Ariel

The Book With The Gold Spine

As a young girl Mimi Baxter loved to read, but her family didn’t approve of this.  Her mother wanted her to participate in beauty pageants and her father wanted her to follow in his footsteps and become a country singer. Mimi just wanted to spend her time reading. She went to the library every other day and brought home lots of books. By the time she was fifteen, she had read all the books in her house and almost all the books in the library.  She wanted a change.  She was tired of walking under the large arch, through the double doors over which were carved seventy third street Public Library– a quite and peace full place, down the stairs and into the young adult section. She was tired of carrying all the books back to her Sixty Seventh Street apartment and up into her room. She called her aunt to see if there was a different library on the east side.
“Hi Aunt Lila”, Mimi said joyfully into the phone “Is there a library near you”
“Yes honey, I know a place you could go”, Lila said.
“Where?”
Lila replied, “Your Dad’s cousin’s grandfather’s uncle owns a large library on the outskirts of Westchester.”
“What’s his name and phone number?” Mimi asked.
“I’m not quite sure. His last name is Linden, though. I think his phone number is in your parents address book. They go there occasionally.” Lila replied.
“Oh thank you!” Mimi exclaimed, “I will call him as soon as I can”

When Mimi’s parents got home, she got his number from their address book and called him. He said she was welcome to come anytime, so she said thanks and she would come soon.
One rainy Saturday she drove out of New York City to see Mr. Linden and look at his library. Mr. Linden welcomed her into his rather large lavishly furnished home, there were many antique tables and chairs on the mahogany wood floors on top of which was a deep red carpet. He showed her where the library was. Inside the library there were many deep red armchairs with books surrounding them, there were books everywhere, even on the little table right along side a bed.  Wow! Mimi thought to herself this room is really nice. Her eyes were transfixed on the bed, which was very nice with rosy red silk sheets and a blue velvet quilt. He gave her one warning before he left “Don’t touch the book with the gold spine.” Unfortunately, when he went into the kitchen Mimi was overcome with curiosity and she couldn’t help opening the book…

It was the most delightful feeling, almost as if she was flying, wait, she was flying. She turned the page and went even higher. When she turned to the twenty- first page the feeling ended.  Down and down she went until…
Clunk! She landed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep, and the silk top sheet settled down on top of her. Out in the kitchen, Mr. Linden, at the marble sink where he was washing dishes heard the noise, turned off the faucet and walked down the hall. When he saw Mimi on the bed and the book with the gold spine he knew. She had flown until she had fallen down onto the bed, locked in the adventures in the world inside the book. He knew he couldn’t do anything but he wished he could. He looked down at Mimi locked in the book where she need to find the right way out back into our world before time ran out. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. He started whispering clues to help her find her way out, hoping she could hear. Little did he know, Mimi was lost in her own world, exploring.
Then Mimi saw it, the distinguished stone cottage with white shutters and a white picket fence. As she walked up the cobblestone path she felt a magnetic pull towards the house and then broke into a run and opened the door.
Mr. Linden was remembering his adventure. He sat back in his chair lost in the daydreams of the world inside the book. Just to make sure Mimi was ok he decided to join her. He picked up the book and turned to the nineteenth page. As her turned the next page he got sucked into the book.
The first thing he saw when he came to his senses was Mimi at the door of the cottage.
“No!” He cried, “don’t go in there!”  
But it was too late. He jumped up from his position on the ground and ran up the path and into the cottage after her. When he looked around he realized the cottage had changed. There was Mimi sitting in the breakfast nook enjoying a stack of golden brown pancakes, drenched in maple syrup. He walked across the perfectly polished floor and sat opposite, from Mimi in the cherry breakfast booth.
“Oh! Mr. Linden, what a surprise to see you here, isn’t this house so quaint?”
“Yes Mimi it is, we have to get moving, we have to get out of here.”
Mr. Linden quickly stood up and pulled Mimi to her feet, together they walked to the front door, but it would open and they only had one other choice. They walked back across the room and opened the back door and realized what a mistake that was. When they looked around outside they saw their mistake. They had gotten themselves pushed deeper into the world and now it would take twice as long to get back. When they tried to turn back and go into the cottage Mimi realized that it wasn’t there, and they were just standing on the back steps. They turned around and tried to walk in the direction the cottage was. But they were pushed backwards and fell onto their backs. Mr. Linden glanced up and saw the large hour glass in which grains of rice were falling, counting the time they had left, and realized in horror that if they didn’t make it out of this world within the next two hours they would be locked in there forever. Mr. Linden tried frantically to remember how he had gotten out last time, but it was no use, everything looked so different and he couldn’t remember if he had been there before. They rushed to the woods in front of them and ran as fast as they could, jumping over the large knobby roots and ducking under the large branched covered with bright green leaves. After another minute or two in the woods they found themselves in a small clearing, with a straw hut in one corner. When they looked inside they saw a small old women enjoying a bowl of soup. They asked if she could help them get out, but she just looked at them with a crooked grin on her face and told them they would have to find their own way out. They weren’t too happy but they said good-bye and ran on. As they rushed out of the woods, Mr. Linden thought they would be at the gates to leave that world but they weren’t. They were in another part of that world, full of sad and depressed looking people, They went up to a young girl and asked her what happened and she said;
“One day when I was about 10, now I’m 13, I read a book that was really lovely and for the beginning of it I was flying, lost in the wonders of the story. When I turned a page I fell and landed on a couch but really I got sucked in here. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and I didn’t make it out in time, so I’m here forever along with all these other people. We don’t know what to do so we just mope around here.”
Mimi and Mr. Linden said goodbye and rushed on for they didn’t want to be stuck in there forever. When they found a brick path they decided to take it and they ran even faster.
As the came over a large hill they saw, at the bottom of the hill, surrounded in bright flowers, the large grey iron gates, just being closed by the giants, and they knew they were trapped in that world forever.