Daye hesitated at first but seeing that all of them were now glaring at her, she began to narrate, “I was bought by a college student. She wasn’t half-way through when she gave me to her friend, who didn’t like me as well. Her friend left me in her room when her family moved. The son of the new landlord found me. He only opened me once, the day when he found me. Two years later, I was in an orphanage. For the first time, somebody read me through. I was happy, really happy. Until he reached the end and I saw the sudden change in his face. I can feel it through his eyes. As if he regretted reading me. As if I wasted his time. There, I was being held by warm hands but being looked with such cold eyes. Each time I am read, I get the same reaction towards the end. Every. Time. I will never forget that.”

She cleared her throat and continued, “Then, I was given to one of the caretakers’ child. She left me at her school’s library. I think it was intentional, because she never came back looking for me. Years later, I was given to a school in some rural area with many others. I told myself, this time it will be different. That’s when I discovered that I could change myself. I met Kim in that school. She liked the ending I made. She even suggested me to her friends, who did the same to theirs. I felt loved. Finally, people enjoyed reading me. Before their graduation, I heard Kim talking to the librarian, she said she would visit every homecoming. She kept her promise, even when her finger got a ring. She kept it. But how can I see her now? I’m in this distant place.”

“The braided girl read Tere twice, but I didn’t mind. Then, the girl brought her friend. Tere was borrowed that time, so they looked if there’s another copy and they found me. The girl read me in her house. I didn’t think what I did before would become a problem here until they talked about us and—I’m—I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I just wanted to wait for Kim. To see her again. And Warren, if you must know, it was me whom you’ve read ‘til chapter 8.” She finished.

“Yeah, I know that. Your book cover’s condition is not the same.”

“Oh.”

The room was silent, but the noise of unspoken replies pierced through the night. Daye looked at them waiting for anything, but everyone stood still just like how she felt time did. Tina cleared her throat and began. “Changing yourself,” she said, and the rest looked at her with vague expressions. “in order to be liked, is a sure way to lose yourself.” She paused and looked at Daye before she continued, “The author wrote you that way with intention in mind. You have no right to change it as you please.”

“Liar! If we shouldn’t be doing this, then why are we able to do it in the first place?”

“I don’t know.”

“I know! That’s because you’re a bunch of cowards who just follow whatever everyone says! You don’t have the courage to change yourself and make your story better! Well, I’m not like you. I’ll change myself. No matter how many times it takes, I will keep on changing. So, the next reader will like me, and I won’t end up abandoned and unread like most books in this old, dilapidated, miserable, library bound for closure!”

“So, are you a book or an author?” Warren asked.

“I’m a book who thinks.” Daye replied.

“Ridiculous.” Warren replied. “It is not our duty to think; that’s the minimum requirement for whoever reads us. We simply deliver the message. Whatever is inside us doesn’t make us good or bad. It’s the author’s and the reader’s mind that turn us in such a way. But us? We are nothing but books.”

“Then why do we have this power in the first place huh?” Daye said still indignant.

“To give us a choice” Warren replied. Because our choices define us. Without choices and decisions, how can we identify ourselves when many of us share the same pages and covers?” Warren added while looking at Tere.

“Just like how you choose not to admit to your actions and let Tere took the blame. And how Tere admitted the crime she didn’t commit. Our choices define us who we are, not the story already written in our pages.” Warren continued.

“I told you I was desperate. Nobody likes a tragic ending, a bad story.”

“A sad ending doesn’t make a story bad. You can edit all you like, and a reader might still see you as dull. It’s that organ in their heads that decide. Isn’t that interesting?” Warren asked. “People can take different things from reading the same line and at different periods in their lives.” He added.

Daye was silent for a while and so was everyone. She moved closer to Tere, who stepped back and avoided her stare. “I am so sorry.” Daye said with a trembling voice.

“I—” She repeated, but Tere stared at her and Daye saw her eyes.

For years, Daye thought the eyes she saw from the readers in the past were the most disheartening eyes any book can look at. On that night, she learned that the most difficult thing to look at, is an innocent thing suffering in pain all because of you.

When the tension ceased and the emotions steadied, the seven books left room. Tere stuck close with Cookie and made a strict distance from Daye. It was Ponty who suggested that since the key portion of their task have been resolved they should continue in the front desk so the rest of the library will see them, particularly Tina, working hard to solve this case.

Tina was first to climb the desk with the help of the chair and the boxes on the floor. Momo was next, followed by Tere, who struggled for a bit, but managed with Momo’s help. Meanwhile, Tina began walking towards the lampshades they used earlier, which were placed at the opposite end, to light them up. Cookie, same as earlier, had a hard time carrying herself. Warren, Daye, and Ponty were helping her, when a noise followed by footsteps broke from Mr. Basil’s room. By instinct, all of them turned into hard books. Cookie fell on the floor, bidding goodbye to her short progress, and toppling on the three books below. Tina falls flat behind the lamps, thankful that she hadn’t lit them yet.

Warren was first to regain his self. He motioned the others to hide in the boxes nearby. The footsteps came close until it reached the front desk and a masked person began searching with gloved hands. The person found Tere, took her, and kept looking before leaving.

“What was—who was that?” Tina mouthed to Momo, who was visible from her view.

“A thief! It took Tere!” Momo mouthed back.

The unknown person walked hastily around the first reading corner, found the catalogue, and made a quick scan. Warren came out from the box, with his eyes glued on the tables for any movement. He raised his hand to get Tina’s attention from the top and asked what happened.

“The thief must be looking for you, but how did the person get in?” Ponty told Daye after Warren told them.

“The door. It must be the door Tina mentioned earlier, beneath the bed.” Warren replied, while the fourth shelf was tense as the thief began going through each of them. Warren raised his hand again and said, “Tina, the door you mentioned, where exactly does it lead to?”

“At the back, near the garbage bin. Wait, what are you planning?”

“You two come here.” Warren told Cookie and Ponty and instructed Daye to stay in the box.

After checking dozens of books, the thief left with Tere on one hand and entered Mr. Basil’s room again. Warren, Cookie, and Ponty ran off and stood behind the broken door. After a few more noises, everything went silent.

Author’s Note: Hello! Thank you for reading. Also, please check out my landing page: https://linktr.ee/msjenjana