Prompt: I Read It Somewhere

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Books have a huge impact on us, so why not on our characters too? Whether it’s Hermione searching for clues in The Tales of Beedle the Bard or Ford Prefect consulting the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, you can make your world wider and richer by introducing books within books.

For this prompt, we’d like you to write a story or a scene (200 words or more) where a book plays a significant role. It can either be a fictional book that only exists in your character’s universe (like the Hogwarts textbooks) or a real world book. Perhaps your character is consulting a book to learn something vital or maybe they’re simply remembering something they loved to read as a child, it’s up to you.

You’ll earn 20 beans for completing this prompt as well as it counting towards the chance to snag our shiny Quill and Ink award.

There is no deadline as such for these prompts but if you’d like it to count towards your chance of earning the award for a specific year, we’ll need it by the end of that school year. If you’re comfortable sharing, then post below. If not, email your story to us via hol.bookclub @ gmail.com (without the spaces). Oh and remember it’s a good idea to check through your piece carefully for spelling and grammatical errors as they make it harder for people to properly enjoy your work.

[Aura Nightmoon]

People say that books allow us to live many lives in one lifetime, and perhaps that's true. After all, when I picked up this book from the library and opened its pages, I was transported from my bedroom to a magical forest. I had no idea how I could have started in one place and ended up inside of the book, especially since the book was still in my hand. I opened it again, hoping it would offer some answers. Perhaps it did, but it was written in a script that I couldn't understand. Even the language had changed. Where was I?

I heard a sound coming from behind me, and I quickly turned on my heel to see a girl about my age riding up on a horse. She stared at me for a moment before smiling. "The prophecy said you would come."

I bit my bottom lip. "A prophecy? Could you tell me where I am? I think I'm lost."

"You're in Liora, and you are not lost. You are found," the girl responded. "We have been waiting for you a long time."

The girl reached out her hand to help me climb onto the horse behind her. She seemed safe enough and there was no one else around, so I took her hand as she pulled me up. I scrambled onto the horse, never having ridden one in my life, as she told me to hold on tight. I did, and we raced off.

We finally arrived at a small village where many people began to come out of their wooden huts. They glanced over at me and stared. What was going on?

"I have brought you the one from the prophecy who will save us all."

Yes, I was baffled. An older woman moved slowly toward me before holding out her hand. "Please, my dear, the book you hold is what we seek."

"This? But this may be my only way home," I replied.

The elder smiled. "Nonsense, child." She swept her hand in front of her then, and a strange swirly mist began to form into a circular portal. I could see my room on the other side. "This book was taken from our kingdom many years ago, and now it has returned to where it belongs. It will help us fight the darkness that seeks to destroy everything in its path. It is ancient magic that sensed your pure heart, allowing it to call to you and bring you here. But now, it is time for you to return to your world."

I nodded, looking around at the people again and then at the book I had given to the elder. "I'm glad I could be of help. Good luck with the darkness."

They all bid me farewell, and I stepped through the portal, hearing a pop as it closed behind me. Sure, I had succeeded in helping out a village in another world, or so it appeared. However, what would I do now about a missing library book?

[Hiya Debnath]

I was reading one of those stories about a princess and a daring, brave, and chivalrous knight, who saved her from a dragon who had locked her up in a tall tower. At some point in the story, I wondered, why does the knight always have to save the princess? Why does the princess never save the knight? Suddenly, that very minute, I heard the sound of clattering hooves like those of a horse on the gravel. I peeped out of my bedroom window, curious. To my surprise, there was a man of about 25-30 years of age sitting on his horse. He was handsome with lovely black curls of hair. He had rosy cheeks, a clean-shaven face, and wore the clothes that the knight wore in the book I was reading. However, he looked very familiar, somewhat like someone I knew, wearing a knight's clothes. "What? Could it be" I thought to myself, "that I was dreaming?"
"Err, umm, are you the Princess?", he asked, looking up straight at me.
I was startled. "Did you just talk to me?" I asked.
"Umm, yes, you seem to be the Princess. Or am I mistaken? I am your knight. I am supposed to save you.", he said again.
What, in the world, was that happening? "You are my knight?" I asked, still confused.
"Yes, you don't seem to believe me", he said, pulling out a shiny silver sword and showing it to me.
"But I am no princess. I live here. This is no tower and there is no dragon.", I protested.
"Ohh, you are just confused", the Prince said, "Let me show you. Here, fasten the end of this rope on to your window and hold tight. Don't leave.".
I was scared and yes, confused. But I decided to give it a shot. He looked like a nice person. Although I didn't believe in the knight always saving the princess, I believed in fairy tales. I fastened the rope onto my window and held tight. He dismounted the horse and came up the rope into my room.
"So this is where you live?", he asked. " Yes", I replied, still apprehensive. I showed him my books and my little creations, my little joys, and told him about my secrets, discoveries, and mysteries. "Interesting. But now we have to go. It's time to rescue you, my Princess", he said. "But-but, I don't need rescuing", I protested. He didn't listen. He tied the rope around his and my waists, and together we climbed down to the ground. To my surprise, the walls of my house instantly became longer and changed to that of a tower. "Wha-what?" I screamed. As we reached the ground, he put me on his horse, and as I was going to protest, I stopped at the sight of a huge golden dragon that appeared at the top of the tower. He blew flames from his nostrils and lunged at us. "Looks like we couldn't escape. Here comes the fight. Hold on tight", my knight said, pointing the glistening sword at the dragon. "Now, do the thing that princesses do. Cling on tight to the horse."
That enraged me. Why? Why could I not fight the dragon? "No, give me that sword. You control the horse.", I said.
I could see that the knight was shocked, but as I snatched the sword, he didn't have time to react because we just dodged a huge burst of flame. It took me a while to have the dragon cornered, but I had finally run my sword through the dragon in the end. The knight seemed impressed, "Wow", he said, "You are no princess. You are a knight yourself".
That flattered me. I looked at my knight's face and realised that I didn't want to lose him. "Does that mean you won't marry me like in the traditional stories?" I asked.
"No, I will", he said. He kneeled down on the ground on one knee, and asked, "Dear Princess, will you be my Valentine?"
"Uhmm yes", I said, blushing.
"What?", I heard my sister's voice at my bedside, "Finally?"
"What?", I woke up confused and a bit ashamed, "Was I talking in my sleep?".
"Well, you just confessed that you love him. You were fast asleep with the book on your nose, as usual. I bet you fell asleep reading again. Here's the third Valentine from Smith and he says he loves you. I read it out loud and you just said yes in your sleep", my sister said.
Ohh Smith. He never stopped liking me, despite being rejected twice.
I may as well actually confess, I thought. Ohh wait, the sudden realisation hit me. Did the knight look like Smith?
"Umm okk, I think I will finally talk to him.", I said. My sister was ecstatic and squealed in joy.