Of Poetry, Books and Other Such Things [CECI]

[kitty]

Books were wonderful things. Some contained adventures of imaginary lands, providing a sweet escape from reality for a few hours and allowing the creative to exercise imagination and to dabble in wonder. Others may hold forbidden romances, age old tales possibly built upon Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, while there were also those that clearly took influence from the Arabian Nights and plenty more that went off on their own blissful, or tragic, tangents as the author's whims and desires fluctuated. Avrael loved the library, even though many may see him as a bookworm if he were to openly admit it. The quiet atmosphere, the endless choices, the endless devices he could use to procrastinate doing anything for days on end -- it was simply splendid.

Today, knowing full well that he'd be spending time in the library, he had decided to wear a dark purple button down shirt. Smooth and ironed, it may have looked a little too formal for casual wear, but Avrael loved the color and he found it quite comfortable on his lithe form. His pants were more usual, simply black colored jeans as he felt like it would have been overkill to wear dress pants for merely stepping into the library.

Quietly he looked through the collections of poetry the library staff had put on the shelves, eyes lingering curiously upon the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, William Cullen Bryant and many others. He enjoyed poetry, especially poetic depictures of nature as applied to the world. There were times he found himself curiously leafing through poems written about love, poems imbued with powerful and complicated emotions, written in such beautiful detail that Avrael wondered if it could touch the hearts of the heartless. Sometimes he felt the same way about novels he read; words just had a way of captivating his mind so easily and, in some cases, such books and poems often thrust him into a romanticized world of nature and love.

"Oh, if life were like a novel... not so much like a poem, poem's usually don't build worlds like novels do," he mumbled to himself quietly, eventually resting on his knees as he scanned the poetry collections on the lower shelves. "Though, I suppose, if life was like how Mr. Poe envisioned things, then we'd be in quite tragic state. Coupled with poems like 'The Raven' and short stories like 'The Cask of Amontillado' it'd be a world of terror riddled with wrongdoing and revenge. Oh, that vicious cycle of revenge -- You wronged me, I wrong you, et cetera, et cetera... never gets anything done." Gently Avrael reached for one of the books, slipping it out of its comfy little spot upon the shelf before leafing through it. Briefly reading poems here and there, mostly to get a feel for what the poet wanted to say and the atmosphere his, or her, poems had. Right now he didn't feel interested in anything particularly ideological, nor did he have a craving for outpours of tragedy and sadness. He didn't know what he was looking for, just that he would know it when he found it -- if he found it.

It's so nice that it's soooo quiet here though, no one shouting, no one arguing... it's tranquil, really. Just some mild discussions here or there, maybe discussions about classes or idle small talk, but Avrael never cared for the content of the discussions: they added to the atmosphere. In his humble opinion, all that the library lacked was the wonderful, tantalizing scent of coffee or tea, but he also figured that a library wouldn't offer such services due to the possibility of damage coming to the books. Though, wouldn't bookstores have that same problem? Or is it that, in a bookstore, they can just make the customer pay for it... but couldn't they do that here? Or, maybe there's just no money for it. And... I think there's some similar thing in, or around, the cafeteria isn't there? Or did I dream that?

Lost in his own random thoughts, he kept himself kneeling on the floor, not thinking that his positioning could trip someone who was just as lost in thought as he happened to be.

[shyla]

C E C I



Ceci was at library ready to pick out another romance novel to read. She loved a good romance novel. The bunny girl liked the drama and how the guy she loves always sweeps the girl off her feet. She almost wished her life were like that. Someone nice and kind that she could fall in love with over time and he would always be with her also. She hated the thought of love at first sight, it just seemed to fast. You don’t just fall in love with them just by looking at them. It was best to get to know them and spend time with that special someone.

Ceci knew the romance novels were towards the back while the books needed for studying were position closer to the front so students didn’t need go digging for the books they needed. The wolpertinger girl didn’t have the best of eyesight, in fact she was going blind, but she hadn’t told anyone that at all. Ceci made sure no one knew she was going to actually be fully blind one day, but it wasn’t a secret she had bad eyesight.

