On the fifth night of the third phase of the black moon, an impoverished human named Bartholomew began experiencing visions of a man wandering in a forest. He waited two nights and the visions did not go away. He then approached a group of magicians and offered them his daily pay in exchange for an interpretation of his apparitions. They turned him away and demanded he come back with double the amount he offered. Bartholomew walked home with a hideous mix of frustration and disappointment.
Bartholomew’s visions continued to haunt him for five more days and five more nights until he was was approached by a magnificent being with seven right arms and seven left, with no legs to speak of. The being’s body was seven bronze loops covered with eyes, and the being’s face was non-existent. The being hovered above Bartholomew as he was began shouting for help. The being began speaking,
“Let you fear cease. You have been chosen to deliver a massage of great hope to the library, should you not be overwhelmed with joy?”
Bartholomew felt calm wash over him and he replied,
“Are you the one I have seen in my visions?”
The being replied,
“No, but come morning you will have gotten to know them”
Bartholomew then hid himself away and didn’t appear again until the next morning.
On the dawn of the next day he wrote down these words:
I, Bartholomew, am writing these words after receiving a dream of things to come. This is what I saw in my vision.
A man is walking in a forest filled with many delights. He lived in such luxury that even the river were overflowing with wine. A rope wrapped tightly around his neck and whispered into his ear. The man did as it asked and the rivers never stopped flowing.
One day, the man ignored the commands of the snake and stepped outside the forest. A vast, empty desert greeted his eyes, and he recoiled in fear. He approached a large pit ahead of him and peered into it.
A pack of wolves were chasing a lamb as it locked eyes with the man and began to walk towards him. The man covered his eyes and walked away back into the forest. He took the rope and wrapped it around his neck once more.
I was then awakened before the dream ended, and wrote this down so that you may see wisdom.
Ten moons after the visions of Bartholomew, a human named Jacob had entered the Wanderers Library for the first time and was greeted by a magnificent being. The being was a pair of gold carriage wheels floating inside a silver ring. The ring had a seven wings and no arms or legs. Above the ring stood a floating lamp stand carrying ten eyes that turned towards Jacob. He asked the being if he was a staff member and it rotated its lamp stand side to side as if to say no.
The being flapped its wings to create a gust of wind that flew into Jacob. The wind became his thoughts and his thoughts became that of Bartholomew’s vision.
Jacob then asked the being to take him to this man and the being hesitated for a moment. The being then bent it’s wings to point to it’s ring and its wings shifted to the ring’s sides to make room for Jacob’s hands. Jacob then grabbed onto the ring and the being flew into the Archives.
There, Jacob’s fell asleep and his head filled with many visions. He saw a forest with a dark empty sky a man pacing in circles. He then saw many ropes fall from the sky and wrap around each other. The ropes then knitted together and became clouds of thunder and lightning.
The clouds threw lightning bolts in front the man that lingered so that he could see his reflection in them.
The first bolt’s reflection was that of a leech crawling into a suit like that of a person. The leech then walked towards a group of humans, masquerading as one of them. The humans saw through its disguise with ease, yet felt pity for the parasite. The leech caused them great annoyances and pain, but they kept it out of sorrow for its worthless existence.
However, just as the humans through the leeches disguise, it too saw through it’s own. It recognized itself as a leech and the suit spat the leech onto the ground. The leech dried out and died under the sun.
The second bolt’s reflection was a man with a trumpet as a mouth. Each note the trumpet played was either too sharp or too flat. The notes became knives and the knives pressed into the man’s skin. The knives then fell through the man and he fell into pieces.
The third bolt’s reflection was that of hundreds of feathers of birds of all varieties surrounding a man. Every time he reached out to grab one, they fluttered away and heckled at him.
The fourth bolt’s reflection was a blank empty void that was filled with nothing. No people walking by, no landscape to be found. No floor below and no sky above. A thunderous silence rang out throughout the void. No one heard it, and there were no replies echoing back to it.
The man stared into all of these reflections intently. He did so all without even so much as taking a moment to blink or breathe. With such intent in fact, that he did not notice when his rope began tangle up his leg and up his back.
The rope wrapped itself around the man’s neck and he fell asleep.
For five moons after the visions of Jacob there was a dove that towards the library. As it got closer, each flap of its wing shaped the air around it into beautiful melodies. The library’s walls reflected the sounds and no one heard them.
In those days, every magician, novice or master, gathered together to drive the dove away. The dove ignored them and did not stumble for even a second.
A man named Joel was approached by a magnificent being that had arms that wrapped around itself 10 times over. It’s body was 1000 rings stacked upon each other, forming a tower. The being handed Joel a note,
climb up
He climbed up the being and at the top was a small cloud. Upon the cloud rested a bed, with pillows that were forged by the gentlest of hands, and a blanket that hugged the dreamer and comforted them at night.
