Bookcase

I peeked through my bedroom door and surveyed the hallway, scrutinizing every corner. Apart from several suits of armor lining the walls it appeared quite abandon. I took one last glance at my empty bedroom, checking to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.  The pillows were perfectly placed under my satin sheets forming a very convincing body shape, and the candle Lotta had lit was still flickering in my window. This should satisfy any middle of the night safety checks. I proceeded to push the door open, just wide enough so I could slip through and found myself gazing down the long corridor.


I had wandered through this castle countless times before, but it felt like an entirely different place. I felt like a stranger here. Had this hall always been this long? This dark? I could feel my previous insecurity about my decision creeping back into my conscience, and a shiver ran down my spine. “You must be brave”, I whispered to myself.  I pulled my shoulders back, and began the journey down the endless hall. With each stride the task seemed increasingly hopeless. I stepped as lightly as possible, but the sound of my slippers against the marble floor still echoed softly. 


After what seemed like an eternity I finally reached the end of the hall, I pushed my back flat against the wall and peeked around the corner into the next corridor. This one was even darker than the first, good for keeping my cover, bad for the nerves. “You must be brave”, I again whispered to myself. Finding the hallway to be completely deserted I ventured on. Why had I never realized just how large this castle was? It was like a giant maze. I quickened my pace, anxious for relief of the relentless anxiety. My feet tapped against the floor, pat pat pat.

As a young child I had always enjoyed the sound my shoes made when they touched the ground. It made me feel like I was making an entrance; like my feet were presenting the rest of me to everyone I passed.  Tonight however, just like everything else, it was different. Each pat pat pat was a betrayal. One step too hard, or too fast and my entire cover would be blown.

At last I reached the final stretch that led to the top of the Grand Staircase. Relieved and eager to be free of the dark and enclosed corridors I sprinted down to the end of the hall and bent into a crouch beside the balcony overlooking the enormous castle doorway. I lifted my head just slightly enough to see two guards standing erect and alert at each side of the entryway. I felt my eager stance fall, my luck had run out. There would be no walking out the palace doors. I had to find away around. I slumped back against the wall, and let my head rest on my knees, trying to come up with a new route. I had been foolish to think I had any chance of exiting through these doors, I had wasted precious time, and my nerves were wearing thin.

The only alternative exit I could think of that wouldn’t be heavily guarded I wasn’t even sure existed. It was an old legend of the castle, I had once over heard my ladies maides whispering about when they thought I was asleep.  It was extremely cliché, an old bookcase that when the proper book was removed would open into a secret passage leading into the castles back garden. I almost laughed out loud at myself for even considering this option and I tried to banish the thought from my head. I knew the story of the bookcase was a myth, a source of childish entertainment for those who spent such long hours working in the castle.  Even if I were to resort to this no one had ever mentioned where the bookcase was said to be located, or how I was to identify such a bookcase. After considering all this I came to a final conclusion. It would be utter foolishness to try and find the bookcase and that was exactly what I was going to attempt to do. I could think of no alternative. Finding this book case was my last hope.