The rabbit girl looked around and saw that today the library wasn’t too full. She smiled thinking it was peaceful here. Maybe when she got a new book, she would stay here for a little while so as to have some peace and quite. Ceci decided to take a short cut through the poetry section was skimming the opposite shelf of books for no reason. She liked to read the covers of books as she walked by the cases full of them.

She was walking quietly, but quickly all the same. Then suddenly she hit a pair of legs causing her to fall face first onto the ground. Like always she ended up hitting her nose. Luckily today she was wearing pants instead of her usually skirt and she sat up holding her nose. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.” She said to the other person. At the moment her eyes were closed so she had not seen who she had tripped over yet.

[kitty]

Avrael had been lost in thought, thinking about all the sorts of poems each book likely contained, which ones he wanted to read, which ones he had already read. After a while of debating, he had gingerly reached for an older looking book, one that may have been on those shelves for quite a while at this point. He had his eyes on Paradise Lost, a lengthy epic written in blank verse by John Milton that centered around the character Lucifer, his fall from grace and, consequently, the fall of man. He wasn’t much for theology, but Avrael always found these sorts of stories fascinating even if he had no religious stake in the claims. For a few years Avrael had felt curious about this particular piece, though he never looked into it further for he never found himself particularly enthralled by poetry until recently. Right before he could pull the dusty old book from the shelf someone, suddenly, walked right into him. As he was perched on his knees, crouched fairly low, he was most easily knocked onto his side.

Before he could say anything, likely an apology of his own, the small girl that tripped over him beat him to the punch.

"Ah, oh, don't be sorry," Avrael replied as he pulled himself up, "I might've been sitting like that for a while, and in retrospect... it'd probably have been hard for someone to have noticed me like that. Oh um, do you need help getting up?" Avrael extended a hand as an offer to help her to her feet, not really the type of person to go ahead and do that without any sort of permission. I really need to pick better places to look through books... or maybe a better position... well, either way, I hope she's alright... couldn't have been comfortable to hit the floor like that.

Luckily it was still a pretty quiet day in the library, not filled with innumerable people, so the blunder likely went unnoticed. Avrael knew that it was never fun to make mistakes in public; he had made many of his own before, in more populated areas than a library as well.

“Oh, and is your nose alright?” He hoped she wasn’t in too much pain, generally the nose was a pretty sensitive place and smacking it on the floor couldn’t have felt good at all.

[shyla]

C E C I



Ceci opened one eye too look at the boy she had tripped over. It was a boy non-the less, and this caused Ceci to get beat red like she always did when she was embarrassed as well as her little bunny tail popping out. She was a little nervous and took away her hand from her face. Her nose, which was always the thing getting hit, was a little pink. She was looking at the floor and nodded slightly. “I-I’m fine. I always hit my nose.” She said with a weak smile. She looked up and saw him offering her his hand to help her up. At first she hesitated, her skittish bunny nature holding her back. “T-Thanks.” She said grabbing his hand.


She was very light and was pulled up with ease. She was still a little pink from embarrassment, but she had cooled down a little bit. Ceci glanced at the ground the back at the boy. “My eyesight isn’t the best so I can’t blame you for this whole mess.” The bunny girl said with a small smile. She didn’t really want to get into an argument of whose fault it was. Looking for something else to say she looked at the shelf of books the boy was looking at before. “Oh, you like poetry? I am more of a romance novel person.” She said looking back at the boy. “I’m Ceci by the way. I am part of Class D.” The wolpertinger girl said introducing herself.

Her almost golden brown eyes seem to relax. Her face began to return to its normal pale tone as she became more accustom to talking to the boy. She was always so frantic when it came to talking to others at first. After a little bit, though, she would begin to relax and act normally around them. Her bunny tail also seemed to disappear now. Ceci was still fiddling with the bottom of her light orange t-shirt that had a few music notes printed on it. It was one of her favorite shirts that showed how much loved playing the piano.

