|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:24 am
 |
|
|
|
Secluded or not, Ellis was a force to be reckoned with.
All of a sudden, the rusty redhead had barreled into the back area without a word, recklessly picking up and dropping stacks of books that littered the few old, chipped wood tables that seemed to stretch the whole length of it. Although not usually a disruptive or rude person by nature, Ellis’ face obviously looked troubled if the draw of his brows and purse of his mouth was any indication.
“Oh, no,” he mumbled to himself as he pulled the seat cushion up from an old, weathered chair. After scanning the inside to no avail, he pushed it back down haphazardly. The more he looked, the more stressed he appeared.
At last, when his eyes fell upon the only other person in the room, Derrick, his hope seemed a little refreshed.
“Sorry to bother you,” his words were too fast, matching his steps as he stepped over to the other boy’s table, “but have you seen a journal around here? I came with it this morning and then forgot it. I think.”
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 7:02 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 4:45 pm
|
|
|
|
Ellis frowned as the other boy gave him his first bit of bad news - he hadn't seen it. The redhead wasn't normally one to let himself get down about things but his journal was his brain on paper, a comfort item like no other in the world. He had every journal he'd ever written at home, tucked away in his father's chest but this one -
"It's leather bound with a tassel thing that wraps around it a few times, like this," he made a motion of winding something rope-like around something else in the air, though he was aware it made him seem a little desperate. He had already looked away from the other boy when he began to explain it, moving on to pick through different stacks of books around the room.
"It's not as big as a notebook, not as small as a traditional paperback.."
Ellis began describing it absentmindedly as he looked around the little room, so focused on his quest as he was. He startled himself back with a sudden though and turned away from where he had bent down to look at the books on the bottom of a stack.
"Oh, and thanks for helping. I'm Ellis."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:34 am
|
|
|
|
Derrick was, in fact, right.
The moment he offered Ellis a precise plan of action, the redhead straightened, turned to look at him, and dropped the chair cushion he had been busy pulling up from the seat. Although he didn’t speak right away, he manually forced his breathing to calm enough that he eventually could.
“That’s actually a great idea,” he admitted, softly. As he abandoned his attempt to upturn every seat and table in the back room of the library, Ellis found himself smiling weakly for the other man in an attempt to not seem quite so manic. It’s just that his journal contained every thought that plagued him, every lilting word and verse he had strung together as the voice for his troubled heart. It wouldn’t hurt him terribly to have other eyes upon it but never getting it back? That was like losing a piece of his soul.
“It’s a burnt red color and malleable but not quite paperback.”
The semi-panicked ginger boy took a few steps up a closeby ladder so that he could begin browsing the upper shelves first - they were the most unlikely place for someone to randomly stuff a journal but there was no point in not searching every inch of the library before he gave up. Odder, more peculiar things happened in this city - like crossing lines with best friends and finding long lost hearts in his own dank, crumbling apartment building.
He paused mid-way through his search of the upper shelves and half-turned back to look at Derrick, suddenly realizing he had been too preoccupied for the niceties.
“Sorry, I’m Ellis. And thank you, I owe you one.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:58 pm
|
|
|
|
Ellis had turned back to his examination of the top shelves, abandoned them, and begun to observe the center ones by the time Derrick called out to him. At first, his brain didn’t quite register what was being said - and then, all at once, he was turning and leaping off of the step ladder clumsily in his eagerness. If luck had been less on his side, he might’ve rolled his ankle. Instead, he simply stumbled and caught himself on the back of a plush arm chair while his eyes rolled up to lock on Derrick and the journal in his hand.
“Holy s**t, thank you!”
Once he had managed to regain his balance, the lithe ginger was back on steady feet and holding out a hand for his journal; every fiber of his being screamed at him to just take what was his and relish his luck but his mother was in his head urging him to be polite. Good boys don’t snatch things from people.
“Really, thank you, you have no idea how stressed out I’ve been about losing it.” The smile on his face split ear-to-ear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
