Sign In

Close
Forgot your password? No account yet?

The Lonely Library [Owl TF] by Joat

Dominic gave a frustrated huff. He’d been driving all over town, checking library after library. With such a big town as this, he’d thought that the information he sought would be easy enough to find, niche though the topic was. Yet, within library after library his search came up empty. It was getting late and, in theory, he realized that he should probably just give up at this point. It wasn’t as if he’d die if he didn’t find out what he wanted to know. However, he didn’t want to give up quite yet, as he knew of one last location to try.

The library in question, he did not recall the name of off the top of his head. Few people did, in fact, and such was a testament to just how little the people of this town paid it any mind. He did, however, know its vague history. He didn’t know when it was built or by whom, but he did know that at the time, it was moderately successful. At the time, it wasn’t too far from the center of town. However, as the town and the buildings within grew larger, the library was left behind by the town’s development, going from the moderately-sized library near the center of town to the small library at the edge of town. As activity there dwindled further, rumors began to spread that the library was haunted. Ironically, these rumors may have kept the library “alive” a bit longer, as a few people came to the library to disprove the rumors or to prove they weren’t afraid. But once the rumors faded into obscurity, so too did the library. If Dominic didn’t live somewhat near the library and pass by it on the way to work each day, he himself probably wouldn’t know of the library’s existence, let alone have become curious enough to learn what little of its history that he did.

When he arrived at the library, he realized something quite odd. It was something he hadn’t noticed until now, but come to think of it, it had always been the case when he’d been passing by: In the parking lot, there was not a single car... well, except for his now. He walked from his car to the library, checking the door, seeing an “OPEN 24/7” sign clearly visible on its front. He checked the door, finding it unlocked. That was certainly odd, but perhaps all of the staff in the library simply lived within walking distance. Given how obscure the library was and how unlikely someone would come a long way to work there, that certainly made sense.

When he opened the door and entered, he found that the front desk, which seemed to be set up for up to three staff members at once, had nobody behind it. This place clearly wasn’t abandoned, though, as it was lit with various wall-mounted oil lanterns. No wonder this place had, for a time, been surrounded by rumors of being haunted, as it seemed to be stuck in the very same year it was built, its technology untouched by modern times. However, this did mean this library wasn’t truly abandoned. If it were, after all, the lanterns would have burnt themselves out long ago. However, from scent alone, it didn’t seem that this place was very well-maintained. It smelled quite dusty to him.

Dominic decided to go ahead and start looking around. Like any good library, the various sections were clearly labeled, so he wouldn’t necessarily need a librarian to point him in the right direction. He figured that whoever was currently on duty had probably just gone to the bathroom or something like that. And so, Dominic began looking around for the section he wanted.

Being such a small library, finding the section he wanted wasn’t difficult. Looking for a specific book, however, was. There was a thin layer of dust on the books which made discerning the title of a book sometimes difficult at a glance. However, the effort was worth it, as he realized with a start that he had found the exact book topic he was looking for. After all this searching, it seemed the information he sought was in this small, unassuming library all this time.

He quickly picked up the book, brushed off the dust from its cover, and opened it to the table of contents, beginning to search for the section containing the item he desired. After so long searching, he was finally about to get the answer he sought. So consumed by anticipation was he that the room seemed brighter to him, as if the lantern’s flames had grown, and the book itself seemed to shimmer slightly for a bit.

Though he did not realize it at the time, neither of these was his imagination.

He decided to go ahead and sit down as he read. He looked around and found some comfortable-looking chairs, then walked over to one, feeling the soft carpet under his feet as he did so. Had he noticed it, this would have seemed very strange indeed, since he’d been wearing shoes upon entering. He also did not notice those very same feet reshaping from husky hindpaws to scaled bird feet, having three digits in the front and one in the back, each with a sharp-looking talon at the end.

He then sat down, resting the book on his lap. He did not notice that his pants felt softer and smoother than normal, nor did he notice the difference in color. He did not realize that his pants had changed from faded blue jean shorts to a long, cream-colored slacks. These new slacks, in turn, concealed the fact that his fuzzy purple legs had become pale, scaled bird legs, though unlike his feet they retained mostly the same shape as before.

As he continued reading, Dominic felt a comforting warmth, which he thought was simply the internal glow of finally achieving his goal. In reality, it was at first his shirt and jacket changing to a warm and cozy sweater vest, colored dark green. Then, underneath that, it was thin purple fur changing to thick brown-and-black plumage. After a bit, two slits formed at the back of his sweater vest, to accommodate the wings growing from his back. His wings proceeded to curl a bit, surrounding him on either side with soft, comfortable feathers, like a warm blanket.

“Aha!” He said, though keeping his voice down. It was a library, after all. He then pointed at a particular passage in the book. “I found... it?” He looked at his own pointing finger, which was now scaled with a curved claw at the end. In fact, his entire hand no longer looked familiar at all, instead somewhat akin to a bird’s foot, except with four fingers and a thumb instead of toes. His gaze shifted to his arms, which were covered in scales much like a bird’s legs, until a bit above his elbow where his arms began being covered in feathers again. What was going on?

He set down the book and rushed into the men’s bathroom, which was unoccupied except for him. He examined himself in the mirror, now fully able to see how his body and clothes had changed, though he needed to look down to get a good look at his feet, lifting up a pant leg to get a look at one of his legs. He then looked back at the mirror, his head now being covered in feathers just like much of his body was. His canine ears were no longer visible, replaced by the feather “horns” of a horned owl. The feathers developed around his eyes, then his eyes changed as well, the irises and pupils growing larger as his eyes gained a more wide-eyed look, his eyes now colored a light yellow as opposed to their normal green. Lastly, his muzzle lost its fur before reshaping itself into a smooth, hooked black beak.

He had changed into an anthro horned owl. Not only that, but his casual attire had been replaced with something far more formal. He now looked more like a staff member than a visitor.

The image in the mirror shifted. It no longer showed his reflection. Rather, it was showing something far more abstract, something formless yet colorful. And somehow, he knew what he was looking at: It was the spirit of the library.

The spirit began communicating with him, not using words but using thoughts. The library had been alone for a long time, abandoned and forgotten. The spirit did what it could to leave the library lit, so at the very least if someone did come in the library wouldn’t look abandoned. It hoped that this would cause somebody to come and stay a while, but such was not the case... until Dominic arrived.

The emotion that the spirit conveyed was one of intense loneliness and longing, but when the subject of Dominic came up, that emotion changed to hope. Perhaps with Dominic’s help, this library could be alive with activity once more. But even so, it would not force him. The library communicated to him that he could leave now, and if he desired it would even return to him his original form. However, the feeling he was getting from the spirit made it clear that if the spirit had eyes, it would be giving him a pleading, puppy-eyed stare.

Dominic could not bring himself to abandon the library. He nodded, to which he could feel the spirit respond with unbridled glee. He felt a feeling of warmth, this one not due to a transformation but due instead to the feeling of helping a lonely library in need, as he left the bathroom and began to clean the library. He needed to make this place presentable again, after all.

The Lonely Library [Owl TF]

Joat

This is a writing stream request written for Turpshi.

Submission Information

Views:
384
Comments:
0
Favorites:
0
Rating:
General
Category:
Literary / Story