Flickr Fiction
Jackie found the book in one of those old second hand shops. It was stuck away on a back shelf, hidden where no one would even notice it. She’d actually been going for the hardcover copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales but it was stuck, slightly too large for the shelf and wedged tight. She braced her knee against the bookshelf and pulled. Hard. The Grimms fell with a squeak and a small shower of sawdust which powdered her shoulders and eyelashes. Coughing, she opened the book to the flyleaf and then sighed in disgust. It was an updated copy, not the 1857 copy she had hoped. She brushed the dust from her eyes and put the book back on the shelf. That was when she found the other one. Just a corner of it stuck out of the shelf, enough for Jackie to get her fingernails under the spine and wiggle it out. The cover was brittle and coarse like bark. Jackie forgot about the Grimm’s book, here was something really unusual. A copy of Collodi’s ‘Adventures of Pinnochio.’
Jackie opened the book and winced as the spine cracked. The basement filled with the smell of fresh cut wood. Inside the pages were soft and pliable, thick and slightly veined. Each leaf had been fitted into the book with precision, matched perfectly for size and shape.. The typeface was difficult to read, blotches of ink stained where the blotter had not been quick enough. Jackie paged quickly through the book taking care to turn the leaves softly. They felt slightly waxy like tiny new buds in spring.
This was one of the special books, the ones that appear as a prize find in among the battered Harold Robbins and dogeared chick-lit that normally cluttered up the shelves. How this one had come to be here was anyone’s guess. Some niece or nephew clearing out their dead relatives belongings not knowing what they had.
Jackie knew.
Or at least she knew it was something unique. A book to treasure, a book to keep safe.
Jackie walked up to the till and laid the book softly on the counter, holding her breath until the clerk turned to serve her.
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Hmm, this is NOT where I thought this would go. I had ideas about a sort of Jack and the Beanstalk tale and probably if I’d had more time I could have shaped it that way. Anyway this weeks flicktion effort inspired by Book Tree. Copyright Flickr user Ulle B. Check out the rest of the flicktioneers: The Gurrier, Chris, Tadmack, TeaandCakes, Aquafortis, Valsha and Neil.
Now I want to read it too!
Comment by Donal — March 11, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
I liked it. You should let it travel on, see where it goes.
Comment by Walls — March 12, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
I like all the tree/leaf/bud/wood references; I also well know the fear and dread of bringing the book up to the front and hoping that the clerk will take no notice and just sell it to you without shrieking, “HEY! This is a first edition!” and pushing the price to where you could never afford it…!
:)
Comment by TadMack — March 12, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
I like all the tree references too. I think you’ve captured a magical moment, even if it wasn’t the magic you were going for.
Comment by Valsha — March 12, 2007 @ 8:38 pm
I don’t know if you meant it literally that the book’s pages were leaves, but it seemed like they were–I love that image. A really neat idea. Seems like something mysterious and magical is going to happen to her now that she’s found the book.
Comment by Sarah — March 19, 2007 @ 7:04 pm