Lost on a Page: Character Developments by David E. Sharp
Author:David E. Sharp [Sharp, David E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2022-05-12T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
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Nexis of Words: The Library
âWhere is everyone?â Aelrûn scanned the quiet shelves of Reading Area L-7.
Since they had converted this portion of The Library into a makeshift village for wayward characters, it had become a hive of activity. Their population had grown tenfold since they established it as their fictitious home. People were always be coming and going. Music often drifted through the stacks, mostly the result of Aelrûn and the dead musicians he invited to jam.
Now, it stood empty save for Lisa and William Shakespeare, who sat at a table scribbling in open journals. Lazuli, the blue-furred winged cat, curled in a leather-bound chair. He opened one eye a slit at Aelrûnâs approach, then closed it again.
âEveryone is gone, Aelrûn,â said Lisa, not looking up from her writing. âThe protagonists have all gone into other books, and everybody else is just wandering.â
âNay, Lisa,â said Shakespeare. âYou speakest false. I remain, and do I not a protagonist be? For my book doth bear my name, and my visage doth its cover grace.â
âMeh,â said Lisa. âYou came from a biography. I think youâre more like a subject.â
Shakespeare frowned. âAlas, âtis so.â
âIâve never seen The Library so quiet,â said Lucas, standing to Aelrûnâs left.
âThatâs because youâve never seen it when the protagonists are gone,â said Lisa. âThis always happens. The minor characters just getâ¦â
âLethargic,â suggested Shakespeare.
Lisa snapped her fingers and pointed at him. âExactly, Will. Thank you.â
Shakespeare offered a modest bow.
Isabelle snorted. âThatâs pathetic. Who needs a bunch of lousy protagonists telling them what to do? These people need to grow a backbone.â
âYouâre preaching to the choir,â said Lisa. âBut Iâm just a minor character too. My job is to be small and vulnerable so people can save me from zombies. It means I get stuck waiting around all the time.â
âGoing into other books is dangerous,â said Aelrûn. âPeople want to keep you safe.â
Lisa looked up from her writing. âSo? I want to keep Jaime safe, and that doesnât stop her. She leaves all the time.â
Shakespeare abruptly slammed his quill onto the table and picked up his journal. âMethinks I have something, Lisa. How sounds this for Joe Sladeâs monologue?
Hath ever man that lived known such woe?
Alas, he hath not. For man that lived hath flesh.
And no flesh have I, save the parchment upon which I am writ.
Hath not a real man blood, red and hot within his veins?
Yet the sharpest blade could not bid a drop from me.
For blood doth not inhabit Joe Slade, but only ink of the quill that birthed me.
How doth that for you?â
Lisa tilted her head and pressed her lips. âItâs not bad, Will. It doesnât sound like Joe, though. He usually speaks in fragments.â
âFragments?â Shakespeare puffed his chest out indignantly. âHe may keep them. My purposes vie not for accuracy, but poetry. Am I not William Shakespeare? He shall speak the speech I design.â
âAll right,â said Lisa. âIt will be good for a laugh when the real Joe sees it.â
âThis is no comedy, Lisa. Nor a tragedy for that matter.
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