The Tale of The Word-Opener

EZRA– Ezra lay sprawled, with his head almost touching the ground, on one of the beanbags that lined one corner of the tightly backed bookshop, searching, upside down, for his favorite book. Once you’d read a book as much as Ezra had read The Enchanted Hallows, you didn’t really need to be right side up to spot it. He reached for the bookshelf, an awkward angle for his arms, and slid a book from the shelf. He cracked it open, welcoming the newness of the fresh pages while at the same time feeling warmth in its familiar story. And it’s familiar characters, one in particular.

LIA

Just because Lia was used to the icy feeling of being pulled out of her book, it didn’t mean she enjoyed it. Of course, she enjoyed the afterward, Ezra was one of her best friends in the entire…whatever they were in. Her book didn’t take place in his world, so they couldn’t just say world. But he didn’t live in the Enchanted Hallow, so that wasn’t it either. They’d had this discussion many times, not an argument really, since neither knew what position was the right one, but they still talked as if they did. 

She emerged from the third page, her first appearance in the book, widening the space between words as she fit a miniature version of herself out. Once she had fully climbed out of the book, she returned to normal size; 5 foot, 6 inches. In other words, much taller than Ezra.

“Hey, Ez. What’s up?” She asked, realizing a bit too late that there was another person in the vicinity who had heard and seen the whole thing. 

EZRA

Charlotte, Ezra’s little sister, stood at the other end of the room, in her pajamas covered in sheep. Ezra knew that he’d have to explain the whole story to her. She might have only been six, but she was smart, and stubborn. Very, very stubborn. Sure enough, she walked over to him with her arms crossed in the same way that his dad would. 

“Ezzy what just happened?” She exclaimed, more excited about the girl standing beside him than scared. “Did you know that she wasn’t real? Is it your fault she’s here?” 

“What? Of course, I know she’s not really real. I wouldn’t say fault ex—”

“I am too real!” Lia interrupted both of them. “And I’m Ezra’s best friend!”

“But you live in a book! Or were you just visiting? Also, can I do that? Have you always been able to?” Charlotte wouldn’t stop asking questions until someone told her what was really going on. All of it. So Lia spoke up.

LIA

“Charlotte, your brother is special. He's a word-opener. I know, the name isn't great. This means you might be too, but we don’t know and we won’t until you’re eight or nine, or maybe later than that. We both knew we’d have to tell you at some point, but we also knew it would be hard to make you believe and figured we’d wait a few more years. Ezra can take people, and animals, even plants, anything that’s alive, he can take them out of their books. We need to consent before he does, but then we sort of…work together. I literally climb down through this trap door that’s near the end of the field by my house, and then space gets really weird. I flip upside down and time usually changes and then I have a ladder that when I climb up it, leads through the third page of the book. It’s similar for most characters, but since I’m the first person Ezra ever pulled out of the book, I’m different. From now on, until Ezra is gone, I will always know I’m a book character.”

 Charlotte got excited and started asking questions all over again, and Ezra began to calm her down. Lia figured now wasn’t the best time to be in this world. Ezra’s blue magic was still lingering all over the page of the book open on the floor, definitely enough for her to get back safely. She began parting the words again, making a big space of nothing in the middle of the page. Lia began shrinking to fit into the gap, waving to Ezra and Charlotte as she did so.