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Lanterns of Alexandria
During library time, Kai was supposed to be reading about sea turtles, but he was using his bookmark as a tiny sword. Zoe sat beside him with a stack of history books and the look she wore when she knew Kai was about to get them both in trouble.
Behind the tallest bookshelf, a thin line of blue light shivered between two rows of dusty books. Kai poked it with his bookmark, and the shelf sighed open like a sleepy giant, revealing a narrow door with stars carved into the wood.
“Absolutely do not touch that,” Zoe whispered. Kai touched it. The floor tipped, the air spun, and suddenly they were standing under a windy purple sky, with a great stone building rising beside a moonlit harbor.
“Ancient Alexandria,” Zoe breathed, hugging her books to her chest even though they had turned into blank papyrus. The wind snapped at their clothes, and the sharp smell of smoke slid through the streets.
All around them, bundled scrolls were being hurried from the great library, stacked in baskets and tied with cord. Far away, orange light flickered, and frightened shouts bounced between the stone walls.
Kai’s eyes widened. “This is amazing! Maybe I can ride in one of those baskets.” Zoe grabbed his sleeve. “Kai, if your brain were a scroll, it would be mostly doodles. These stories are in danger. Help first, joke later.”
Her words prickled, and Kai frowned, but then a loose scroll rolled across the stones and bumped his shoe. Its ribbon had come undone, and tiny painted waves curled along its edge as if the sea were trapped inside.
He picked it up carefully. “This one looks important.” “They all are,” Zoe said, softer now. “But that one is alone.”
A gust of smoke swept over them, thick and bitter. Kai coughed, Zoe’s glasses fogged, and the shouting grew louder, until the whole night seemed to be made of fear.
Kai wanted to run in three different directions at once. Zoe’s hand found his, and though her fingers trembled, she said, “Remember what Mum taught us. In for four, out for four.”
Together they breathed in, one, two, three, four. Together they breathed out, one, two, three, four, until the smoke felt less like a monster and more like something they could move through.
They crouched low, tucked the painted scroll inside Kai’s hoodie, and followed the cooler wind away from the flames. Zoe spotted the star-carved door glowing in the side of a wall where no door should be.
Just before they stepped through, Kai looked back at the smoky city. “I’m sorry I fooled around.” Zoe squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry I was prickly. But you did help.”
The library floor appeared beneath their knees with a soft thump. Between them lay the rescued scroll, now changed into a small book titled The Story of the Moonlit Sea.
Kai opened it gently, and painted waves shimmered on the first page. This time, he did not use his bookmark as a sword.
He used it to save their place.