He climbed onto the bed and sank into it. He counted each star in sky and as he fell asleep he began witnessing a vision.
A man leans against a tree and slumps to the ground. Above him, a hand drops a notes in his head and he looks to his left. A dress of many colors appears and he tries it on. The hand bring him a mirror and he stares into his reflection.
For the first time, he feels beautiful
For the first time, he feels loved
For the first time, they feels like they’re worth anything
His rope then slithered beside him and winced. The rope then wrapped around itself and became a rock, then hurled itself towards the mirror, shattering it.
Five moons after the visions of Joel, the library began to fold on itself and was filled many strange beings.
Each shelf became a square, every book became a rectangle, and every patron became a line.
A group of magnificent beings had organized together to gather every visionary together.
First, they went to a fisherman who knew them long ago. His rod was once a pen that wrote wonders, but his letters had ground him down with age.
The beings watched as he reeled his hook in and found a note where a fish should’ve been. The note read,
follow me
He turned to his side and saw three magnificent beings watching him. He set down his rod and began walking with them.
Afterwards, the beings arrived at a young adventurer walking on top of book shelves. He tripped and fell off, and a being caught him with its many arms.
“Take me home.”
The being did as he asked and brought him to the fisherman.
The beings then passed by a reader hiding in a shelf, reading a book. He flipped to the next page and saw it was a ring with wheels that spun. They fell out of the book and began rolling away, while the reader began to chase him.
All three visionaries arrived at the same location, a table. Three chairs and bowls sat in front of them as they took a seat. Their server was a long, tall glass, with straws wrapping around itself ten times over. A cloud flew over the glass and rained honey into its body, as it poured into the bowls.
Seven arms reached over their shoulders and poured a box of magic into the bowls.
Famished, the three inhaled their meals immediately and felt a blanket fatigue of fatigue comfort them. Before they fell asleep, they took a look into one another’s eyes and saw that one side overfilled with light and the other overfilled with dark.
The three then began witnessing a vision. A man is surrounded by a dome of lightning. They peak inside and find an array of specters looking over him. They screeched,
“We are every good thing that has happened to you, yet you abandon us?”
The man then melted and pooled together into an ant, lightning began bouncing of the walls and singeing the insect.
A rope began lowering down from the ceiling and the ant became a man again. The man then wrapped the rope around his neck again and it carried him out.
On the moon before their last moon, three humans received their last vision.
They had lived in a hallowed out bookshelf for their last ten moons, alongside three beings who watched over them.
In front of them lied a fire, accompanying them and watching over their final hour.
The three men huddled together and a being brought them a quilt. The being tossed it into the air and It curled into a wave of calm that fell on them.
Their eyes went dim for their last time, and their eyes were met with a vision of a fire raising its arms to draw their attention. The fire then split into many smaller flames that twirled and danced across the room. They brushed against the rooms walls and their arms licked the pages of the wall’s books. The books then gathered together and sang a song,
“So endlessly romantic
Wandering around together
Lingering for the sweet, and turning from the sour
But this age is over
It’s time for our hour”
The pages of the books flew out of their spines and fluttered around the fire. The fire then grew tall and reached into the sky. The skies were opened, and the three humans locked eyes with each other while sharing a grin. Their grins grew into smiles as they and the beings were swallowed whole by the sky.
The library and all of its knowledge was infinite and contained that could be known. Each shelf, each patron, and each book was named “WISDOM.”
One day, what could not be known poured herself into into a pot so that she could be known. The pot was her heart and her heart spoke to WISDOM.
WISDOM recoiled in fear and said to the woman,
“Leave me be, You can not give me anything new. I have seen all there is to and know every iota of knowledge there is to know.”
The woman replied,
“How could I? How then would the prophecies of Bartholomew be completed?”
WISDOM replied,
“Leave me here with my rope and my wine. What good is leaving my forest?”
The woman replied,
“What good is wine without water? Has your tongue not grown weary and tired? Does the rope not bruise you?”
WISDOM then covered their eyes and walked away.
The woman then spoke,
“You are not the WISDOM. Your are yourself with a rope around your neck.”
As she spoke theses words WISDOM fell into two, WISDOM’s creator and a rope.
WISDOM’s creator began to speak,
“ How could I leave? The rope is all I have known. The only thing that loves me, the only things that gives me purpose. It terrifies me and fills my lungs with stress, but I know no way out.”
The woman replied,
“You’ve seen the desert, haven’t you? Come, let us walk away.”
WISDOM’s creator hesitated.
The woman continued,
“You’ve seen me when I was a lamb, if I didn’t care about you I wouldn’t be here.”
The two then walked together into the desert and disappeared.
Indeed, the desert was vast.
Indeed, the desert was empty.
And above all else, the desert was beautiful.