THE IRONY OF SILENCE
WINNER: BODY IN THE LIBRARY, SCARLETT STILETTO AWARDS, 2020
Laura
A library is more than a home for books. For some it is a refuge.
This thought, not so random, passed through Laura’s mind as she swept the returned books from their dumping space and into her arms. Spreading them out on the wooden desk, she reached out for the black, plastic scanner with its infrared eye. Charged with opening the Mulga Gardens Library doors first thing in the morning and locking them at night, the first and last hour of each day was a welcome, quiet repose.
It was bookend hours in a way; these first and last hours marked each side of six work hours when Bruce Pecker was librarian-in-charge. In those six hours, Bruce felt it his duty to educate his younger workmate with such condesc