[kitty]

Avrael straightened his own shirt after getting back up, keeping a warm smile upon his countenance as to try and make light of the situation, and not give the impression that it had upset him in some way. When Ceci finished talking, at least for that moment, Avrael responded in kind, “I’m pretty new to poetry, only read a few pieces so far, really. But romance is a nice genre, the right story can be quite captivating,” he admitted, having something of a soft spot for romance, even though many of the novels felt like repeats of older ones – to him, at least. “And it’s quite nice to meet you Ceci, my name’s Avrael -- Class C.”

One thing he noticed about Ceci was her orange colored shirt, quite eye catching in its own right, but the musical notes drew in his eyes a bit more. Like most people, Avrael enjoyed music, even though he couldn’t play any instrument even if his life depended on it, but he had a wealth of respect for those who could – what could he say? He enjoyed art, and often found common ground between many taken with a particular art and his own fencing -- an act he views more as a dance than a fight, so music during practices weren’t an uncommon inclusion for him. In fact, it had been through fencing where he found an appreciation for music, able to realize and understand how sound alone can manipulate the emotions, as if they were another instrument the adept musician could manipulate in order to further their own piece, their own art.

“Judging from your shirt,” he said with a small gesture, “I take it you like music?” Avrael wasn’t the type to jump to conclusions that may have been too far off – sure, perhaps asking if she was a musician wouldn’t have been too far off based on what he observed, but he didn’t want to skip the part of whether or not she liked music to begin with. Perhaps it was a sarcastic shirt? He didn’t know, then again he didn’t know anyone who deliberately wore sarcastic shirts – such a strange prospect, really.

I may be off base with the “sarcastic shirt” possibility… okay, I know I’m off base with that one, but it doesn’t hurt to take some cautionary steps, right? Then again… who would be offended by a question on whether or not they could use an instrument? Doesn’t sound very insulting to me… but, oh here I go, over thinking everything as usual. It’d behoove me to keep that to fencing practice, and not apply to every possible situation I end up in. Even with his strange off-course thoughts, Avrael still had quite a jovial expression playing upon his pale visage, as if he completely forgot about the sudden interruption – one he cared not to assign blame for, accidents happen.

[shyla]

C E C I



Ceci smiled sweetly, not showing her teeth. “I have to agree with you there. I don’t really get into the stories that tell of love at first sight though. It just seems too sudden to instantly fall for someone. I mean if you liked them and wanted to more about them, that would be a way different story.” Ceci said. She said babbling on about the subject. Noticing that she glanced nervously away hoping the boy didn’t think she was odd for babbling to a complete stranger. The bunny girl had lived in the forest most of her life and was too good with socializing, but it seemed that was case for most students around the school. When she thought about it, it was slightly amusing.

The wolpertinger girl looked down at her shirt as he pointed it out. “Oh, is it that noticeable?” She said without thinking about what it was coming out of her mouth. Of course he would have noticed, it’s bright orange She thought mentally smacking herself. “Um, I mean yes. Music is my whole life. My mother taught how to play the piano and it is the only thing I can do confidently. It seems that when I play the piano, all my troubles seem to melt away.” There she went again, babbling.

Ceci was way to open and trusting with others than she should be. She had always been this way ever since she was a little child. Her naïve and trusting nature had put her whole family in danger, leading those human hunters to her hidden house in the forest. After that situation, you would think you would be more cautious around others, but not Ceci. She still went on being the naïve and kind girl she always has been. Of course she regrets what she did and has tried to fix that part about herself, but she can’t help but be so trusting.

[kitty]

Avrael listened quietly to what Ceci would say, not wanting to interrupt her as such an insensitive action would be quite rude. Unlike other, more enthusiastic, readers of romance literature, Avrael didn't have much to add to that particular thought -- he had only read a small handful, and the statement she replied with he agreed with, so there wasn't much discussion left there. That's primarily why he liked the changeover to music, he knew a bit more about it, not nearly as much as someone who practices the art, but he had listened to more songs, read more lyrics and witnessed more performances than romance literature he had read.

