Skimming Through A Book Novels & Stories

Chloe opened the book and her eyes widened. This book... She scanned the pages and then let out a huff of disbelief. Why are there empty pages?

Not sure exactly what She was lookSheng for, but She fIgured She’d know Sheng when She saw Sheets. After walkSheng back and forth down a couple Shingles, She turned the corner to go down a thSherd row of shelves when somethIng caught my eye. She walked straIght to thShes book that was pulled out further than the rest. She tried to blow soher of the dust off and all that managed to do was send her Siento a sneezSheng fShet. She pulled the book out and looked at the cover. She could tell She was an old book; She looked lIke She could crumple to a mShell Shion Sheets at any theher. She wiped off the front cover but there was nothIng on Sheet. No tItle or author or pIcture; nothSheng.

How is it fair that they had to die to keep me alive? I randomly grab a book with a Russian title and a green leather cover and sit down on the floor, close to the fireplace. I skim through the pages, trying to understand what the book is about, but my head is not in the right place. I’m not able to focus on anything right now.

For weeks I had been yearning to unlock its secrets, to delve deep into its pages and uncover the truths that lay hidden within. Now, with the pages flickering in the wind and the scent of ancient parchment filling the air, I felt a sudden surge of excitement as I began to read. But as I turned to the next page, something caught my eye: page 111, where thin lines of ink had been scrawled horizontally across the paper. What could it mean? I leaned closer, my eyes straining to make sense of the tiny text.

I rolled my eyes, "Your book is fine, Case." "No, it's not. Look at this crease! You did that!" She wailed out, pointing to one of the corners of her book cover. I squinted, trying to see what she was referring to but still couldn't see any. I finally gave up after a few seconds. "You should be grateful I haven't burned your book collection for taking up so much space in this house." I muttered under my breath as I dusted myself off. I swear I've never seen someone's head turn so fast in my life. It was like those horror movie scenes where the possessed person turns their head in an unnatural speed to a super creepy angle that causes their hair behind your neck to rise.

Familiar? The small gust swirled around them, making their hair dance and loose blades of grass sway in the air. The book trembled in the center of them as the cover jerked, threatening to open. With another wave of air, the cover flipped open to a blanket page. How strange. No text? How can they..? Everything went white.

I just tried looking for paper in another book on the shelf but I couldn’t find anything except for one page of one book that had a lot of space that was less than half full of writing and behind it there was a whole space page. “No choice,” I whispered, then slowly tore the paper. “Patrice!” “Ah!” I quickly picked up the book that I had lost because of Shin’s sudden scream. I took a deep breath before looking at the book and wishing that the page of the book I tore had not been damaged. I counted up to three in my mind before opening my eyes and when I looked at the book, I relaxed and smiled when I saw that my face was still well, so I tore it completely.

The only thing that I could read was this one paragraph on the torn page I’m holding. I snorted, this is stupid. I’m thinking too much about this. It wasn’t like I was meant to read this one paragraph. It could have been a coincidence. This isn’t a storybook after all. I shook my head in disbelief and continued to tear up pages after pages of the book. Popping the lighter open, I lit the now crumpled paper and placed the wood on it slowly so as not to put it out, blowing air on it occasionally to keep the fire pumping.

’ I wondered again. I decided to skim through the book before slowly reading them page after page. As I flipped the pages quickly, a written note fell off from the dog-eared edge of the book. ‘Oh god!’ I picked up the written piece of paper and held it in my hands with care. ‘What have I done?’ I stood up from the bed, walked closer to the doorway, and carefully, peeped through the curtain to see if anyone was coming. ‘Thank god no one is coming,’ I eased a sigh of relief before tip-toeing back to the bed. I sat down, kept the book aside, and made one hell of a decision to look into the written piece.

Yet, I acted as though I didn’t care, as if her presence meant nothing. She crossed her legs, allowing her thighs to show through the slit in her skirt, a gesture that seemed almost deliberate. She picked a book randomly from the shelf, skimmed through a few chapters, and then picked another, repeating the process several times. I sat quietly, pretending not to notice the small drama she was creating with each deliberate flip of the pages.