Mr.Linden's Special Book | Teen Ink

Mr.Linden's Special Book

December 19, 2017
By Anonymous

He had warned her about the book, and now it was too late. Earlier that rainy Friday afternoon, Eliza had visited Mr.Linden’s library, her favorite library in town. She had brought home two books that day, two very special books. These were not just any ordinary books though. These books were from that shelf in the corner with the old red paint and ivy growing on it. It's almost impossible not to notice it in the small library. If any reader, no matter how big or small, choses a book from that shelf, they are warned by Mr.Linden about what might happen if they make a mistake. Eliza came home that day from the library feeling tired, but she decided to read before bed. About thirty minutes later she had fallen asleep, the book lay on her bed still open, the light on, and Mr.Linden's warning forgotten. Soon, leaves,grass and weeds started growing from inside the spine of the book. If the book was open and wasn't being read by anyone, the things that happen inside the book’s plot come to life. The deeper Eliza’s sleep, the faster the ivy grew around the room. Soon a big red hairy creature crawled out of the book too, and then a green cat! The ivy grew all around Eliza’s walls, and trees started to plant themselves on her floor. All the characters, even the setting from her book started to come alive in her room.Even a lake poured out in the middle of her room. Her walls changed from pink to a green forest color. If only she had listened to Mr.Linden’s warning, but she was in a deep sleep, too caught up in her dreams to notice.
                                                    Hours later…
Eliza woke up the next Saturday morning to a complete jungle in her room. She closed her eyes again, she was definitely dreaming. She opened them still find a jungle in her room. Animals making noises, her walls covered with plants, and a small lake on her floor. Suddenly she remembered Mr.Linden’s warning. Wasn't this a scene from her book? What would her parents think? How could she reverse this “spell”? Questions flooded her head as she started to feel scared and overwhelmed. She tried to just stand up and make her way downstairs, but grass that was embedded to her mattress tugged on her, making it almost impossible to stand, let alone walk. This had to be the worst thing that had ever happened to Eliza. She scrambled to find her book under her covers, that had been covered moss . If she couldn't give it attention to put the spell into action, then maybe if she gave it full attention now, the spell would reverse! She found it and tried her best to read it. She gave it all of her attention. After five minutes of reading it, the leaves and ivy started to seep back into the book. The more she read, quicker all the animals and grass went back into the spine of her book.The moss that covered her floor and bed slithered back through the spine of the book. As she read even deeper she felt the thorns and ivy around her loosen. Her walls changed color from murky brown and green to pink again. Relief filled her body and she felt like a superhero. “Never again will I leave my book open and fall asleep” she thought.
Eliza was leaving for a road trip with her family later that morning. She decided to bring a couple of books with her. Foolishly, she decided to bring the other book that she had selected from Mr. Lindens special shelf in his library. While she was on the road, she started reading it. She started to feel a little car sick, so she closed her eyes for a couple of minutes. For the second time, she had forgotten Mr. Lindens warning. A couple of minutes turned into twenty minutes, which then turned into an hour. The book lacked attention from a reader, so once again strange things started happening. The car seats started to turn pink, and a unicorn leaped out of the book. By that time, Eliza woke up,startled. It had all happened again! A rainbow shined over her mom and dad’s front seats of the car, and glitter poured like rain all over the car.  Her parents both turned around furiously, and looked at her.
“Is there something you want to tell us?” the asked. “Uh oh!” thought Eliza.


The author's comments:

I was inspired to write this by my love for books and the imaginary adventures I experience.


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