she's a little thing, maybe a foot tall. she wears horn-rim glasses and a neat blue pinafore, and makes her home in a glass case on the counter at the library. there's a bit of masking tape on the front, bearing the sharpied words "friends of the library — donations accepted". you smile at her every time you check books out, and occasionally slip a fiver into the donation box under the case.
one day you're taking home two cookbooks, a history of famous local buildings, and the tenth in a line of spectacularly trashy urban fantasy novels that you can't seem to stop reading. when you put the books down on the counter, a librarian adds one more to your stack.
"staff recommendation," she says.
you shrug and accept "The Chronicles of the Friends of the Library, Vol. LXIV".
it begins with a mysterious robed figure in a library, and a quest to retrieve a book checked out by a king. the tenth chapter ends with a doomed scholar-swordswoman wiping gore off her tattooed arms and her magic-charged blade, knowing that the crawling things are coming back. she has already lost some of her height and strength to the curse, and it will keep sapping her until she can no longer lift the sword, but she vows in front of her comrades to keep going until relief arrives, however long it takes. the twentieth…
the urban fantasy and the cookbooks are still untouched by the time you return to the library. a librarian accepts them at the returns desk.
"oh", she says, "you're reading 'Chronicles'."
"it's incredible. the main character is a beast. i don't even care that i didn't start at the real beginning beginning, there's so much going on and i have to know what happens to her. is there a newer one?"
"well, um, not really. i can give you an outline, though i'm surprised you didn't guess. they never broke the curse. they never found someone who would swear to carry on her duty and inherit her power and eventually trade places with her. she diminished. she's still waiting," the librarian says, "for a friend."
she nods her head towards the case.
you look at the doll again, really look this time, and you see the tattoos peeking out under her sleeves. the shape of something comes together in your mind.
"friends of the library. donations accepted."
you reach into your wallet.
"they really should write a sequel."
"they should. i've always wondered what comes next."
your student ID drops into the donation box. □
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