Alex stood before the circulation desk, behind which sat an old man who had left a bitter mark on his memory. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he recalled how the old man had once placed his hand over Alex's shoulder and asked him who he was, his grip carrying a pressure that had sent tremors through Alex's legs.
The old man had white hair with a few stubborn black strands clinging on, though they were as sparse and thin as a needle lost in a haystack. His eyes were dark as coal, his face deeply wrinkled in a way that told anyone who looked that this man had lived long enough to have seen the world change more than once. He wore black robes and regarded Alex with an expression that revealed nothing of what moved behind those dark eyes.
"You're Alex, right? I have been informed that you will be helping out in the library for a week in the evenings." The old man spoke, drawing Alex's wandering attention back to the present.
Alex blinked and nodded, "Yes, I am Alex and I will do my best." He paused for a moment, then added politely, "May I know your name?"
Alex already knew that the old man was aware of his name and was merely confirming it. Was it some kind of formality, or had the old man's eyes and memory grown so dim with age that the old man truly did not recognize him?
"It has been quite some time since someone called me by my name." The old man drifted briefly into his own world before returning, "You can call me Old Wan."
Alex committed the name to memory by repeating it silently several times, only to stop halfway through and turn to the old man with curious, puzzled eyes. "Old Wan?" Alex ventured, "Is that your given name or your surname, sir?" He kept his tone as polite as he could manage.
The old man bopped Alex on the head with a nearby book.
"Ouch!" Alex yelped in pain and shot the old man a look of pure irritation.
"You are far too curious about things that add no value to your life." The old man remarked flatly, "Just call me Old Wan as everyone else does. And, just so you know, I am the head librarian of this library."
Alex was not the least bit satisfied with that answer. Who said he could not be curious? He could, and he would be, because that was how knowledge was truly gained, not by staying silent out of fear, not by keeping one's mouth shut out of pride or ego or whatever else people used to justify their ignorance.
The old man reached into his desk and produced a brooch, then handed it across to Alex. Alex turned it over in his fingers and examined it carefully. The pin read Junior Librarian in neat engraved letters. He turned to Old Wan with a questioning look that asked, without words, what exactly this was supposed to mean.
"Pin it to your coat, boy." Old Wan clarified, "You can only roam the first floor of the library since you are still in your first year."
Alex straightened up and listened carefully to everything Old Wan was laying out for him.
"And stop looking at me with those wide eyes and put that brooch on your coat this instant." The old man added, making Alex flush with embarrassment because he had slipped into his focus without realizing it.
Alex quickly fastened the brooch over his chest on the lapel of his coat.
"Listen carefully now. On the first floor there are multiple subsections, and a board hangs above the ceiling where each subsection's name is written, history, magic research, swordmanship, and so on." The old man continued, then reached into his drawer and produced an enormous book, setting it on the desk with a heavy thud. "Take this book. It contains every record of every book on the first floor and lists the category in which each one is to be kept."
Alex accepted the giant book into his hands and felt as though the weight of the world itself had been pressed down upon him. The book was unreasonably, almost offensively heavy, its cover a smooth slab of black obsidian. When he cracked it open, he found brown pages filled with records written in black ink, laid out in neat tables listing each book's title alongside the subsection where it belonged.
"Now that you have had a look at the records, take these borrowed books that have been returned and place them back where they belong." Old Wan instructed, then pointed an index finger at the pile of returned books beside the desk, a mountain of volumes stacked so high they looked ready to topple at any moment.
"That many!" Alex cried out, his gaze darting back and forth between Old Wan and the towering heap of books.
"Yes, do it one at a time." Old Wan replied with a slow, sinister smile spreading across his weathered face, "Now start, boy."
Alex tucked the black obsidian book into his dimensional space and made his way toward the mountain of books with a long, defeated sigh that suggested he was already halfway exhausted. He loaded several dozen books into his dimensional space and set off toward the bookshelves, careful not to take them all at once. He wanted to at least familiarize himself with the layout of the library first and find his footing before attempting to sort through everything.
***
"Well done, boy!" Old Wan called out.
Alex was hunched over in a chair, catching his breath, on the very edge of melting into the floor. If there had been a bed nearby, he would have collapsed onto it without a second thought.
"You did well. There is still about half an hour left, and if you wish, you are free to go and browse some books." Old Wan offered with a gracious tilt of his head, "Since there is no more work for you at the moment, and because I am quite generous by nature, I will allow you to enjoy the remainder of your time."
Alex had a very strong urge to say something to that mouth of the old man, the one that kept producing such magnificent nonsense with complete and utter sincerity. The worst part was that the old man appeared to believe every word of it, wearing not even the faintest shadow of sarcasm on his face. It was the kind of remark Alex might have laughed at if it had been directed at someone else, but since he was the unfortunate recipient, he tucked both his laughter and his irritation quietly away.
"Let me catch my breath first, and then I will go look at a few books that had caught my eyes earlier." Alex answered.
Old Wan gave a single nod and lifted a book up in front of his face, either to read it or, more likely, to hide the fact that his composure had finally cracked and he was laughing silently behind its cover at his own remarkably well-delivered sarcasm.
***
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