Built into the back of a cranny, somewhere within the innumerable shelves of the Wanderers Library, sits a porcelain nook. A small table, with a pair of comfortable wooden chairs sat next to a window overgrown with vines. Just between the cracks of the vines one can peer into an endless night, and a world made of porcelain. Trees which stand upon hills of cracked stillness, a pure and endless marble white.
If you sit upon the chair, you’ll find a board for checkers. No matter where you sit, the opposing side will always be the red pieces, and you will always be the white. The furthest right piece will have a fracture, just down from the top to the center, which glistens as though filled with the richest ink. While sitting in the nook, one may notice the ever present smell of lavender, which soothes the soul of the weary wanderer, even if for a moment. Should one be enticed into the game of checkers, and move a piece, they will find the other side to be perfectly willing to play along. Independent of another person, the red pieces will lift and slide, move and cross, to play a game with you.
No matter who wins or who loses, you will always feel at ease. If you peer out of the cracks in the window once more, you will find that the world of porcelain has grown just that bit brighter. As you recline into the chair, you will find that the aroma of warm tea wafts your way, and by the time you’ve begun to look around for the source, you’ll find that a teapot and teacup has appeared in place of the checkers. You will pour yourself a small amount of tea, and paired with the lavender scents, you feel at ease. You will sip slowly, the sound of flowing water rushes through, and even though you know it has no source, it sounds to be just at the right distance for comfort.
Maybe you will sit for a few minutes. Or a few hours. Some weary wanderers sit for a few days. But all wanderers will eventually stand back up, thank the porcelain nook, and proceed further, to continue exploring the library. The nook always appears to the weariest, the most in dire need of a moments’ respite. Today that was you. Tomorrow, it is another.
But the nook will be there. With the calming scents, sounds, and sights, it will always be there. The boundary into a world made of porcelain- a world you can only dream of. A world, cracked, and imperfect. It is said that we humans are fragile, that we are weak. In that way, we are imperfect. But in that way, so is porcelain. And so it sees some of itself in us, and, rather than trying to perfect the imperfect, it chooses to relinquish that far-fetched desire. Instead, it chooses to comfort. To comfort you.