Fading Grey

A Story by Elfinlocks

The visitor arrives. The host is ready.

Fading Grey

The door opened. The visitor walked in. The house was nothing too impressive, shelves adorned the walls and little nick-knacks adorned the shelves. Couches rested in the center of the room and a lit fireplace was in front of the couches. The couches looked comfortable, they almost resembled clouds. A clock was attached to the fireplace and read twelve midnight. The wind could be heard launching its assault on the houses walls. Healthy cackling sounds came from the small fire that lived inside the fireplace.

The host welcomed the visitor with a smile, even offered some tea, which would be done momentarily. The visitor declined the hosts offer. The host smiled even broader. Words were exchanged and soon the visitor was shown into the next room by the host, who was still smiling.

In the new room the visitor saw rows and rows of bookshelves, each one filled to near bursting from its papery and leather-bound load. The room was immense, much bigger than the outside of the house seemed to allow. The visitor ignored this. The host led the way and the visitor followed. The two passed rows and rows of books, the visitor looked ahead and only saw more shelves extending into the darkness. He did not know how the room was lit, no candles or electric lighting could be seen.

An hour passed, at least the visitor thought an hour. He looked down at his watch only to find that the device had stopped working at twelve-oh-one. The host stopped suddenly. The visitor almost ran into the man. The host glanced over the book bindings and pulled out a book that seemed to have no color. The host smiled and handed the colorless book over to the guest. The guest looked the book over. Yes, this was the book he was looking for. A smile erupted on the visitor's face.