The Magic of Stories

16 - Exhibition day

The next week passed in a rush of preparations, the upcoming exhibition looming over us and keeping us busy. I wrote and rewrote my speech-until Tuesday before noon, Conny told me to stop. "You have rewritten it so many times, I'm sure you know every potential version by heart by now. Has Paco already called for the trial run?"

"No, and I'm getting worried."

She frowned, but before she could answer, the buzz of the library phone interrupted us. I slipped the headset over my ears. "City library, Lynn speaking. How can I help you?"

"This is Paco, hey Lynn. I just had a call from the print shop. We have to postpone the test run. They run late. Our prints aren't ready yet."

"What do you mean, they run late? We open the exhibition the day after tomorrow." My pulse fastened in rising panic.

"I know, but there's not much we can do. The manager assured me everything will be ready Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at latest. I'll drop by as soon as I can with the pictures. It will be alright, don't worry."

When I hung up, Conny rolled her eyes. "Do we have a major problem, Huston?"

"He says not to worry. He'll be here Thursday morning."

She snorted. "Men—they always say it will be alright. I fear we can't do anything, but hope he's right at this point."

Of course, this didn't help to stop me worrying, and when I found Paco's van parked in front of the library Thursday morning, a stone the weight of a building dropped from my shoulders. The artist was already hauling the large prints into the premises, and I dropped my backpack inside to help him.

"You can't imagine how relieved I am."

"So am I, Lynn. The printer called me last night, and I fetched the pictures after dinner. There wasn't much time to spare."

"At least you're here now, and so are the prints." I picked up one of the smaller packages and he followed me with a larger one. We had all the pictures inside and began unwrapping them when Conny arrived.

"Good morning. I see you're already hard at work."

"We want to be done with the brunt of it when the library opens. And I have another appointment in the afternoon." He helped me get rid of the paper wrapping of the largest picture. "What do you think? Are you still worried they won't fit in here?"

Tempted to hit him in the arm, I stepped back to take in the image of a girl reading on a bench by the river. The branches of a weeping willow tree almost touched the water, and the sun painted highlights onto the tiny wavelets rippling the surface. The girl's face was hidden behind her long hair, but I imagined her being oblivious to her surroundings, lost in the story she enjoyed. "I remember this one from your homepage. But it's so much cooler in this format."

"Marjorie picked this one. She said it shows the genuine spirit and magic of reading. We tried to choose motifs fitting a library."

We placed the pictures where we thought they might fit best, and they were all amazing, but my gaze returned to the girl beneath the willow again and again.

"Do you like this one?" Paco must have observed me staring at it for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, very much so. Could we place it opposite of the reception desk?"

"Sure, why not? If it's your favourite, we should hang it where you can see it best."

Paco kept me busy with the installation until I had to care for our customers. Then he mounted several spotlights to illuminate the pictures. The result looked highly professional. Caught up in the action, it took until lunch for my nerves to act up. Despite both Conny and Paco having read my speech and confirmed it was fine, I couldn't help going through it again and again while eating a sandwich in the kitchenette.