Sky Light

The Library

                I woke up early that morning as to not wake up my grandfather. If he did, he would have sent Cael to go along with me. I slowly crept out the house and grabbed my bike. I started pedaling towards the library. It was still dawn, so there weren’t a lot of people up and about.

                When I got to the library, I parked my bicycle and ran inside. I looked for the books that could be related to rocks. Geology, I think. I kept looking for the stone, but I couldn’t find it.

                “RAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!” I screamed out of annoyance.

                “Shhhhh!!” hushed a passing librarian. She gave me a stern look then left. I hit my head on a shelf. I’m so stupid, I thought.

                “What are you looking for?” asked a voice from beside me.

                “A book about labradorite.” I answered exasperatingly without lifting my head.

                “Oh,” he said, “You mean this?”

                I lifted my head up and saw a boy about my age with jet black hair and light blue eyes. He was holding a green book in his hand. As I looked up, his expression seemed to change, but it went back to a smile.

                “Yeah!” I answered with joy. “Where’d you find this? I looked everywhere.”

                “Oh, I borrowed this last week. I was just finishing it here.” He replied. “Speaking of labradorite, isn’t that gem on your neck labradorite?”

                “Yeah,” I said, “It was a gift from my dad. I just got it yesterday.”

                “What do you want to know about it?” he asked me, “I memorized everything written in there. If you have any questions, I can answer it.”

                “Well, for starters, what’s your name?” I asked him.

                “My name is Ace.” He replied a little unsurely.

                “Alright, Ace,” I said while quickly scanning through the book he gave me, “Do labradorite glow?”

                He looked at me with a confused face. “What? That’s all you wanted to ask me?” he said. “Then the answer is no.”

                “What?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure they do.”

                “No, they don’t.” he argued. “Maybe your pendant had some chemical reaction with something, if you’re implying that it glows.”

                “Well, mine glowed,” I said, “and if you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll be going, now.” I said as I grabbed five or six books and walked away.

                “Bye, Celia,” said the boy as I left.

                As I left the library, I bumped into someone.

                “Ah!” said the woman as we clashed. The books fell and I knelt down to pick them up.

                “I’m sorry, miss!” I said as I picked up three books. She knelt down as well.

                “It’s okay,” she said as she got the remaining books, “I’ll help you pick them up.”

                I looked up and saw a woman with black hair until her elbows and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a dark black dress as if she were going to a funeral. I instantly recognized her the moment I saw her. She put the books onto the stack I was carrying and stood up. She offered me her hand to stand up. I ignored it and stood up on my own. I ran away before she could say anything.

                “Wait!” she said as she tried to catch up, but I was too fast for her, despite the fact that I was carrying several books. I ran as fast as I could towards my grandfather’s house, immediately forgetting that I had left my bike at the library. As I caught sight of the shop, I saw Cael flirting with a woman. That woman would probably be his next girlfriend.

                “Oh. Hey, Cael!” I greeted.

                “Hey, Celia,” he said, “It’s already dark out. Did you run all the way here with those books? Need any help with that?”

                “No thanks,” I said with a smile.

                “Okay. Have fun reading.” he said and went back to chatting with the woman. I heard them continue speaking as I went to the staircase.

                “Cael. Who was that?” the woman asked.

                “Just my friend.” He answered. I climbed the stairs and went into my room.

                I dropped the books on my desk, walked over to my bed and laid down. I moved my hand to my neck as to look at the pendant again. Huh? I thought, Where is it? I glanced down and saw that there was nothing hanging on my neck. The necklace was gone.

                I quickly stood up. Did it fall somewhere? I wondered. I then remembered bumping into the woman. I rushed down the stairs, bumping into Cael who was still talking to a woman once more.

                “Hey! Where are you going?” he asked me. I didn’t answer and just ran outside. I ran back towards the library, still exhausted from running a while ago. When I reached the library, I saw the same woman who bumped into me standing outside the library’s closed doors, staring at my necklace.

                “Who is that?”

                “Oh my god!” I shouted. A hand was cupped on my mouth. It was Cael.

                “Hey. Why are we staring at her?” he asked me.

                “No reason.” I lied. “Am I not allowed to do what I want?”

                “You’re weird.” He said. His expression changed as he looked closer at the woman. “Is that your necklace?”

                “Umm,” I said anxiously, “No.”

                “Jeez.” He said as he got up and ran towards the woman in black. He quickly snatched the necklace from her and proceeded to run away, but he failed. The woman grabbed him and kicked him. She wrestled him until she was on top of her and he was facing the ground. She snatched the necklace back.

                “Celia! Celia!” Cael shouted. “Help me!”

                “Celia?” wondered the woman. “Is it true? Are you there?”

                I remained silent. The woman sighed and got off Cael. She tossed him the necklace and said, “Tell her I’ll be waiting. And tell her,” she stopped, “I’m sorry.”

                Cael got up and brushed off the dirt on his clothes as the woman left.

                “Hey, Celia!” Cael shouted at me, “She’s gone. What was that about?”

                I walked over to him slowly. I looked over at the direction she went off.

                “That person,” I said, “was my mother.”