Chapter Seven
Luna woke up early the next day. She sat by their front porch steps as music boomed in her ears. She had been sitting there for almost half an hour, chewing on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had made earlier. The day was still quite gloomy but Luna did not allow it to dampen her mood.
Luna brought out her mobile phone and swiped the screen. The light illuminated and then she checked the time. It was nine twenty-five and Mrs. Chandler had not gone out yet. Luna looked left and right to see if the old woman had gone out and walked over to a different direction. However, Luna only saw the usual thread of joggers, cars and dogs passing by.
A few more minutes and Luna saw the old woman wearing another set of her tight, knee-high skirt and buttoned-down shirt. Mrs. Chandler was carrying a long purple umbrella on one hand and a brown shoulder bag on the other as she walked past Luna. The girl immediately gobbled the remainder of her sandwich then followed the old woman cross the street, stop for her morning tea and then head on to the library.
Luna waited for Mrs. Chandler to settle down and browse over some papers before she went in. Mrs. Chandler looked at the girl then gave her a smile. Luna, however, only saw the wrinkling of Mrs. Chandler's face. Luna responded with a shy smile then went over to the shelf to get her book. She was only a few chapters away from the end of the story. She was not wishing for the same thing to happen, for her to hear the voice of her grandmother reading to her in her mind. But I hope that happens again, she said to herself as she flipped one page after the other, searching for the page that she had stopped on.
Before Luna could reach the page, rain had started falling from the sky. It replenished the plants outside and slightly drowned the silence inside the eerie library. Luna stopped flipping for a while, and then she closed her eyes. Rain is one of her least favorite weather, but this morning, with some unexplainable reason, she was finding comfort in it. She sighed, and then she continued to flip. She finally reached her page and started reading. Usually, when she starts reading, the droning voice of an old man would be the one reading to her and it would take her a few sentences before the exciting radio-announcer voice starts speaking out the words in her mind. Today, it was different. The voice in her mind was that of an old woman, an unfamiliar old woman. It was not her grandmother and it was not the voice of anyone she had heard before, but she was sure it was that of an old woman.
Luna, however, did not take too much notice in the change, after all, it was her who was reading and it was just her mind imagining things. She just read on. After a few more words, Luna's mind started to visualize the events in the story. In her mind she saw two fluffy white clouds, with a man on the left cloud and a woman on the right. The usual dust forming visions had stopped and she did not notice it. Her mind's eye had started to visualize things as if they were real. There was the cloud on the left. A large fluffy cloud with a man wearing a black cloak sporting a wand on his waist. He had a slightly pointy nose and a long beard that reached his clavicle. The man was on his stomach watching and looking over his shoulder towards Luna. On the right cloud was a woman, slightly shorter than the man. She was wearing a majestic emerald green robe. Her wand was in her hand and she was laughing hysterically. She had messy curls that dropped over her shoulders and she was wearing a pointy dirty black hat.
Luna saw all of those in her mind and she was only able to notice them when she heard thunder roll by. Instinctively, Luna clutched on to the book then bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling. She slowly looked over to the dusty high window closest to her, and then from a distance, she saw two clouds, same as those she had envisioned. She drew her eyebrows together then stared at the clouds longer. She knew there were no people there but in her mind she was seeing Wizard Howl and the Witch on each cloud, doing exactly what she imagined them to be doing. Luna breathed slowly, and then she went back to reading.
“Keep your mind on the Witch!” Luna read and out of the corner of her ear, she heard it. She heard a deep, determined voice of a man shouting the words at her. Luna looked around her and then she went back to the book, what is happening to me? She felt a tinge of fear. Her heart pounded against her ribs and she was surprised it was not echoing inside the library. Her hammering heart, however, did not beat for her fear. It was knocking as loud as it could because she was feeling excited. To her, the tinge of fear was part of her excitement. She did not want that feeling to stop and so she dropped her gaze back at the words and she continued.
The rain outside poured on along with snaps of lightning and batters of thunder, but inside Luna's mind, she was in a castle with large cold stone walls covered in chalk figures. She bit her lip for every unexpected turn of events and she raised an eyebrow for every unpleasant situation. Luna was envisioning herself as the heroine of the book and she was surrounded by talking animals inside the chalk-filled castle. She turned one page to another, holding her breath and waiting for the next event. She licked her upper lip then flipped the page, she was on the last chapter. She smiled at this and then she took a deep breath. Who would have thought that breathing while reading was harder than when you're swimming? Luna thought as she gleefully started to read. She was focused on reading the first paragraph that she did not notice Mrs. Chandler standing behind her.
