Ten: 棚の移動 (Moving Shelves)

I looked at the shelf once again, and a thick book came out.

Hmmm…

What is going on? I questioned. What in the world is happening?

I thought as I thought that perhaps this spot will have some solutions inside. The area had good sunlight coming through the windows, and the surface may have been made of translucent tiles like the color of old wood, something between light brown and peach, but

From the inside, I couldn't find the windows I had seen on the outside. In reality, even though I had only moved a short distance, I was now unable to see the walls in any way. There were bookcases in place of that.

I rise to the ceiling and branch out from the wide-open corridor into rows and rows of bookshelves.

I started walking below, and I see a hallway to my right. I took a cautious turn into one of the hallways and paused to look at the seemingly infinite number of books with astonishment.

There were volumes everywhere I looked, stacked on crooked racks that could as well have been ignored. All of the books were blues in a variety of hues.

Some of these books were a brilliant and light blue, while others were a muddy blue, the vibrant aquamarine hue of some pale blue and the lush spring hue of other gardens.

And while we're talking about sunny lawns, picture it like this: Everything appeared ancient, yet the atmosphere in the library was clean. It had a rich, leafy exterior.

The bookcases seemed to extend endlessly, high and wide toward a distant sky, similar to pages used to denote one-point perspective in school artwork only seldom hindered by a doorway.

The wind didn’t blow up that much, and the air was just calm to push it.

With a look of doubt, I stooped to get the book.

Moving shelves could be seen on each side of me. The shelves remained stable on their sides, and they simply continued to move horizontally. The probability that the shelves were not even flowing at all, but the textbooks were, and it was not even clear why or how. There was no apparent element at play, and there was no sound or observing books falling off the beginning or end of the shelf.

The books moved at varying speeds depending on the shelf they were on, but none of them moved quickly.

What's going on?

The old man drew nearer to me.

The elderly man's posture and countenance both straightened, and his chin rose, slipping a little deeper into his neck. He moved toward me and gave me a tight embrace.

It's time, my dear.

Excuse me? I thought.

If it is okay, may I ask - what are you talking about?

 I asked him eagerly.

Every life involves millions of choices. A few large, and a few little, but the results vary each time one choice is made over another.

There is an unchangeable change, which causes more changes.

What?

As many lives as there are opportunities for you. Lives exist where you choose from different decisions, and the results of such decisions vary. If you would have a different life story and if you had done just one thing today, all of them are real in this life. All of them are as genuine as this life.

“Alternate existence,” he says.

Not constantly in relation. Others are more transverse. Do you intend to live a better life than you are? Do you want to take an alternative course of action? Is

Do you desire something changed? Did you make a mistake?

The wind blew hard again.

I took a glimpse of the windows, and then at the old man.

 He was gone.

What does he mean?

Why is everything so strange?

Just then, a book flew out of the last shelf next to me.

It had a very dark cover with engraved gold ink on the sides.

I picked it up, holding back my tears.

The pages flipped over until they stopped at the last one. Inside the page is the picture of the black cat with green eyes that I saw from the bleachers.

I don't know why I suddenly felt my skin rise, giving me goosebumps.

I can feel something heavy, so heavy that the book dropped from my hands.

Emerging from the pages before I is the warm body of the black cat crawling out of the paper.

"Meow."

It stared at me intently with those furious green eyes, like they mean to tell me something.

She purred again, creeping up to me. The cat almost got her paws to my feet but I moved one step further, leaning backward to the table.

I immediately panicked, horrified in shock. God knows I could have passed out again.

I turned to find the book, and it was still there.

Run for your life, Hotaru.

"Run," I told myself.

I ran for the door and took a quick leap to see the old librarian- he was fast asleep.

I didn't have time to gather my senses, because I got too scared.

Hurrying out, I ran as fast as I could, and I passed by a familiar guy riding his motorcycle who turned to look at me before speeding up his drive.

What the fuck was that?

The road got darker as I panted, and I could feel my heart beating so fast.

As I got to my knees, I looked ahead. Great, now nobody is in sight.

When I finally got to my senses I continued to walk home.