Well, at least it was a good call of mine to mention music. So, at least it wasn't a sarcastic shirt -- whatever that would really be. He listened quietly to what she had to say, taking an interest in how much music played a role in her life. In some ways, he could compare it to his avid interest and practice in fencing, although he wouldn't do that aloud -- he didn't want to alienate Ceci from the conversation by bringing up something she might not have had any interest in.

"Well that sounds wonderful," he replied genially, "I find music quite lovely myself, even though I'm not nearly smart enough on the subject to have picked up an instrument. I mostly use it during practices, as many pieces and songs are quite invigorating, and there are many that are more... peaceful, really. But anyway, how long have you played the piano for?" Avrael felt a little dumb that he had mentioned fencing, no matter how vaguely, when he just had thoughts about not mentioning it in conversation. Either way, he was quite curious for how long Ceci had been playing the piano for as he hadn't a clue how long it took to get proficient at something like that.

[shyla]

C E C I



Ceci was still tugging on her shirt a little out of habit, but most of her nervousness had vanished. This boy, Averal as his name was, was very polite and she could tell he was nice person. He didn’t seem annoyed about her rambling on about herself. “I’ve been playing the piano for as long as I can remember. We live way deep in the woods without really going near others, so it was a way to pass the time, I guess. My mother taught me some, but then I began teaching myself how to play more difficult pieces.” Ceci explained.

Playing the piano was biggest part of her life, and she was now learning how to play the instrument by ear. She hadn’t told anyone this, but she didn’t just have bad eyesight, but she was eventually going to become completely blind. Of course she didn’t want others feeling bad for her, so she kept it to herself. In truth though it scared Ceci that she would one day be unable to see and if it happened during her time at the school then she didn’t know what she was going to do. For now, however, she wouldn’t worry about such things.

“So like music too?” She said. “ Are there any other things your interested in?” She glanced at the rows of books with her golden brown eyes. “I assume you also like reading,” Ceci stated, hoping she wasn’t missing the mark. It would be terribly embarrassing if the wolpertinger girl guessed wrong, but the words had already left her mouth, so there wasn’t much she could do now.

[kitty]

Politely Avrael listened to what Ceci had to say. It was interesting, really, for he rarely ran into many people who enjoyed a particular art as much as she and, based on what she said, he could only figure that she must’ve had a knack for it. Even if not a talent, surely a skill by now – practice made people better, and he thought that she likely practiced quite a bit. He wasn’t the kind of person who would interrupt another, so he had stayed quiet all the way up until she asked him a question. A fairly simple one, but still quite vague in a manner that made him think for a moment, until she jumpstarted his thoughts by mentioning books.

“Ah yes, I do enjoy reading,” he began, looking over at the shelves next to him that primarily held poetry collections, epics and sagas. “I enjoy things with a creative spin or edge on them, like stories that have interesting twists, characters, places, concepts, themes and that sort of thing. So I dabble in a bit of everything, sometimes in the romance novels, other times in fantasy and science fiction, and then there are times where I might want to read a classical. Of course, I prefer things that use the imagination, so more often than not I end up reading something fantasy oriented, or something that could be claimed as such.” For a moment he paused to think of an example or two, “Like, for classics, I’ve had a soft spot for Paradise Lost so far, although that’s more of a poem than the traditional book. But it’s just imaginative, which is what draws me in.” He finished, looking back over to Ceci so it didn’t seem as if he had been chatting with the books.

He tried to think if there was anything more he could add, but came to nothing. The library was a pretty basic place for books, but he didn’t have the desire to go off on too much a tangent about any one work – he didn’t want to bore Ceci to death, after all. “Are you interested in any books?” He asked, although he supposed that was a bit of a dumb question. She must’ve had some interest if she was in the library, the place one goes to borrow one.