“It seems like you're having fun there,” the old woman said, placing a hand over Luna's shoulder.
It was not the sudden presence of the old woman behind her that startled Luna nor the synchronization of the lightning outside as the old woman spoke. No. It was the voice of the old woman that made Luna look up at her, not with fear or surprise but with confusion and joy. Mrs. Chandler's voice was hoarse and loud which was why it was particularly scary but for a moment, in Luna's ears, she heard her grandmother speak to her.
Luna stared at Mrs. Chandler quite too long that the old woman removed her hand from Luna's shoulder and cleared her throat. The old woman's features brightened and then she looked at the girl.
“I'm sorry if I scared you,” Mrs. Chandler said as the sides of her lips wrinkled. She was smiling. “I just went over to check and tell you that it's already lunch time.”
“Oh! Thank you, ma'am,” Luna replied, still staring at the old woman.
Mrs. Chandler nodded and then went back to her desk. Luna squinted her eyes as she recalled Mrs. Chandler's voice earlier, I might just be imagining too much. Luna brought the book back to the shelf and then started to walk out of the library. Mrs. Chandler was not on her usual desk. Luna stood by the walkway for a few more minutes, waiting for the old woman but Mrs. Chandler seemed to have gone elsewhere, and so Luna exited the building doors.
Strong winds and rain welcomed Luna as she stepped out. She stood at the steps of the building where there was still roof over her head. She had forgotten to bring an umbrella and jacket was not enough to fight off the cold. Drops of rain sprayed over her face as the direction of the wind changed. She placed both of her freezing hands in her jacket pocket and motioned to step into the rain when she heard Mrs. Chandler's clacking shoes behind her.
“The rain's too strong, my dear, stay for a while and wait for the sky to calm down,” the old woman said as one of her hand reached out for Luna.
The girl thought for a second, and then she went back in the building with the old woman. Inside, Mrs. Chandler had brought out a white, porcelain tea set and placed it on top of the table closest to her desk. The old woman saw Luna watching her as she set tea on two cups. Mrs. Chandler stopped for a second then motioned for the girl to take a seat.
“Don't worry, I won't eat you dear,” Mrs. Chandler joked, and then she disappeared from a door behind her desk.
Luna sat there waiting. The rain outside wailed harder as Luna's stomach started to lurch into hunger. The girl bit the inside of her lower lip as her mind floated into the infinite cloud of her new-found imagination. She stared at the teacup in front of her and noticed the steam coming out from its mouth. In Luna's mind, the steam had
already formed into a bearded face with a pointy nose and a smug smile. Luna looked closer at the steam then blew over it. The smug expression of the face changed and its wide mouth opened into an o shape. The beady eyes of the man widened and in Luna's mind, she was hearing the distant voice of a screaming man. Luna blew harder and eventually the face was blown away. The man's voice became fainter and fainter until only silence was left.
Luna brought her hand to the steam and she felt the warmth of the formless white air fog on her palm. She smiled as she felt her palm becoming sweaty due to the condensation of steam on it. Luna drew her hand back and looked at her palm. There were beads of warm water on it. In her mind, the drops of water had formed into the man's face once again. His beard had been cut off due to the lack of water droplets. His beady eyes were lopsided as the water droplets slowly slid down to Luna's arm. His thick eyebrows went high on his forehead as he laughed at Luna. Luna drew her eyebrows together then slightly stuck her tongue out at the man. The man laughed harder. Luna could hear his faint laughter resounding in her mind's ears. Luna squinted her eyes and as she was about to pout at the fogged water droplets on her palm, Mrs. Chandler came back with a small pot, two bowls and spoons.
“Having fun waiting dear?” the old woman said, setting the pot and the bowls on the table.
Luna looked up as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Did she see me like that? The girl quietly laughed at herself as the old woman sat across her. Mrs. Chandler opened the pot and steams of a creamy chicken soup filled Luna's nostrils. The girl's mouth watered as she watched the old woman serve her a bowl.
“Dig in while it's warm,” Mrs. Chandler said, passing Luna a spoon.