Find This Book

Job Info:

It was particularly warm this morning as Kara walked into the Peace Village. She'd applied for a job the night before which involved finding a book for an old lady, but of course she had to wait until this morning for the job to be processed and whatnot...it was a complicated and boring procedure from what she imagined, so she simply let whoever it was get on with it while she slept and prepared for it in the morning.

The woman who'd applied for it lived in a hut about thirty yards into the village, or at least that's what Kara could figure out seeing as how the name on a sign outside that hut matched the name of her client. She walked towards it, happy in the knowledge that she was able to do a job at her own pace again...meaning it'd be done in about an hour tops with any luck. she brought her hand up and knocked on the wooden door of the hut, smiling happily to herself. An easy job whilst helping out an old lady. What better job could there be?

The old woman opened the door and looked up at Kara confused. "What do you want? If you're with a charity then you can sling your hook, I know where my money REALLY goes!" she yelled, causing Kara to look back at the woman, stunned. She didn't think that old ladies could be so...terrifying. "Well?! Come on, don't just stand there, spit it out!" Kara snapped back and nodded. "Sorry, I'm here about a job. You are Mrs Woods right? And you wanted someone to find a book for you?" she replied, although she was beginning to wonder if she'd come to the right hut.

The entire expression, attitude and atmosphere surrounding the old woman did almost a complete flip and Kara could almost feel the air become later. [color:a459=336699]"Oh I see! Well then come in, come in! I'll make us some tea while I tell you more about it." Mrs Woods exclaimed happily as she shuffled back into her hut. Kara sighed in relief and entered the hut, shutting the door behind her as she gasped at the sight in front of her. The interior of Mrs Woods' home was literally filled with tons and tons of bookshelves, containing almost every kind of book you could imagine - including some that would've made most women blush furiously,which Kara was doing just from looking at them.

Mrs Woods returned with a tray holding a pot of tea and two cups, along with a jug of milk and a small plate of cookies. Kara couldn't help but smile. Is this what it's like to have grandparents? she thought to herself as she sat down at the table. Mrs Woods placed the tray onto the table and poured the tea before seemingly getting down to business. "The book I'd like to read is a book I was read back when I was just a child, younger even than you. Ahh I loved that book...if you could get it for me then I would be incredibly grateful."

Kara smiled and sipped some tea from her cup. "What is the book called? I'll try my best to find it for you." Mrs Woods slurped some of her own tea and smiled fondly whilst staring at a space just above Kara's head somewhere, clearly reminiscing. "It was called The Wooden Horse...it taught me all kinds of morals as a child..." she replied, before giggling and looking at Kara. "Of course, some of those morals didn't stay forever. People do get naughtier as they get older." Kara wasn't sure how to react, which led to Mrs Woods laughing hysterically. After choking and slowly but surely recovering, the old woman spoke again. "So...stay and enjoy your tea a little while. Then if you could find the book for me, I would be most appreciative."

~

Kara left the old woman’s hut with a smile on her face. It wasn’t often that she started a job in such high spirits or with meeting such a cheerful client, so she honestly felt that today was going to be a good day. The Lamia Scale mage began her walk towards the library with a spring in her step. She wanted nothing more than to return to the old lady’s with the book in her hands and seeing her happy expression. Kara was so lost in her own thoughts that she nearly ended up walking straight into the door of the library. The only reason she didn’t was because someone happened to walk out of it and made her jump back to reality. She bowed her head slightly at the stranger as an apology, then headed into the library. The book was a children’s book, so she knew the area to search in at least.

Upon entering the section for the children’s books Kara froze. Sat on the floor in the middle of the section were a pair of young boys, both of whom were clearly bored out of their minds. What made Kara freeze though was the fact that they both turned to look at her and both were grinning. Kara didn’t like the look they were giving her. She almost turned away there and then, but she persevered nonetheless and walked down between the bookshelves towards the boys.

So…what was the name of the book again… she thought to herself. She’d only been told the name once, and was then involved in some scintillating and amusing conversations, so she was having to think a little harder than normal in order to remember it. Something to do with an animal…erm…AHA! The Wooden Horse! So…it’d be around T or around W depending on how these books are sorted… She was having quite the conversation in her own head by now, and had not noticed that the two boys were whispering quietly to one another and giggling.

She searched through the ‘T’ section first, in the knowledge that some libraries would sometimes put books beginning with ‘The’ into that section without thinking about it. After scanning down the shelves she sighed and shook her head. ”Oh well, wasn’t like I thought it’d be there anyway…” she mumbled to herself, before walking a couple of bookshelves down. She stopped once she reached the section with a large ‘W’ and kneeled down to begin looking. The first few shelves showed no signs of fruition. Upon reaching the fourth shelf though Kara found it. The artwork looked quite old, but the condition of the book was rather impressive considering its age. She held it out at arm’s length for a moment…a moment too long. Both boys ran up with one of them poking Kara in the ribs and the other catching the book as she dropped it in surprise. The pair of them giggled as they fled, travelling in different directions. Kara stood there motionless for a moment before gritting her teeth and growling. Oh….it’s on!

She poked her head around the corner to face down the left first, spotting the first boy who was peeking out from a bookshelf further down. She then looked to her right and saw the second boy. He reacted similarly, except Kara caught sight of the corner of the book in his arms. She popped her head back into the section she was in and put a finger to her lips as she thought about how to get the book back. Chasing the boys would be loud and would get her thrown out, plus she may not even catch them before that point. The alternatives were to look for another book, or to try and sneak around and catch the boy off-guard. The latter was the better option, so Kara popped her head out and looked both ways once more before setting off down the other end of the section and sneaking up the opposite side.

The boy never saw her coming as she came around the corner and simply plucked the book from his arms. ”I believe that I was the one that found that? Thanks for looking after it.” she said slyly with a smirk, before walking to the counter and getting it stamped. She turned around with her smirk still intact and stuck her tongue out at the boy, who’d now been joined by his friend again, before heading back out into the village.

~

She knocked on Mrs Woods door once again, a happy smile on her face. The old woman came to the door with a frown. ”What do you want? If you're with a charity then you can sling your hook, I know where my money REALLY goes!" she yelled, shocking Kara for a second time. Had she forgotten who she was already? ”Erm…Mrs Woods…I got the book you wanted…assuming you still want it.” Kara replied nervously. For the second time that day - or perhaps the third considering the change back to the way she was before – Mrs Woods had a complete flip in her personality. Her frown was replaced by that warm and inviting smile once again. ”So I see…come in, come in, I’ll make us some tea and then you can read it to me. It’d be good to hear the story again.” She shuffled back into her hut again, causing Kara to giggle. Sure, reading the book wasn’t a part of the job description. But for this old lady, she didn’t mind going beyond the details of what the job entailed.

~
”Have a safe journey home young lady. Thank you for making this irritable old hag’s day.” Mrs Woods spoke sweetly. ”It was an absolute pleasure. Thank you for telling me all of these stories.” Kara replied happily. The old lady chuckled. ”So you agree I’m an irritable old hag then?” she asked jokingly. Kara looked back in complete despair. ”N-no I didn’t agree to that at all! You’re a lovely lady and-“ she began, before being cut off by Mrs Woods putting a finger to her lips. ”I was joking…now, go home and enjoy the remainder of your day. And thank you, from the very bottom of my heart.” she said with a smile. Kara smiled in return and nodded her head. ”You’re forever welcome.”