It wasn’t even eight yet and I was already feeling like the world’s fetch dog. It was akin to waking up with a headache- things were almost guaranteed to not improve from there. A full night’s rest hadn’t increased my enthusiasm towards the Rebel cause and I felt, more and more like I was being wedged between a rock and a hard place despite Wallace’s pleasant attitude and Ellen’s enthusiasm. Now my roommate felt the need to add her name to the list of growing oddities. I wasn’t sure what Nym needed the computer for but I did know she’d been lying when she told me she couldn’t borrow one from work.
I tried to roll back asleep and snooze for ten more minutes but it was useless. The body was willing but the mind was weak. My brain was a whirl and it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. The only reason I’d been able to fall asleep at a decent hour last night was because I’d been both mentally and physically exhausted. Stretching I rolled back out of bed, using the motion to stand firmly on my feet.
”Excuse me?” It was the voice of a man. By the sound of his fingers drumming on my desk, I guessed he’d been there for a while.
”One second,” I said as I pounded on the enter key of my computer. No matter how I searched, or the changed parameters I used, I couldn’t find any information on the book “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. Oh I found plenty of books by Charles Dickens, and I even found a children’s book called “A Tale of Two Cities” about a pair of young mice from different societal standings but nothing that combined both of my queries. Feeling I might be onto something, I located the latter in the children’s section and skimmed over it. Aside from another remake or “The Prince and the Pauper”, I found nothing remarkable and certainly nothing about a revolution. It was frustrating being a librarian and not being able to locate a book. It was one of my few superpowers in life.
”I’d like to turn this in,” the man said and placed the book on my desk. In my irritated state I was half tempted to tell him off for not placing in the book drop like everyone else but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his hand lingered on the cover.
”Alright,” I still didn’t look up.
”It’s very important this book goes back to the right place… Understand?” I finally looked up.
The man appeared to be in his early thirties. He had jet black hair and eyes that seemed to see right through me. I had the sensation like I’d met him before because his face felt familiar to me, and yet I was sure I hadn’t. Restraint was a city closed off from the world, but the citizen count had shot well past 2 million. The idea of me accidentally running into him on an evening tram was unlikely and the man appeared to be was too old to be in my graduating class.
”Yeah, okay.” I said, taking the book and placing it next to my computer.
He nodded once and gave me another knowing glance before turning away. I watched him take a few more steps before turning back.
”And Plygard,” he said looking over her shoulder.
”Please don’t involve her.”I felt my face form a quizzical look.
”Ellen?”But the man shook his head and simply walked away. Turning my attention to the book, I examined the outer cover. It was a compilation of poems by Emily Dickenson. Before tossing it into the book drop bin, I flipped to the title page.
My breath caught in my chest as I read the neat handwritten words. Not stopping there I flipped to the first chapter. It felt as if someone was reaching out to me from the past, like someone knew exactly how I was feeling and the anxiety I was going through. That someone else knew how it felt to be Charles Plygard.
” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…
