Last month Talia entered the Library Time Warp contest being held by the Huntington Beach Library. The contest was to write a story about either 100 years in the future or 100 years in the past at the library. She got a call last week informing her that she won an Outstanding Merit award. The award’s ceremony was held today. She won a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.
You can watch her getting her award in this video.
Here’s her story:
Books? What Books?
I was walking home, reading, when I looked up. I was at the library. I thought I’d stop by. But at the moment I opened the door, I knew something was wrong. There was a heavy mist inside the library, definitely not usual. I decided to investigate, starting on the left. Here, the mist was clearer. The library looked old, an ornate, 1900’s old. “Odd.†I said aloud. Moving to the right, I noticed the mist was really thick here. Something was moving toward me. It definitely wasn’t a person, it was a robot! I’ve always wanted to see one. I could put two things together. Past or Future? With no hesitation, I threw my science fiction book aside and headed to the future!
The mist closed in, and then cleared. There was nothing where I was standing, but skyscrapers everywhere else. There was a fluorescent blue street – no cars, just people and robots. I really needed to learn about the future. I stepped on the street and started moving. No, the street was moving! It stopped at an info center and I walked in. A robot there named Bot (Total cliché!) handed me an “eRec†(that’s what it said on the top) and wheeled off. I opened the eRec and read the first page that came up.
“Following the banning of books, the government has made it possible to attain information by mass producing these eRecs…†At this point, I had to back up. Banning of books? As if the eRec had read my thoughts, another page popped up. “In 2070, the government officially banned books because they were poisoning the minds of the people.†This confused me even more. Books aren’t bad! (Except in some cases when a hardback gets in the hands of an angry librarian.) I had to sort this problem out, and fix it. I left some money on the steel table and walked out, taking the eRec with me.
-later-
After finding out where the town hall was (and where they first banned books), I hatched a plan. I was going to talk to the man in charge and attempt to convince him to un-ban books. Stepping off the street moments later I walked in and asked another robot (Named Rob, this time) to take me to the head. I was lead down the hall, to a jolly, but firm man. “Can I ask you a question, and be given a fair hearing and answer?†“No problem.†He said with a confused look on his face. “Why did you ban books?†I demanded. “Bad ideas were spreading. People were getting false hope from false things. Eventually all of the anxiety peaked and I had to ban the books. Every government official in the county agreed with me, so it happened.†he answered. “All of that’s not true!†I yelled. “SECUR-†He stopped. “I promised, didn’t I.†I nodded and continued. “Bad ideas spreading? False hope? You don’t have to believe what you read. False things? Fiction books are great! You can put yourself in a place you’ve never been or will be. You can experience things and sensations while sitting, reading!†I exclaimed.
The man sat there, thinking. After a few minutes of nothing but that, he replied, “I see your point. I’ll bring this up at the next meeting. Perhaps books will be unbanned after all.†“Thanks!†I shouted, as I left. I walked back to where the library should be. The mist rolled in, then cleared again. I found myself back in the time I belonged, where books actually existed.