The Library Book Project – 26 August 2010

To read more about this project, click here.

Hannah reclines on the sofa, one hand holding the TV remote, the other diving into a packet of crisps. She gives me smug grin.

“Hope you guys have fun!”

I mumble something before backing out of the lounge door and greeting our three children, who are supposed to be putting on their shoes. Ben and Tom are too busy shoving each other to dig their footwear out of the jumble by the door.  Kaitlyn, the oldest, sucks in her cheeks and directs a baleful look at me with her brown eyes.

“Can’t I stay behind with Mum?” she pleads.

“No.” I say, firmly. “We’re going to the museum, just me, you and your brothers. And then, if you’re all good,” I raise my voice slightly so the boys can hear me, “We’ll get some ice cream or something, how does that sound?”

“Yeah! Ice cream!” the boys chant together, distracted momentarily from their tussle. Kaitlyn’s demeanor brightens.

“But only if you get your shoes on right now, no fuss!”

Ten minutes later we’re walking up the hill, and I’m feeling more sympathetic towards my wife with every step. She works from home, but the last few summers I’ve managed to get time off to help her out during the school holidays. This year, things were harder, and so I can only take the kids off her hands on the weekends.

On the way through the town centre, I drop off my library book, and then we head towards the museum. Hannah was doubtful that the kids would particularly enjoy a contemporary art exhibit, but I insisted it was never too early to start exposing our children to modern art. I showed her the exhibit online. It was a collection of photographs by Diane Arbus. Hannah made a face, which caused me to be all the more determined.

It’s not until I stand in the museum’s entrance, the sound of my rowdy children the only audible noise, that I begin to wonder if this is a good idea…

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The Library Book

So, I’m wanting work on a project that’s a little different from my normal work. I’m taking a bit of a break from To Be A Pawn and I really wanted to get away from the fantasy genre. However, with the current mood I’ve been in, it’s sometimes difficult to come up with ideas that don’t simply reflect how I feel right now.

I was reading a book that I got from the library yesterday, called Then We Came To The End, by Joshua Ferris. It’s quite unusual, and well written, but there isn’t really an overarching plot that I can see yet and so I’m finding it hard to get into. Anyway, I looked at the front of the book, where all the return dates were stamped.

It made me wonder who all these people were, the ones who had taken out this particular book before me? Where had this book been, what had it seen?

And, I’ll never know who these people were, but I guess it’s fun to imagine.

So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a short story for each date stamped in the book. I’m really looking forward to this project, and I hope you’ll stick around to see me complete it. 😀

Links to all the stories can be found in the comments below.