[Random Event[Narrative Twist[Start, Comfort]
We climbed the massive circular stone stairway, past the second floor, Sparky’s apartments to our new home on the third level. Lu had been here before, she loved the place, she’d moved all our stuff and she thought I’d love it too.
We arrived at the third level and a circular balcony where you could lean and stare down at the pond, the tree branches reaching out in all directions. You could climb out on a branch and up the tree to get to the higher levels if you were a nimble climber or a squirrel.
It all just seemed a bit too grand, too spacious but I didn’t want to disappoint Lu. I could see why she loved it with that perfect first level playground of a forest, pond even a steep hill to run on. No more chaining herself to a tree. I could learn to live someplace grand if it made Lu happy, even if my heart yearned for something cozy.
There was a door right in front of the stairway, Lu said this is us. She opened the door and I was in Granny’s cottage. The huge brass bed, the exact comforter. The small kitchen table just perfect for two. My writing desk in front of a window for inspiration and enough light to write.
“How did you get all granny’s stuff here Lu.”
“I didn’t the tower is magical, it asked me what a perfect bedroom would look like and I couldn’t imagine anything better than the cottage. That door is the bathroom, wait till you see that.”
We walked into the bathroom and there was a slightly bigger version of Granny’s tin tub. There was also a gorgeous full length mirror, perfect for dressing in front of.
“How do we heat the water? I don’t see a fireplace.”
“You don’t need to. Fill tub steaming water. I can’t wait to get you into that tub. That door there is to the privy, when you’re done using it, you just say flush and everything is gone, even any odors. The whole level is ours, I knew you’d want a cozy bedroom and a space to write. Next door is a sitting room to have friends over. You could have book club there, if you’d like. Let me show you. Oh, empty tub.”
The tub not only had no water in it it actually looked dry. Then we walked back out onto the balcony to the next door down to the left looking hubward.
“I think you’ll like this even if it is a bit grand.”
I stepped into a library the size of I’d only dreamed. I pulled a random volume from the shelves it was one of my favorites ‘Pride and Prejudice’ a first printing inscribed by Jane to her sister Cassandra.
“Do you like it, Rose?”
“No, I love it, Lu. After seeing the first floor and that grand staircase I thought I was going to hate it here but this is wonderful”
“You can redesign anything you like and all the other rooms are empty, except for the dining room, kitchen on the other side of our bedroom. If you want a room for writing I’ll move your desk to the room you design.”
“No, I love our bedroom and I write cozy romantic stories, just perfect for the writing desk by the window. If I wrote big epic fantasies or historical battles, I’d write in the library. I'd need the space. I’d rather write in the bedroom or the kitchen somewhere warm and familiar. The library is perfect for the book club.”
“I’ll show the last room, the dining room for when we have friends to dinner, and kitchen.”
This was on the right side of our bedroom facing hubward. It contained a large dining table for 12, china and silver laid in place. Lu grabbed a plate and walked to the sideboard, put the plate on the sideboard and said eggs scrambled, the eggs appeared on the plate. I tried the eggs, they were perfect. Lu ate most that was left then placed the dirty plate on the side board.
“Wait for it.”
The dirty plate disappeared, then reappeared sparking clean on the dining room table where Lu had removed it from.
“Can it make more than eggs?”
“It can make anything and we have a smaller size one in the bedroom near the kitchen table for when it’s just the two of us. Oh and the part I know you’re going to love, your library has just a subset of the total number of books, your library can pull any volume from Sparky’s Library, he said it had around one hundred thousand books. There’s a magical librarian around too. I just haven't found it yet, it might be in one of the empty rooms. I’ll keep looking.”
“Lu I just love it, it couldn’t get any more spectacular.”
“It can, I’ll show you the one room on the floor we can’t modify. It’s ten doors down to the left hubwise.”
We walked down to it and I couldn’t imagine what kind of grand room Lu was about to show me. So I was very surprised when Lu opened the door and except for a few arm chairs in the back it was completely bare. We went in.
“Well what do you think, Rose?”
“It’s nice, I guess a little plain compared to the rest of the tower.”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Ok lets go then.”
She opened the door and we were in the forest on the first level.
Lu grinned “Sparky calls it an elevator. We can move your ma and granny here if you and they would like. They can have rooms on our level or the fourth and they’d never have to walk up those stairs.”
“Oh Lu I love you and this place is amazing, we are going to be so happy here. I’ll portal to Tranquility and ask them, I usually go on Friday’s but I can’t wait that long to ask them. My mother has to have a full kitchen though she lives to bake. You know they might refuse out of hand, so instead of asking them to move, I’ll ask them to come visit for a few weeks. Then after they get accustomed to the place, I’ll ask.”
