The journey

The Journey Begins

What are you thinking about?"exclaimed Aakriti in a soft voice. She jolted Anushri who was staring at the chair on the other side."Shhh!" the librarian warned Aakriti for the second time with her crazy eyes. "Just imagine!" if we can visit the world of any book we want" Anushri said, combing her hair with fingers as she continued staring at the chair. "You and your imagination. Will you stop staring at the chair and focus on our project?" "Right," Anushri hastily agreed. "Shhh!" Another warning signal.

Aakriti and Anushri have been best friends since they were in second grade. Both of them loved reading books.For each of them books were the gateway to explore new world. "Hey! my brother was saying that there's a new library in that corner of the street where we used to have panipuri. We should visit it tomorrow." Anushri said. This time the librarian with crazy eyes pulled their ear and asked them to go out.

"Yes!we should go and check the books out there and hope the librarian there does not have crazy eyes." Both of them bursted out laughing. That night, Anushri, before sleeping took out the small key, once gifted by her grandfather on her 10th birthday and as usual wondered on it's purpose. She always kept that key under her matress not because she loved her grandfather. Next day, as decided Aakriti and Anushri went to visit the library. The library was at the corner of the street. The entrance of the library was lined with wall tiles depicting night and morning. It was a small library and looked compact with five book racks. The walls were also corner was a librarian arranging books. "No one is here."said Aakriti. "Well, it is obvious. Everyone must be busy watching movies on the weekend and here we, busy scrolling the library." Aakriti sighed. "Can I help you?" The librarian emerged in front of them out of nowhere. Both of them were taken aback for a moment. The librarian was an old man in his seventies. Anushri said, "We just wanted to visit the new library." "It's such a great pleasure to welcome two young minds in my small library."said the old man. "You people are my first readers."he added. "Thank you!" exclaimed Aakriti, with a bright smile on her face. "Let's explore!"exclaimed Aakriti.

Next weekend they again visited the library. "Today I will go through this book rack."said Anushri, pointing at the book rack, full of old books. Aakriti went to the other side. Anushri noticed that in that particular bookrack, one book was standing out. The book appeared bulkier in comparison to the other books. The title of the book was "The Journey Begins Now" She picked out the book. The outer cover of the book was blank. The layer of the cover was

red,completely red. She excitedly turned the cover of the book. The first sentence on the first page was,"Welcome! to my world." She felt like the book was inviting her. She decided to burrow the book from the library. That night, after having dinner, she jumped on her bed with the book in her hand. As she turned the pages of the book, her matress started vibrating. "Earthquake!" she uttered. However, the water bottle on the side of her bed was still. She closed the book. The mattress stopped vibrating. She turned the pages of the book. The mattress again started vibrating. She kept the book aside without losing it and turned over the vibrating mattress. To her amazement, it was not the mattress which was vibrating but it was the key, the same key, gifted bu her grandfather. The key was shining and vibrating at the same time. "What is happening?! Should I call my parents?! No! They must be asleep. Is something wrong with me, which is making me see things. No! it was vibrating for real...what should I do? What should I do? OK!" She slammed the mattress down and closed the book. As soon as she closed the book, the mattress stopped vibrating. She locked the book inside her closet and took the key and threw it inside the drawer." That night, she was not able to sleep properly. Next morning as soon as she reached school, she poured every detail to Aakriti. "Really?!" Aakriti shockingly asked. "Then, today night stay is on!"

As soon as they finished the dinner, they locked their door. "Should we consult our parents?" Anushri said with a shaky voice. "Arey yaar! Don't be a coward. Where is the book?" "It's inside the closet. This is the key." Aakai opened the closet. The red book was there, lying quiet and calm. Aakriti slowly took the book as if it is going to break and kept it on the bed. "You open it." Aakriti said. "You're the daredevil. You open it." "You burrowed the book." Aakriti rolled her eyes. "Ok! stop rolling your eyes."

Anushri slowly turned the page. As soon as, she turned the page, the drawer started vibrating. She again closed the book. "The key is is there." Anushri pointed at the drawer. Aakriti opened the drawer and took tye key. Both of them sat in front of the bed and kept the book and the key together.