, ostensibly to exercise his vocal cords. Owning it is the one misdeed she had ever committed, because it had been a library book she’d smuggled onboard the ARK and never returned. The same old book he is cradling almost reverently in his hands. The pages are yellowed, the spine creased, the smell musty. His eyes scan over the text on the back before he opens it. Attached to the front endpaper is a list with stamps marking the due date. At the top, dates from long ago, more than 60 years. They go down almost the entire page, showing how often the book has been checked out. Then a date a bit over 50 years ago – the last on the list, with empty space underneath it.

Shadow freezes.

It can’t be. He knows it can’t be, it’s impossible that it would have found its way here, how could it have? This can’t be Maria’s copy. Not here, in this random library in a town she wouldn’t have ever seen. He knows this, yet his fingers tremble as he carefully turns the pages.

Something inside him, something misplaced… settles. It becomes easier to breathe, and like something around his heart unwound, he feels lighter. There may even be a smile curling at the edge of his lips as he skims the text.