Short Escapes

Martin looked at the clock. It was late in the evening, and he was still in the library. The library was one of the ones you only see in the movies, large and magnificent. It had mile high ceilings and the Gothic architecture made it look almost like a cathedral. The rows and rows of books seemed endless, and the shelves went almost as high as the ceilings. On each row there were ladders that slid from one side to the other, allowing one to reach the books on the top shelf. Martin looked up from the book he was reading and surveyed the room. He imagined how many years it must have took to collect all of the books in his favorite building.

Since he was little, Martin practically lived in the library. After his father died, his mother, Kim, had to work two jobs to support her and her son. Because she worked both night and day, she decided to get Martin a library card so that he could go there after school and wait for her to pick him up. She didn’t feel bad about leaving him alone in the library, because he was always a responsible kid and was much wiser than his age let on.

Martin enjoyed the library so much because it reminded him of the bedtime stories his father used to read him. His father, Jason, would pour so much energy into the stories it made every night seem like a Broadway performance. After his father left, Jason would dream about slaying dragons and saving princesses, or about becoming an astronaut and going to the moon. Through the stories Martin became whatever he wanted, if only for a dream.

One night, after a long day of work, Jason was driving home through a bad storm. It had been raining all day, but the storm seemed to follow Jason home like a lost dog. What started out as a harmless sprinkle soon turned into a raging storm. The lighting flashed the storms teeth and the thunder growled menacingly. The rain came down like a waterfall, washing everything away. The flash flood swept Jason’s car from the road, slamming him into a tree and pinning the car. Stuck in the twisted metal, Jason was unable to get out before the car filled with water. The rain eroded the town so bad that Kim had to wait a month before the ground was solid enough to bury her husband.

As Martin looked around the building, he looked at the sky through the old stained windows. It had looked like rain earlier, and it was probably going to start before he got home. As he gathered his things to leave, he remembered the first time he stayed this late in the library. After a couple of months of waiting in the library for his mom to pick him up, Jason had finished off the books in the children’s section of the library. During this time he had befriended the old librarian, and she allowed him to read in the young adult section even though he was a little underage. Having been sucked into a book he was reading he had forgotten the time. He pleaded to his mother asking her if he could stay and just walk home. Having her doubts at first, he convinced her that he was more than capable of finding his way home and would be extra safe. Now that he was in his senior year in high school, all of that seemed so long ago. He placed his books in his bag and waved to the security guards as he left.

“Leaving so soon?” chuckled the oldest of the security guards, looking at his watch.

“Yeah, yeah, Al. Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Martin walked out and around the corner to his house. That night as he slept, he dreamt the dreams he used to dream as a child. He became a knight, slaying the dragon and rescuing the princess. He flew to the moon, collecting precious moon rocks. He tamed lions in the center of a large circus tent. It was the best night’s sleep he’d had in a long time.

The next day, after his classes, he walked back to the library to return the books he had, and to search out new ones not yet discovered. As he walked, he passed a little boy playing with a toy airplane. The boy looked up at him and smiled, then continued to play by himself. Martin smiled back and kept walking. As he turned the corner he heard something and turned around. It was the same little boy.

The little boy followed him all the way to the library. Worried about him, Martin told him to sit on a bench in the lobby and wait until he came back. While the boy waited, Martin asked the librarian if she minded the boy coming in with him. She agreed, as long as Martin took responsibility for anything the boy did.

Martin brought the little boy back to the children’s section, where he spent so many days when he was a child. As they entered the colorful room, a recent addition that contrasted the rest of the building, so many memories flooded back to Martin. After a few glances, he remembered where all of his favorite books were and went straight to them.

The little boy sat down in the middle of the room as Martin walked around and collected all of his favorite childhood books. He piled them up next to the little boy and began reading to him. He had never read to anyone before, and was a little cumbersome at first. By the third book, however, he had gotten into a rhythm and before long he and the boy had become lost into so many different stories. The whole time the little boy just sat in amazement, not saying anything. Around eight, the librarian came back to check on them. When Martin found out it was rather late, he helped the little boy back to his house. As Martin walked away he heard a tiny voice say, “Thank you, mister.”

That night as Martin lay in his bed, he dreamt of sailing across the wild seas. As he sailed he would cast his nets and catch fish so large that only one would fit in his giant net. When he reached the port on a far away shore, he traveled across the foreign lands. He met magicians and jesters. He met kings and queens. Martin met a beautiful princess and fell madly in love. He fought bravely in an epic battle and rescued an entire village. After all of his adventures he felt a calling to go back home. As he set sail for his homeland, he looked back a final time at his fantastic adventures.

For the rest of his senior year, Martin continued to spend the majority of his time at the library. He started reading more political books, and books of substance. He read all he could find on the founding fathers and the American Revolution. From there he learned about the Civil War and the World Wars. He graduated the valedictorian of his high school and got a scholarship to a college not too far from his house.

While at college Martin studied history and literature. He devoured his school library and went on to write several papers that were published. After he graduated college he got a job at the old library. He would critique old books and look into new ones for the library to obtain. He would see which books no one checked out and sent them off to universities, reading them before he sent them off, of course. Martin lived a good life and enjoyed his work greatly.

One day, a man came to the library asking to speak to a manager. He was a young man, in his late twenties or so, with blonde hair and a sharp looking suite. He had on a designer watch and sunglasses. As Martin came around the corner the young man turned and, upon seeing Martin, smiled. As soon as the young man smiled Martin knew exactly who he was. The young man walked over and asked to see the children’s section of the library. As they walked, the two said nothing, but just remembered the stories they had read during that one night. When they entered the room the young man looked around.

“As I remember, we never exchanged names. I’m Oliver,” said the young man. He extended his hand to Martin. “Do you remember the day you met me?”

“Vaguely,” Martin said, shaking Oliver’s hand. “It was a long time ago.”

“The day you met me, I was running away from home.” The young man recanted to Martin the life he had. How his father was an abusive alcoholic and his mother was a junkie. How day after day, all he wished for was to play ball with his father. After Martin had read to him and showed him the escape he could find in books, Oliver was able to manage.

Oliver had taken an interest in planes, and became the CEO of a major airline shortly after graduating college. Now a millionaire, he wanted to thank the man who had changed his life. They talked about different things, and Oliver learned of the papers Martin had written. He knew a publisher and offered to introduce him to Martin. Before Oliver left, he gave Martin his personal phone number and a business card so he could reach him.

For the first time since reading to Oliver so long ago, Martin had dreams of faraway places. He sailed to shores across the world. He met magicians and kings, fought in battles and saved a beautiful princess. As he awoke, more rested than he had felt in a long time, he had the strangest feeling that he had been there once before.