One glorious morning, Belle was out walking among the rolling hills of the countryside. She knew this landscape like the back of her hand, and it was comforting to walk great distances along the familiar terrain. The air was crisp and clear with just a hint of winter around the corner. As she was musing on the beauty of the day, she noticed something at the top of the next hill which hadn’t been there before. A bright light was shining so brightly it obscured whatever it was generating the light. Belle decided to take a closer look and directed her steps up the hill. Despite getting closer, she still could not discern what was generating this light. The light did not get any larger or brighter as she approached, which struck her as odd. It was as though the object was staying the same distance from her despite the fact she had traveled more than half the distance to it. She continued on her way marveling at this strange object. As she reached the crest of the hill she determined it wasn’t a light source which had drawn her this far. Instead, it appeared there was a wrinkle in the air which seemed to bend and focus the light. Always the curious one, Belle approached as close as she could while still seeming to be a safe distance from this strange phenomenon. She stayed just a few feet away. She walked all around the top of the hill circling the spot. It looked the same from every angle. Tentatively, she leaned closer and reached her hand out ever so slowly, one finger outstretched. Inch by inch her finger moved towards the bright bending light. Suddenly, before she even thought she had touched the wrinkle, her entire body was yanked violently towards the spot. There wasn’t even time to try to resist. Before she knew it, she was enveloped completely by the light. Bright light surrounded her completely and she was enveloped in silence. The violent pulling stopped almost as soon as it had started. Slowly, she turned her head to try to see past the light, but it was no use, she could see nothing. She then reached both arms straight out to help herself feel a way out. The movement caused her to tumble suddenly to the ground and everything appeared to return to normal. The familiar hills returned and she could once again hear the sound of the wind and the song birds. Truly shaken by this experience, Belle decided it best to return home as quickly as possible.
She covered the ground back to her familiar castle very quickly, feeling an urgency for returning to safety. She crested the next hill and was expecting to see the grand building in the distance, but was stopped dead in her tracks by the sight which greeted her instead. Where a solid stone structure once stood atop a hill, now there was nothing. In the valley below her a shining black road carved a path into the distance. Carriages were whizzing along the road at dizzying speeds. She turned in every direction trying to get her bearings. Everything behind her told her she was going exactly as she should to return home. However, home was nowhere to be found.
She walked quickly down the hill into the valley and was stunned by the noise coming from the road and the speeding carriages. The closer she got, the more frightening the speed of the carriages became. She decided she would go back over the hill she came from and try to go around the road from the other side. But what she saw when she crested back over the hill completely took her breath away and brought her to her knees. What had been pleasant rolling countryside only minutes ago was now an incomprehensible collection of buildings, people, and noise. She desperately scanned the vision before her for anything even remotely familiar.
“Focus Belle, you can figure this out. Don’t panic” she said to herself with determination.
Suddenly she felt as though she was at once being drawn into the scene before her, and at the same time, the scene was coming towards her. Before she could comprehend what was happening she was completely enveloped in this strange new world. The carriages she had seen before in the distance were now frighteningly close to her and appeared to move by magic. There were no horses, but they were pulled along at great speed with their occupants all calmly seated inside. People, some wearing what appeared to be their underclothes, were calmly walking past her as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. But this was hardly ordinary!
She turned on the spot, desperately looking for an escape, but there was nothing to help her gain her bearings other than the signs which now appeared to be everywhere. While she could easily read all of the signs, none of them had any meaning to her. They all appeared to be labeling the dwellings of families such as “Walgreens”, “Applebee’s”, and “Barnes & Noble”. Other signs simply had meaningless words such as “Express”, “Subway”, and “Staples”. But as she walked, she noticed none of these structures were dwellings. They were all shops of some type selling a staggering number of garments, food, and unrecognizable items. But one shop stood out from all the rest and drew her to it. Books. The store with the sign “Barnes & Noble” had books. Books were safe. Belle quickened her step and headed directly into the bookshop without hesitation.
Inside, the sound of the noisy carriages dropped away and was replaced by a sense of calm. This bookshop was bigger than she could fathom. Vastly bigger even than her library at home. In fact, her entire village could probably fit inside here. She had never imagined so many books could even exist! She stood at the entrance and took in the scene before her. Many people were quietly walking among the rows and rows of bookshelves. Once in a while someone would pick up a book and look through it, then put it back and continue on their way. As she stood there in awe, she was startled by a voice:
“Is there something I can help you find?”
“Oh!” Belle exclaimed, jumping a little. “There are so many books!” was all she could stammer.
“Hmm.” said the shopkeeper looking Belle up and down. “I’m guessing you like adventure stories?”
“Why yes I do!” Belle said, feeling quite relieved there was someone here who understood her. Perhaps this person could even help her find her way home. But for the moment, the call of the books was all that mattered and Belle happily followed the shopkeeper deep into the shop and among the books.
“I seem to have lost my way.” she said as she walked after the shopkeeper.
“Well, I’m here to help you in any way I can.” the shopkeeper replied. “I’m Lydia. And do people call you Belle?”
Belle stopped walking and looked at Lydia in shock. “Why yes! How did you guess?”
“You’re a bit famous around these parts.” Lydia responded over her shoulder as she continued to walk towards the adventure section.
“Famous?” Belle wondered to herself under her breath as she picked up her pace to keep up with Lydia.
“Here we are! Adventure!” Said Lydia turning to face the flustered Belle. “Feel free to browse to your heart’s content. I’ll be back in a bit to check in and see if you need further direction. Have fun”
Lydia was out of sight as quickly as she appeared, leaving Belle alone among the shelves of books. Belle turned to the crisp, shining spines. Most seemed to be covered in a colorful, shiny material. All had the promise of endless adventures. Belle ran her hand gently along a shelf, quickly scanning each title. Then she noticed a woman sitting in an armchair facing away from her at the end of the row. She was staring intently at what appeared to be a slate. Belle quietly approached and looked more closely over the woman’s shoulder. The slate had a page from a book on it. Belle puzzled over why the woman would be reading just one page so intently. She took one more step for an even closer look when the page suddenly flashed and new text appeared! Belle gasped loudly in awe. So loudly, the woman heard her and turned to see who was disturbing her.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Gushed Belle. “But that slate! How did it do that?”
The woman looked Belle up and down and knitted her brow in confusion. “My Nook?” she asked. She did another, slower scan of Belle and then looked carefully around as though fearful of being watched. “Is this some kind of joke?” she asked with a hint of anger.
“Oh! No! No, not at all!” Belle replied backing away. “I’m so sorry” Belle repeated, not wanting to anger the strange woman. Experiences in her own village had taught her to be keen to the reactions of others when curiosity got the better of her. She knew when to let it go.
But just as she was turning back to the bookshelves, Lydia reappeared with a cheerful “How are you doing Belle? I see you’ve discovered our Nook! Not much gets past you my dear.”
“But what is it? It looks just like a slate, but it appears to be magical!” Asked Belle, eager to learn more.
Lydia paused and considered for a moment. “It can appear magical to someone who has never experienced such a thing. It is a device many people use to read large quantities of books. What you see as a single slate can contain thousands upon thousands of books. You lose the experience of flipping through the pages of a book, but you make up for it in the sheer magnitude of variety and quantity. Would you like a demonstration?”
“Oh yes! Please!” replied Belle eagerly.
