Fable

Chapter Two

Ella found her way out of the rain, and into the warm and bright home of her parents. It was the same home she had lived in her entire life, much to her own disappointment. Though it was only the year before that Mrs. Bondelie had convinced the county to hire her on rather than consider her a volunteer, and having no money meant living in the small bedroom upstairs that had housed every bed Ella had ever slept in.
The peeling red door that marked 745 Lincoln Rd as Ella's home was open when she reached her front porch, her brother's two kids spilling in and out of it as the dog chased them. The rain had given up for the night, but the grass and mud were fresh, perfect for them to play in. Ella dodged her niece and nephew, soaking up the heat from the fireplace as she stepped into the living room. Her mother's fondness for candles had appeared today in the form of the brown sugar candles that had always been Ella's favorite. Mixed with the smell of ham coming from the kitchen, it made Ella comfortably numb and happy.
She threw her things on the couch and sat down on the floor next to her little brother while he played video games.
"Why don't you play with Kristen and Garrett?" she asked, nudging him and watching to see if he messed up.
"Mom said I shouldn't push it," Ben waved his arm, sling and all, at Ella before pausing the game and saving it. "Besides, she'll just yell at me for tracking mud inside."
"She yells at us anyway," Ella whispered, taking a small amount of joy from eliciting a giggle from Ben. The two of them were more than used to their mother's disinterest.
Sam, on the other hand, was the shining beacon of the family. Married and already providing grandchildren, Sam and his shiny engineering degree made their parents proud in a way Ben and Ella never could. He was the first born. The glory child. But not in a bad way, Ella thought. He's just had more time to perform alone and more luck at it. Sam and his wife, Maya, came over with their kids every Sunday to have family dinner.
"Did you finish that book yet?" she asked Ben, her chest squeezing at the excitement in his eyes.
"Yes!" he shouted enthusiastically. "When can you bring me the next one? And did you know they're doing a movie? Will you take me?" Ben's questions came in rapid-fire form.
"Of course I'll take you. But only if you've finished all of the books by then. I'll bring the third one home tomorrow."
"But I need the second one!" Elle grinned and pulled the next book out of her bag for him to read. He promised fervently that he would have the books finished before she could change her mind, and ran upstairs, no doubt to read the newest addition.
Her family greeted her with half-assed hugs and cheek kisses as she entered the kitchen, not really stopping the conversation they had been having before she entered the room. Ella grabbed the kettle from the stove and filled it with tap water for tea.
"Does anyone else want tea?" she asked, half shouting over her family. No one answered. Ella sighed and resisted the urge to take her tea when it was finished and run up to her room before anyone noticed she was gone. But with her luck, they'd notice and be upstairs within an hour, asking her how she was feeling, and what was wrong.
She grabbed a cookie when no one was looking and went to the couch with her tea instead. Pulling her headphones and most recent read out of her bag, she did her best to disappear without freaking everyone out.
After a while though, she couldn't focus on the pages. Her thoughts drifted to the book at the library today. She wanted desperately to talk about what she had seen, but Ella knew that no one would believe her. She knew the library wasn't one hundred percent normal. Even she had seen the walls and noticed that the fireplace never went out. But did it attract things, as well? Like to like, magic to magic? She wondered if Mrs. Bondelie had ever seen any books that had a mind of their own, but she doubted that the old lady had ever encountered a vengeful novel. She considered asking Ben if she had ever brought him a book like that, but she didn't want to put ideas in her baby brother's head either.
With a sigh, she marked her page and tossed the book onto the coffee table.
"Something wrong, Ella?" Sam was ushering his kids inside to wash their hands before dinner.
"No, I'm fine. Just frustrated about this book." Sam had already accepted her answer before it was completely out of her mouth, finishing his task and brushing her off. The word "no" had satisfied him enough to fulfill his obligation. Ella knew he probably wouldn't ask about her again for the rest of the night.
When dinner was finished they gathered in the kitchen and filled their plates before sitting around the dinner table. The family made idle conversation, trying desperately to include Ella the way they did every week. Ben especially taking special care to ask her about the books she was reading and what novels they had gotten in at the library that day. She considered bringing up the book then but decided not to.
"We got a lot of young adult novels in this time. I'll try to find some for you, Ben," she said instead.
Maya announced that she was going back to school to get her doctorate, which caused the entire table to gasp and congratulate her with over-enthusiastic fervor. Ella resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She loved her sister-in-law; but she came from a confident, well-off family and Ella was envious of the confidence and ease she exuded constantly. It was why Sam had fallen in love with her, of course. Sam was the same way, only he had a humbleness about him that came from having to earn absolutely everything he had been given. Ella knew she could be the same way, but her mind was constantly elsewhere and that made everything harder.
    Ella sat through the rest of dinner in a daze, barely inserting herself into the family's conversations and choosing instead to daydream about the book she had found. She thought about the man and the princess, and the wolf on the cover - the moving images dancing around in her mind. Over and over again she remembered the shifting cover; the way it felt in her hands - warm and almost buzzing against her skin.
    Later, after everyone had left and she had retreated to her room for the night, Ella laid in bed and stared at the pages of the book she had been reading, unable to focus on the words. They all blurred together and after every sentence she read, she found herself forgetting their meaning. Her thoughts continued to wander to the book until finally, she drifted off to sleep restlessly.
    She dreamt of a ship, and a sky with two moons; of mountains and trees and palaces and people.