On Monday mornings, I send out a story via email: ultra-brief tales of 1,000 words or more, usually in genres including horror, science fiction, and the supernatural. Those stories collectively are called Once Upon A Time. I’d love to have you as a subscriber to the weekly free story. You can subscribe via email here. Unsubscribe any time, from the link in every issue.

You can also get the entire collection of stories as a set of epub files for your favourite reader device: an overall collection, and also genre-specific volumes!

Here's story 292, of 300 so far.

Please note: permission is expressly denied to input any part of the story below into a machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) or Large Language Model (LLM) system in any form.

The History Section

“Welcome to the history section,” the librarian said. “Is there something I can help you find?”

Anne smiled, allowing herself to lean against the polished wooden counter. It was a cold day outside, and she was tired from the walk — not that she was complaining, mind you. There was so much beauty in the world, even when you were in your seventy-eighth year on Earth. Her walking stick was her trusty companion.

“I’m looking for books on the Second World War,” she replied. The librarian nodded, and began typing on his computer.

“Is there anything in particular you’d like to explore about the topic?” The young man behind the desk was actually in his late thirties, but to Anne he looked like a teenager. He had fair hair and green eyes, and exactly the sort of distracted-looking but kindhearted face that perfectly suited his job. He was even wearing a cardigan.

“I’d like to see the other side of it,” Anne said, and the librarian nodded.

“From the German point of view?”

“Ah, no, not exactly. I’m sorry. I’m not being very clear. It can happen at my age.”

The librarian smiled, and it was genuine. “It’s no trouble at all. I’m sure I can help you find what you’re after if you give me a few more details. That’s an interesting accent, by the way.”

“I used to live in The Netherlands,” Anne said, feeling the fondness rise up within her at all the happy memories. “I was a journalist there until I retired.”

“That’s wonderful,” the young man said, and Anne now noticed that he wore a name tag; he was called Daniel. “And I wouldn’t presume to ask a lady her age, of course, but I imagine that…?”

“Yes indeed,” Anne replied, “I was there during the war. I was young, though. I was only a girl when it ended.”

“You must have a fascinating perspective on it all, and you probably know more than I do,” Daniel said thoughtfully. “So what did you mean by the other side of the conflict?”

“If it had gone differently,” Anne said. “I mean, if the Nazis hadn’t been stopped by the Polish Army in March of 1940. If it had gone on longer, or spread further through Europe. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” Daniel replied, “and you came to the right place. That’s exactly what libraries are for. Now let me see what I can find…”

His fingers flew over the self-illuminated keys, and Anne could see the screen reflected in his eyes. After twenty seconds or so, he grinned.

“This looks promising,” he said. “I have a Second World War that continued until 1951. Devastating, from what I can see here. Their libraries have only recently reconnected, more than sixty years later. But they show as available for borrowing. I have a… wow. The Japanese joined something called the Allied Powers against the German-Russian-Scandinavian Axis in this one.”

“Goodness me,” Anne said, pressing one hand to her chest. “Why would Japan be involved? They’re pacifists as a national policy.”

Daniel was nodding again, still reading his screen. “That’s the beauty of a library. That’s why I love working here. I can offer you a book called An Annotated Account of the Second World War”, by Ehrenburg; it’s more than two thousand pages.”

“That would be wonderful,” Anne replied. She was still a voracious reader, even at her age, and she much preferred fact to fiction.

“Coming right up,” Daniel said. He pressed a few more keys, and then there was the familiar moment of vertigo as the desk blurred. Anne had the same old — and somehow comforting — feeling of her consciousness being stretched out in a way that was difficult to articulate, and then the scene in front of her snapped back into focus. The Annotated Account was in Daniel’s hands now, and he placed a holographic stamp inside its front cover.

Anne leaned forward to look at it, and when she saw the barcode within the stamp she again gave thanks to God for the gift of libraries. It was the most complex code she’d yet seen. Many, many deviations away.

“And there you go,” Daniel said, handing the volume to her. “Due back in a month.” Anne placed the book into her fabric-lined shopping cart, and smiled gratefully at him.

“Thank you so much,” she said, and Daniel returned her smile.

“My pleasure ma’am,” he replied, then he tilted his head towards the cart where the book was now hidden. “Just don’t give yourself nightmares. It didn’t go that way here.”

“How different our lives might have been,” she said, and Daniel nodded once more.

Anne turned and walked slowly away, grateful for the automatic doors that parted silently in front of her to let in the wash of sunlight, and the sound of spring birds. It was a glorious day.

What a time to be alive. What a gift it was that all libraries joined.

What a wonderful life it was.

JINX

KESTREL face a new and terrifying enemy: an all-seeing mastermind who already knows exactly who they are, and many of their deepest secrets. Nothing stays hidden forever, and the line between privacy and liberty is razor-thin…

Book 3 in the KESTREL action-thriller series.

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