it wasn’t RARE for alaska to struggle reaching things that were,                     well, high and, consequentially, out of reach for her and her                     ridiculously small height. the matron had told her a million times                     that, FIRST OF ALL, a woman shouldn’t read as much as she did                     and, SECOND OF ALL, she shouldn’t stand on chairs for reaching                     a certain shelf. but there she was, doing both of those things. her                     logic: the times were changing and she REALLY, REALLY                     wanted to reach that x thing that was too high.

                    she lived with a matron since her father had sent her away from                     the small, lost-in-space town alaska was from. the matron was                     harsh and distant most of the time, strict every second of every                     day unless she woke up with the right foot and alaska did everything                     properly (which, let’s be honest, never happened).

                    the current struggle, whatsoever, was reaching the book that was                     still just out of reach for her. with a huff, alaska got down from the                     chair and looked around, trying to find a charitative soul (taller than                     her, of course) that would help her out in her troubled times. she                     paced the library until she found a boy, maybe around her same age,                     and with an unlikely ease hopped to stand closer to him, speaking                     with an air of confidentiality within her.

                                            ‘ hey-- hey! can you PLEEEEEASE do me                                               a favor and reach a book for me? yes? GREAT! ‘

                    and though the boy hadn’t answered, she grabbed his hand and                     pulled at it in the direction of the shelf she so desperately wanted                     to reach, urging him to tag along.