Excerpts From Nonexistent Books

Replay, replay, the Fourth of May
When a set of twins did a lot
I can think of no reason
Why the Force sensitive season
Should ever be forgot

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This large desk is the first thing you see when entering the library from the quad. There are several stations where a library worker can check out books to students, a large book return that magically transports volumes back to their rightful place on the shelves, and a box labeled “MAPS” that is currently empty. A sign indicates that fines and fees can be paid there, and that books from other planes of existence shipped in via Interdimensional Loan can also be picked up. A large shelf holds books and other items held on reserve for specific classes.

At the main entrance is the university’s symbol, the All-Seeing Eye, wrought in metal and stone and set into the floor. Rumor has it that anyone who steps on the Eye whilst a student will never graduate. There are steps leading up to the second floor that are closed for construction, and a large study area lies nearby along with the magical elevators, which are undergoing maintenance.

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Cloud Screens
These screens, farseeing in lands and ages, allow for magical information to be drawn in from the magical atmosphere—the cloud—and displayed. Users can access virtual spellbooks, read virtual articles, and search magical databases as well as finding the call numbers for library books and crystals.

Vending Machines
A pair of vending machines stand against the east wall. One is filled with snacks, while the other contains magic potions. They both require exact change unless paying with Express Gold added to a valid ID.

Little Free Library
An eye-catching display of books for the taking. Most of them are novels, but some are nonfiction—everything from critically acclaimed prizewinners to pulpy romance novels.

East Bathrooms
These large clean bathrooms can safely accommodate up to a dozen occupants, complete with enchanted towel dispensers and soap. They are often used by patrons and staff of the SunGold Tavern on the currently inaccessible second floor.

West Bathrooms
These small bathrooms can only handle four students at most, and being against an outside wall they are the first to feel the chill of winter or hear of summer. An enchanted spring exists between them, where students can refill their flasks with fresh water.

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Named for a knight that left their treasure as a bequest to the library, this large room is stuffed with dozens of tables for the use of students; during exams they often host groups of four or more as they cast desperate memory spells during cram sessions. Natural light streams in from windows along one wall, while the Wizard’s Workshop is visible through windows in another wall. There are a number of enchanted screens available to access information from the cloud. A pair of vending machines stand nearby, and a Little Free Library is available.

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On swiftborne wings
They cross the sky
Their chittering brings
A wandering eye

Yet they’re more fragile
Than they seem
For things so agile
They’ve a delicate gleam

Bereft of roosts
Few insects on high
Once what was loosed
May homeless die

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A killdeer was killhere
Nervously pacing in the field
While a mockingbird, nearby
Incorporated its call
Into a cacophony
Was it put out to be mocked so
Or just irked to be insulted
In its own language

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I try to make sure I am grateful
To tell others how much they’re valued
How much they contribute
They are just words
But they’re all I have to give

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Everywhere we walk at the art fair
Our first purchase in hand
People stop to admire it
The inlaid, geometric perfection
Of a cutting board assembled like
The lobby floor of a Jazz Age hotel
We tell them over and over
Where the artist’s booth is
Urging them to go, to buy
But that light leaves their eyes a bit
When we mention the $150 price tag
When I asked the artist how long
Each piece took, he told me a month
I want to look the others straight
In the eye and say, as if agreeing
“Yes, $150 is highway robbery,
he is selling himself far too short”
I don’t know what I would charge
For a month of my life
But it would be more than that
If I could find a buyer

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Brightly colored native birds, all in a row
Intricate papercraft all, politely perched
And made of end-on paper folded and glued
Stunning bit of paper art, still envelope-able
But even as I admire it, I know
They would never pose that well together
Robin, cardinal, bluebird, goldfinch, hummer
They would fight
Oh, how they would fight

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It’s in the brambles that one must look
Between bland manicured greens
Nature surviving in the nooks
Living amid the in-betweens

It’s not the fittest that thrive
In these man-altered zones
Those who stay alive
And make the cracks their own

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