Chapter 2 Segment 1 of The Sentient She Shed
The Library Nook wasn’t just a room.
It was a memory.
Lila stepped carefully, her bare feet brushing against a rug woven with symbols she didn’t recognize. The bookshelves curved inward, like they were leaning in to listen. Dust motes floated in the air, catching the light from a stained-glass lamp shaped like a mushroom.
She ran her fingers along the spines of the books. Some were smooth, some cracked, some humming softly. One had a lock. Another had a ribbon. A third had her name.
She paused.
It wasn’t possible.
She hadn’t written it. She hadn’t been here. But there it was—Lila, etched in faded gold, tucked between two volumes titled Whispers and What If.
The mouse from before appeared again, this time wearing a tiny pair of spectacles. It squeaked once, then climbed onto a stack of books and pointed to a scroll resting on a velvet cushion.
Lila picked it up.
The scroll unfurled itself.
Inside were sketches—her sketches. The ones she’d drawn in the margins of her notebooks. The ones no one had ever seen. The ones she thought she’d lost.
She looked around.
The Library Nook didn’t just hold books.
It held her.
If a room remembered you before you arrived, what would it hold?
Prompt: you can place your answers below in the comment box.