Mar 152011
“What is going on here?” the Encyclopedia Britannica shouted in shocked tones. “Such noise and within these hallowed walls too.”
“Well,” bellowed the Book of A Thousand Proverbs. “We are just debating on how to put an end to this disgraceful business. The love of books has to be the beginning of knowledge.”
“Well spoken.” added the Atlas in a sad voice. “Only last week, one snotty child who came to the library tore out some of my pages. I did try my best to get away.” Its’ cover quivered in distress. “He just left me trembling and mutilated on the table.”
“Then I must have been very lucky.” said the Oxford Dictionary. “I was lost for a while earlier today when I got placed in the wrong section. Those hours I spent in the medical section, were very uncomfortable to say the least. Those eager medical books almost got me diagnosed with multiple ailments by the time I was found!”
As they all remembered the distress of many lost moments in the past, their crumpled and taped pages shuddered.
“I think it is really sad the way we get treated.” sighed The Republic. “Our pages get torn out. Our spines get broken. We are sat on. Trampled upon and we all know so many dear friends that have been seen no more. We who faithfully store so much knowledge for passing generations, surely deserve to be treated with more respect.”
“Why don’t we call for a strike?” asked a Political Science textbook. “We too have rights you know. The knowledge they say dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. I know I must have read that somewhere.”
“Strike?!”, shrieked a Cookery Book. “I definitely will not go on strike. I refuse to be subjected to total silence. Only yesterday, I heard this woman saying to herself that she would be back to take me out on an outing.” The book sighed with longing. “ To be back again amongst pots and pans …”
“Quiet!” interjected the Encyclopedia Britannica. “I can hear the Librarian coming. This conversation has to be suspended.”
And silence reigned once again.
Yejide Kilanko © 2011
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18 Responses to “Library Talks”
Comments (18)
WOW, good telling, nice idea @yejide…i enjoyed it…could’ve been better structures though….
Thanks Xikay. You are right about the structure. I should have broken them into clearly defined paragraphs.
Do you know how many points you need before you can edit your own work? It would be so good to edit based on feedback.
This is very nice…
I like this. even without the stated structure, you managed to bring it all together. like your sense of place too.
Very creative, i like this sort of stories. Thumbs up!
CAme to enjoy the humor again, nice
Kudos!!!
I like the whimsical theme of the story - in fact, I wish you had continued with it. It sounds like a great opening for a much longer story - maybe something chronicling the adventures of the books, or the relationships between them.
Thanks for your feedback Tola. Much appreciated. Didn’t think of making it a longer story before. Hmm…who knows what the books have up their sleeves
Nice one!
It said it was gonna be funny, so I came here with the intention to laugh. was I disappointed? Maybe, maybe not! I thought I was gonna be laughing out loud, rolling on the floor..you know that kain ting, lol? But anyways, it did bring a smile to my face. I agree that you should do a continuation of this as @Tola suggested. I love the fact that it is a critic or satire almost of the society. I could see how these are the unheard voices in our societies, the ones who can’t speak for themselves, the ones who know they have rights just like others, just they can’t exercise those rights. This is a brilliant concept, I love it!
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I was able to bring a smile to your face. I would have had to remove the funny tag
I LOVE your spin of it as a satire of the society. That never crossed my mind. I really have to get the books talking to me once again.
Ahaha, thank God you didn’t have to remove it. Please, I do want to hear the books talk again, whatever bribe you’ll give them, just let them talk, lol. Now dear, off you go to write another gem!
I liked the fresh look at the concept of inanimate objects as though they were sentient, and some of those lines were funny as Ayokunle said.
I applauaud your creativity, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Couldn’t find any issues with it.
Well done!!!
This is cool. Very cool. It has a halo like a Harry Porter movie. And thought-provoking too as it passes its message unobstructively. Good work.
please when the books are talking again, kindly listen to Shakespeare and Machiavelli … i loved the concept
A great concept, reminded me somewhat of my “Enid Blyton” reading days…well done!..I also wanted to laugh o! It didn’t make me laugh sha..