Member-only story
The Librarian
Were they just two ghosts passing each other in the night?
Cassidy had stepped into Alexander’s life not too long ago. She kept to herself, usually buried in a book of some kind or perhaps a sketch of some would-be lover, but he was fascinated by her. Although his job at the school involved janitorial work, he still found time to stop in and check on her when she was the lone worker at the circulation desk for the evening.
“You need to worry less,” she told him one time. “What are you afraid of? That someone’s going to steal me away?”
Exactly that. But he never said the words aloud. Why spook her if nothing came of the turbulence in the world today? It was best that she was left in the dark — for her own sanity, really, till it was time for the piper to come collecting.
But it was a late night, perhaps eight o’clock, when the power on campus went out. Alexander looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Lord, give me patience. But he knew his prayer might likely fall on a deaf ear. God was seemingly one of those individuals who listened only when they felt like it; otherwise, you were on your own, kid.
Either way, Alexander made his rounds around campus, flashlight in hand, as he went from building to building. The fresh night air teased at his unruly hair, and he pushed it back from…
