Empty the library was a huge open cavernous space, dark and musty. The sparsely placed halogens glowed like small groupings of fireflies clinging to the ceiling. It was eerily quiet, more so than usual. The tick tock of the oversized clock echoed, its roman numerals black against the pasty white face, arms three dimensional, standing ready for the next movement.
Large caricatures of distinguished alumni framed in dark wood uniformly spaced hung on the walls. The comical faces at odds with the seriousness of purpose of these hallowed spaces. They appeared to laugh in unison at a silent yet shared joke, challenging those below to be worthy and make their mark.
A modern mezzanine unlike the traditional federation architecture broke the soaring height. Skyscrapers of book cases crammed with leather bound volumes lined the walls. Where space permitted, individual carrels were spotted along the perimeter for those seeking more privacy or solitude. Heavy oak tables with ornately carved legs, matching chairs and standard lamps at each end filled the room. All but one was empty. A lone figure half sat half lounged, hunched over a pile of open books. Her forehead rested on the pages of knowledge, red curls spilling over. A pen still grasped was poised over a page, sleepy squiggles the only marks.
Bong bong bong. It was 3 am. The body reacted immediately to the audible intrusion, twitching involuntarily. Allison’s eyes struggled to open, then quickly scanned the surroundings. Alone. Of course. Drawing herself up to full seated height she stretched her aching back. She pushed the heavy chair back as it stuttered across the carpeted floor. Standing to an impressive 5’11”, she moved her limbs lithely and shook her head vigourously, loosening the cobwebs and encouraging the blood to flow again.
When would this end she wondered. The constant gruel and boredom of it all was getting to be too much. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out for a life in the law. She had been there for hours, surrounded by piles of old, thick, mouldy law journals. Her efforts to solve the latest obscure client issue had so far gone unrewarded. Her head ached and her eyes felt raw from rubbing and reading endless pages of dull articles and cases. She felt no closer to a conclusion that she had when she arrived hours before.
I need a break, she said to herself. A latte and cinnamon donut, yum. Fat chance! There was nowhere within cooee of the library that would be open at this hour. She couldn’t afford the time it would take to drive to the nearest all nighter. She’d just have to get on with it. The sooner she finished the opinion the sooner she could get out of there and maybe enjoy what was left of the weekend or at least get some much needed sleep. Mr Rhodes, the senior partner and resident dinosaur was relying on her to get this done. He had committed to the client to settle the advice by Monday COB. Allison knew from bitter experience that to let him down had very unpleasant consequences.
Back in the hard upright chair she resumed her reading hoping for a revelation.
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5 comments:
Kerry says:
What a dense word picture you have painted, Peta. I think it must be a library you know well. Maybe spent a few hours in it during the wee small hours?
I was amused by your irreverent description of the worthy portraits and their 'silent yet shared joke'.
You have given the reader an amazing insight into how Allison feels as she wakes at 3am and realises her work is still not done. I really hope her revelation comes soon so she can just go home.
I am interested in how you lead us from the impersonal description of the setting to the objective 'lone figure' and 'the body' and then to the personal 'Allison'. And even then it's 'Allison's eyes' that struggle before 'she' stands up and she's fully present. Very neat.
Thank you for another terrific story.
Heather says:
My brain aches with the agony of being taken back into too many all-nighters (though none in a law library solving a client issue). I like the way the picture emerges - your rich description takes me right into that space where the character feels acutely part of and at the same time separate from the situation. I also like how your introduction is clearly from Allison's point of view - even though she's asleep. We already know a lot about her by the time she wakes up.
I think I'd get rid of the "an impressive 5'11"" -- it's the only real break in point of view in the story.
We've taken on a practice of double-spacing between paragraphs for the blog, as the text tends to look really dense when you don't. It took me a second read to be alerted to the break in paragraphs.
Loved it, Peta. Thank you!
Jenny says:
A great description of place and character, Peta. I particularly liked the line "red curls spilling over" - it was almost like an opening scene in a movie, with the dark wood scene, and then the interruption of brightly coloured and unruly humanity.
I would have found it easier to read with more commas, for example between the three "bong"s, and in the second last paragraph, after the word "dinosaur".
I really identified with the yearning for coffee and cinnamon during an all-nighter - it made her approachable as a character, and I was very much in Alison's camp after that point.
Looking forward to seeing more!
I love the library setting. You create the scene really powerfully and I'm there in the dark, musty somewhat eerie space. It's fantastic and I particular love the description of the clock.
and I absolutely was in that chair with Alison especially the squiggly lines on the page. I had to giggle at the absurdity of the latte and donut.
I'm not sure about the POV. The description of the scene seems to be from a 3rd person, as is the siting of Alison and the red curls. Then I think Alison takes over.
This is a great read.
Peta I found this to be a clever weaving together of the library and the task at hand that Allison faces. It's like you've captured Allison's soul in the details of the library, so heavy and sombre and filled with data and meaning. Then we see the physical Allison, more like a current Russian tennis star than a lawyer and I wonder what on earth is she doing there?
She is doing what for me is the classic burning of the midnight oil. Hope she gets her revelation.
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