“Kind of. I’m moving to a little place in the mountains, and this is the closest town. If you have more books about the history of the area, I’d love to check them out. I already looked through the natural history and local history shelves, but I’m not sure if there are some in other sections I missed,” I say.
“Living out in the wilderness in a little cottage, surrounded by books, that’s the life,” Alice says dreamily.
“I’m not sure I’d describe it exactly like that, but I do have plenty of books,” I say.
And that’s not even counting the books I’m about to buy. I think half of my meagre moving boxes are books.
“We have a folklore section you may want to check out.”
“That would be great! Folktales are so interesting, and they often have some basis in fact. Even the ones that are like, you should avoid this part of the mountain because it’s cursed and you’ll wake up days later with no memory because you fell through a hole into another world. Butreally, it’s poisonous gas escaping from a crevice that’s causing fainting and memory loss,” I say.
“It totally makes sense people came up with mythical explanations for things they didn’t have the tools to understand yet. Let me show you to that section then. Your books will be fine here until we come back for them,” Alice says.
I follow her to the folklore shelves, and from there she takes me to the other sections I missed the first time around. The store has more relevant books than I realized, though I shouldn’t be surprised. Pen and Tellem is several stories tall, and the upper floors are so big they’re mostly hidden in shadows if you’re looking up at the balconies from the ground floor.
I soon collect several new stacks of books. Alice runs off to get me a cart, a two-tiered trolley I load up with my finds. While she shows me around, she subtly questions me about why I moved here and what I do, and basically ends up getting my entire life story out of me. I don’t mind telling people about myself, but I wouldn’t normally lay out my hopes and dreams to someone I just met.
I try to keep up with the conversation while looking at the books, making sure to ask Alice about herself and the town. I want to learn about the place I’ll be calling home for the next two years. Starsfalls seems idyllic on the surface, but you never know if it’s harboring some deep, dark secret.
From what Alice says, it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. Besides a few mishaps over the years, the local drama isn’t very dark. She tells me a lot of fun little stories about the bookstore too, which is clearly one of her main interests. I empathize, my job is my passion too.
The biggest bookstore news is the renovation of its greenhouse. We take a detour to see it, and when Alice opens the door, it’s like stepping into a holiday explosion.
It smells amazing in here. When I entered the bookstore, I noticed it had that festive scent under the book smell. I thought it was just the scented candles up front, but clearly it’s from all of this.
There are evergreen trees everywhere, tiny ones for tables and giant ones as tall as the roof. In between, the greenhouse is packed with potted winter plants: red and white and pink poinsettias, Yule cactuses, and flowering bulbs, along with cut mistletoe, garlands, and wreaths.
The greenhouse is beautiful, and it makes me want to buy a bunch of plants. I should probably wait and see what my station is like first though, I’m not sure if there will be room for them.
“Do you need recommendations for some light reading while you’re up in the mountains? Will you even have internet?” Alice asks, gasping like that horrific possibility just occurred to her.
“I think I’ll have decent internet access. I’ll take those fiction recommendations. Now that I don’t have to study as much, I have time for fun reading,” I say.
“Youdefinitelyneed to mix in fun reading. It gives your mind a break from reality, broadens your horizons, lets your imagination run free—I’ll show you to the spiciest books we have,” she says, taking a hard right at the next row.
I suspect Alice mainly shows me her favorite books, but they sound interesting enough so I’m not complaining.
“You’ll love this series. Big Tex is an amazing character, so worldly. This book is about the time he got stuck in a haunted house, and here’s where he wins the world martial arts tournament. This is one of my recent favorites,Big Tex: Broken Heartland,where he buys a ranch and rehabilitates injured horses. Oh! That’s another great one,Big Tex & PeteMoss: This Saddle Fits Two,” she says, pulling books off the shelf one after the other.
I end up with an entire stack of just Big Tex books in addition to the other novels I pick out. I’ve never heard of the series, but there are a ton of them. If I end up liking Big Tex, I’ll have plenty of new books to read.
Alice pats the top of my stack. “This here should get you through the long winter nights in the mountains, nowhere to go and nothing else to do…” she trails off and looks at me slyly, “unless your hot bosses can keep you warm?”
“No way! They’re not—I mean, I don’t know if theyare, but—my bosses are taken. And anyway, I wouldn’t fraternize with a coworker, especially a direct superior,” I say, rushing to cut off that train of thought.
I can’t be the new girl in town who’s already trying to weasel her way into a closedPack. Besides, it’s like I said, I could never date someone I work with. I maintain a very clear divide between my personal and professional life, and I’m sure my bosses do too.
According to their files, they’ve been mentoring trainees for close to a decade with no issues. I’ll do my part to keep things professional by not starting rumors about us.
“Alright, I get it,” Alice says, laughing. “No getting it on at work, even if it’s a romantic setting, sitting around the campfire where they cook you a hearty dinner and protect you from the wolves.”
“I don’t need them to protect me, I can take care of myself just fine. Wolves rarely attack humans anyway. I’ll just stick to the books for romance,” I say.
She agrees, so I think my reputation is safe.
My cart is so full I can’t see over it anymore. Alice helps me bring it up to the checkout.
“How long do you have to spend up there?” she asks as she rings me up.