“Rose you’re getting devious, who’s the bad influence on you? Sparky or Juliet?”
“It must be Sparky, if they agree to come could you help move their clothes tomorrow morning.”
“Of course, it’ll be easy.”
We had a beautiful new home and Ma and Granny readily agreed to a visit. The next morning Lu moved all the clothes they wanted to bring, Ma and Granny stepping into the portal exiting in front of the tower.
“Wow, Rose you really came up in the world since you moved out of my little cottage.”
“Wait until you see our bedroom Granny, you’ll think I never moved out. Ma, the kitchen is magical so you needn't lift a finger but if you want to bake just say aloud what ingredients you need and they’ll appear. Once you have whatever you’re baking in the pan the kitchen does the rest.”
Later. “Wow Rose it really is my old cottage in this grand tower, you could have a palace here, why go for the cottage?”
“Lu made it for me, she knows it’s where I feel the most comfortable. As a special welcome we’ll all eat in the grand dining room tonight, so just think what is your favorite dish, because that’s what you’re having.”
“When we went into the dining room somehow it knew we four were the only dinners and shrunk the table to a table for four, we each ate our favorite dishes and talked about everything new and old and what the four of us had been up to.”
But after a couple of weeks, Ma and Granny were ready for home, it was almost as bad as when I first moved to Wyldwood, I was going to miss them so much.
“Listen Rose, you and Lu need space to grow and your ma and I we need space too, besides this has been a great vacation for us. So I’m sure we’ll want to come back and visit again. Besides you come home every week, I’d have thought you’d be sick of us by now.”
“Granny, Ma, I’ll never be able to get enough of either of you.”
Then they were gone. Now, I was determined to find that librarian. Sparky couldn’t remember where he’d left him, or what he looked it but he knew that they were on the third floor. I went through every room again, I was dusty, dirty, hot and tired when I’d finished and still no sign. I’d tried the locate spell a number of times, finally I decided that a bath before Lu got home was in order. The luxurious bath did little to improve my mood. I got out drying in front of the mirror then I examined my breasts for signs of sagging, darn that Juliet putting thoughts like that into my head.
“Nice knockers, I’d play with them if I had them too.”
I spun around the room looking for the voyeur, but saw no one.
“I’m a Bibliomancer if you don’t show yourself, I’ll cast you into the seventh ring of hell.”
“Yes very impressive knockers for a Dante fan, would you like the English version or in the original Italian?
“What”
“Yes there big, but not big enough to block your ears surely.”
“What”
“Now you’ve just reduced yourself to the stereotypical large knockers, empty head, If I couldn’t see all of you there I’d ask if you were really a blonde. But you’re raven hair stem to stern.”
I finally had the presence of mind to wrap myself in a towel and blush. I fled the bathroom, threw on some clothes and went back into the bathroom.
“I really preferred you au naturel.”
“I’ve had just about enough of you.”
“Well I haven’t seen nearly enough of you.”
“Why are you here, did Titania send you?
“No I’ve always been here, I’m the best, smartest, good looking, witty, debonair part of the tower.”
“What is your function?”
“Really did your mama drop you repeatedly on your head?”
“Answer the question.”
“No. You answer my question first.”
“What was your question?”
“English or Italian edition?”
“English”
“I’m your librarian, Douglas, just call me Doug, just reach into the mirror to retrieve your copy.”
“Ive been looking all over for you.”
“I’ve been looking for a babe like you my whole life.”
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“All these inappropriate sexual comments.”
“You know you just blushed when you said inappropriate sexual comments. You're cute when you blush but I’d still rather see you naked, what ya say give old Doug another peek.”
“I say, I’m not afraid of seven years of bad luck.”
“Who’ll find your books for you?”
“I’ll move”
“I’ll follow”
“I’ll complain to your owner”
“Now you have the temerity to call me a slave, you bold little hussy first you parade before me naked, I haven’t lived for twenty five hundred years to be insulted by a strumpet. Good Day I say. Good Day.”
I threw my towel, over the mirror fleeing to the bedroom to finish getting dressed. I tossed the book onto the bed after dressing my curiosity got the better of me. I picked it up and it was the first English edition of Dante’s Inferno from 1798. Maybe I could deal with a little teasing. I’ll ask Lu to help me move it to the library.
After a week of careful negotiations Douglas ‘Doug’ Xenodotus was ready to sign on the dotted line. He was banished from the bathroom. He’d occupy the library annex on our floor. No longer would a sheet be hung over the mirror. He’d be allowed to participate in the book club if it met in the Library Annex and he watched his inappropriate comments especially when Salome was around.
