Book Rescued Novels & Stories

Rose raised her eyebrows at me, after taking a sip of her newly arrived coffee. “You think I’d be sitting here if he did?” I asked back. “Right.” She shrugged. “So…what now?” “There’s only one place that might have what we need right now.” I told her. “The Castle library. It has the oldest collection of books and the only place where all books had been stocked after being rescued from the debris after the Wipeout.”

I thought we could go check out the newest restaurants in town or watch N*****x together like we always did but it turns out Rachel has to prepare her speech for the SGU contest at school and obviously, "it has to be perfect" After an hour of guzzling gummy worms and lazing about her room, I end up in front of Rachel's bookshelf and the green color of the diary stuck behind her history textbook catches my eye. I motion to grab it but obviously, she's had an eye on me the whole time. "Don't touch that", Rachel grunts.

--- 10:03 AM – Swamped Lot, South End Water still collected under the bridge, not deep but cloudy. Mud here was sticky, refusing to let go of the soles of their boots. A boy pointed at a submerged cabinet. "There were books inside. Kuya said they float." Elira squatted beside him. "Some do. Some resist." Caelan delivered a plastic crate. "Dry what we can. Stories get second chances as well." Half the books were salvaged by noon—wrinkled from water but in one piece. Volunteers giggled over damp covers, coming up with new titles. The Mysterious Case of the Mushy Notebook.

His eyes locked on mine. “I’m sorry I left,” he said, voice thick. I nodded, swallowing the knot in my throat. He came closer and reached into his coat pocket. “I brought you chocolate croissants. From that bakery you loved. And gummy bears. And coconut water, because I figured… hydration?” I blinked. “And I also stopped by that old bookstore you used to drag me into. Guess what? They still had that weird fantasy series you were obsessed with. First edition. Bought the whole thing.”