Secondary
The House of Time and Shadows
“A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be” – Albert Einstein
A young girl, Evie, runs through the streets of London in the middle of an air raid, seeking shelter from the worst night of the Blitz. She comes to an alley, at the end of which is a lighted building. She wonders briefly why lights are shining in the blackout but her instinct for self-preservation takes over and she runs towards the building.
As she approaches she hears voices, whispering and indistinct. Then ghostly figures emerge. Most seem to ignore her although some do glance in her direction.
She enters the building. It appears at first to be a shop; shelves are laden with books, some arranged neatly, other stacked in mountainous piles. She moves through a doorway in to a larger room and again finds herself surrounded by books in their thousands. She explores and finds the small shop she first entered is merely the entrance to an endless rabbit warren of corridors, leading to walk-in cupboards, rooms; some small, some huge.
She meets Lucy, a girl of similar age who tells her the place is not a shop but a library – vast and never-ending. Evie is grateful to have a companion but senses there is something odd about her - the way she speaks and the things she says but she can’t put her finger on it.
As they continue through the library they meet two more children. The girl, Maya, is a taciturn, cynical, almost unhappy child. In contrast, the boy, who introduces himself as Wolfie, is exuberant, irrepressible, endlessly fascinated by everything and everyone, horribly conceited were it not for an inexhaustible natural charm. He is both worldly-wise and almost entirely innocent of real life, highly intelligent (he speaks four languages) but unusually naïve.
As they talk, (Wolfie has opinions on every subject imaginable) Evie is increasingly aware that all is not as it should be. However, the arrival of Bruno interrupts her misgivings. Bruno is a member of library staff. He tells them the library is a place of refuge and if they find themselves here it is for a reason. (However, a place of refuge – not escape – he is quite clear on this.) They are welcome to stay for as long as they wish.
Maya is sceptical of this explanation - anyone can see there is more to the library than that. Bruno admits there is much more to the place than first appears. He offers them a challenge; to discover for themselves the true nature of the library. He tells them the library does not give up its secrets easily but for any who wishes to find the truth at the heart of the library there are clues enough to lead them. As he exits he points them towards a large clock and around the clock’s face is a quote. “A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.”
And so, they begin their search for the centre of the library and the person they will find there. They experience an adventure that sees them solving secret codes, evading capture and learning who they can and cannot trust.
What is the secret of the library, who are the ghostly figures they all saw when they entered. Who exactly is Calista and is she telling the truth. And why does Wolfie, this aggravating, perpetually curious child, seem both a stranger and oddly familiar.
As she approaches she hears voices, whispering and indistinct. Then ghostly figures emerge. Most seem to ignore her although some do glance in her direction.
She enters the building. It appears at first to be a shop; shelves are laden with books, some arranged neatly, other stacked in mountainous piles. She moves through a doorway in to a larger room and again finds herself surrounded by books in their thousands. She explores and finds the small shop she first entered is merely the entrance to an endless rabbit warren of corridors, leading to walk-in cupboards, rooms; some small, some huge.
She meets Lucy, a girl of similar age who tells her the place is not a shop but a library – vast and never-ending. Evie is grateful to have a companion but senses there is something odd about her - the way she speaks and the things she says but she can’t put her finger on it.