Chapter 6 - Library Lurkers

Ahoy boatswains!

If you know me well enough by now, you would have heard the L-word a few times. My secret cove is in the building with the most number of books - The Library. The school doesn't give the most silent place a huge budget so it isn't very big or grand. Besides, it is only silent when there are no computer classes going on concurrently with the group reading session programs. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to put computers in the sacred place of paperbacks but it wasn't my decision to make.

Of the many people I've introduced in this blog, I noticed that I haven't introduced to you one of the most important figures in this school who actually knows my true identity. We have a secret club that consists of three members - Librarian Ninja 1, Librarian Ninja 2 and yours truly.

In today's journal entry I shall be introducing L-Nin 1 and L-Nin 2. L-Nin 1 is a grandmother who runs marathons when she isn't glaring at noisy children in my secret cove. As a sixty-odd-year-old lady, she volunteers at the school to pass the time. Her third grandchild just graduated this school last year so she's now taken to adopting me as her fourth grandchild.

L-Nin 2 is a sweet young lady who recently graduated University and is working her while job hunting for something in counselling. She acts more like a big sister around the noisy rascals and is very likeable among the library campers. Sometimes, I think that her heart of gold and overly soft approach towards dealing with troublemaking kids might not be a good match for her ideal job.

L-Nin 1 and L-Nin 2 often recommend me books at the check-out for borrowing books and unlike other kids, I never have a borrowing limit. The normal limit is four books but I usually walk out of the library with twelve. Nobody could pin it against me with my powerful guardians death-glaring them down. Besides, it's not as if anyone will be missing these books. None of the kids was interested in archaeology or history or thick novels. Heck, I would even borrow 1001 fun facts when I had nothing else to read so that I could pop quiz my general knowledge.

I'm not a very picky reader although I might be a little fussy over food. That's the main reason why the Library Lurkers love me so much. I would give the unread books some love and it isn't uncommon to find my name at the top row of almost every new book. I'll be the first and probably the last student to check them out.

So I noticed a little something strange about the behaviours of Nin 1 and 2 over the last week. L-Nin 1 was seen seated at the counter more frequently and L-Nin 2 was seen climbing the stools and sorting through the returned books more frequently. On a regular day, L-Nin 1 would be prowling about sorting through the shelves and sweeping over the territory with an eagle's eye.

Out of concern after the third day of this odd behaviour, I decided to ask L-Nin 2 what was wrong with L-Nin 1. She seemed surprised at first but then giggled and told me that L-Nin 1 was just undergoing some of the happiest and shocking phases of her life. After giving me that interesting bit of information, L-Nin 2 simply wouldn't say any more.

As a curious creature, I couldn't resist the urge and pounced on L-Nin 1 when the opportunity presented itself. L-Nin was hesitant to spill the beans at first but with some emotional blackmail, she disclosed what was bothering her.

"I'm pregnant."

Shiver me timbers... a mother at sixty-odd? I've read several books explaining to me about how one gets pregnant from the medical perspective and I am very sure becoming a mother at sixty-odd isn't a common thing. While it was slightly odd, I still congratulated her. Children were always a bundle of joy, weren't they? Unless they aren't yours...

L-Nin 1 didn't appreciate my snarkiness as much today and lightly flicked my forehead as a warning. Seeing that the old lady wasn't feeling her best, I decided to hold it back a little and moderate my awesomeness. L-Nin 1 then shared with me a little of her concerns about becoming a mother when she had grandchildren older than her unborn child.

I spent a whopping four hours listening to L-Nin 1 go through memory lane and learnt that sometimes, I could learn more by interacting with people compared to siphoning off books. There was something different about this method of information collection and I saw a whole new spectrum of what there was to this old lady. It went deeper than her odd love for books and children. I started seeing her as a regular human who struggled through with her insecurities despite her maturity.

For the first time in my short ten years of life, I was beginning to see what made an a.d.u.l.t. Being an a.d.u.l.t was merely a wrapping paper to signify the number of years you'd lived. Even at the age of over sixty, L-Nin 1 was still gushing over similar concerns L-Nin 2 had. Both library lurkers were concerned about how other people would perceive them and that got me thinking...

How do other people perceive me? Do I actually exist in their field of vision?

Now, I would have to experiment a little to create the ideal personality and decoy. I shall return to my cabin and commence plotting at once!

Till then, stay out of trouble!

Pirate S.