Charlotte Hart hated working at the library. Dusting off old books and shelving them 24/7 was not what she’d call the ideal job. She’d never pictured herself working, least of all in a library. She could never stand that musty old smell. Ugh. But hey, she needed the extra money. College was brutal. Most of her days at work passed by the same – rearrange existing books, check out some old books, shush people whenever they were noisy (the only redeeming fact about this accursed job was that she could scowl at people all day long) – the same old drudgery.
There were little to no visitors on an average day, except for the same old kids from uni, so Charlotte Hart was surprised when a group of 4 people waltzed in. 4 very weird people. Weird, but undeniably attractive people. Their outfits and demeanour suggested that they jumped out of a book or were cosplaying. Both options felt equally likely to her at the moment. She felt light-headed and almost swooned.
Charlotte felt obligated to know why they were there. Why would anyone want to come to a library? She wanted to ask, but she felt too intimidated to approach them. She took a few steps toward the group and stopped when she felt too dizzy.
“Uh…how can I help y-you?” She offered a nervous smile to the one with the electric red hair (worst choice for dyed hair, but wow, she pulled it off) not exactly sure why she felt jittery. Redhead threw her a dazzling smile. “Hello… Charlotte!” She beamed, smoothly reading her name off the May I help you? Tag. “We’re just here to look around. You need not bother about us. Bye!” And she was gone. They were all gone. The guy with glittering blue eyes and I’m kind of a big deal t-shirt briefly offered her an apologetic shrug and promptly vanished.
Charlotte Hart felt the room swirl to the ground and became aware of a high-pitched squeal. She’d realised that maybe the room wasn’t spinning after all and that the squealing sound was probably from her own mouth before she fell to the ground like a rag doll.
***
“I still think you threw her off.” A bemused Earth told Fire, who was drinking in all the books, eyes ablaze with delight. “Nonsense, I was friendly.” Fire said, frowning slightly. “Oh, you are!” Air reassured her. “But, um, you can come off a bit…strong?” Before Fire could respond, Water cut in with a smirk. “Nah, she was obviously intimidated by me.” Air laughed. “Of course she was…”
“Remind me why you dragged me into a room full of old books again?” He eyed Fire, who was still feverishly muttering something under her breath. She stopped abruptly and gave Air her best glare in decades. “No one dragged you in here, Air! You’re free to leave if you want to!” She huffed grumpily, still not taking her eyes off the huge shelves. She finally looked at him when he smiled at her good-naturedly.
“Ooh, great to know!”
Air vaporised away. Or tried to, at least. Uff. He forgot he was in a human body.
He had to settle for a unclimactic walking out the door.
***
Not sure where to go, he sauntered along the boardwalk as slow as he could. The whole town seemed alive at day. Children screamed for ice-creams, a group of men laughed together, an old couple listened to the waves, smiling at long last memories… It was amazing how every second mattered in a human life. However could they all smile and joke and beg for ice-creams when they were sure they’d all die one day? It astounded Air to no end. Human were fascinating creatures.
His mind wandered back to that eventual book he was going to write…Maybe he’d write a biography on the human species and their ability to brush off literal death? That could work, but what if Earth didn’t want a copy because she knows them way better than he ever could? Huh. That could be a problem. And if he were to write a book, how could he publish it? And who would even read his book? He went over the options in his head.
Earth would say she would, but would she? She would forget about it the next moment. (Wow, that was a lot of ‘would’s…Or maybe “wood” would be more accurate?) As for Water? Ha, fat chance. He’d much rather build a shrine to lifeboats or serenade some fish passing by. Fire did love books, but she always burned them when she finished reading them. (Pro tip : Do NOT mention the Library of Alexandria near her) Air couldn’t bear to see his book being turned to dust…
He sighed and turned back, almost having a heart attack. Water’s face grinned at him, evidently pleased. “Thank goodness you decided to go! I was dying back there. I owe you one!” His grin abruptly faded when he saw they were right next to the beach. “Ugh, of all places, this one appealed to you?”
“Why do you even hate the beach?” Air asked him, puzzled. “It’s full of people. Having fun. Ew.” Water shuddered involuntarily.
“Oh that’s right, I forgot you were allergic to happiness.”
“Haha.”
“Well, we could go to someplace else, but where?”
Water’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the boardwalk. “Ooh, ice-creams…”
Air smiled. “You’re buying though.”
Well, comrades? I hope this post made justice to the fact that I basically disappeared for a month and then returned with a badly composed haiku. I’m sorry about that unannounced departure. You see, I was kidnapped by a sudden genius idea that refused to let go of me. I’m working on a HUGE project and had to lay the foundations for said huge project. So if you wanna blame someone, blame Thalia.
But I’m back! So that’s…something, I guess? Hehe
Don’t kill me please.
Bookish Blunders 
I just saw this post so I’ve just been reading the whole Element(al)s series because I too mysteriously disappeared for six months and anyways AGHHHGHHHH I LOVE ITTTT ITS SO GOOD
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Ooh, were you kidnapped by an idea too? 🤩
🥺 Thank you SO much, Maya! That means a lot! Glad you like it! 😊
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Sadly not really, but I do have a book idea including elements 👐
No problem! 💕
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Ooh, sounds cool!
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