Nature Walk Through the Mind of a Bibliothecary, Pt 2

By Katrina Brooks

Strolling in a lakeside woodland, you encounter a bear and begin singing softly a Native American song, hoping that it makes the bear either run away or give you a hug. A little farther away, you find a box. It is water-damaged and wordless, the tape likely washed off by the tide or stolen by a small animal. It's so dark, you can barely discern the contents. It's...CANDY! From the Philippines! Fell from a plane! 

You continue walking and find a cup. It is a paper cup that read, United Airlines, crumpled up and half-buried in leaves. It's just trash. You found a piece of trash, that's it! A short distance away lies a key. It is an antique skeleton key from the 1800s. It’s bronze, but not shiny bronze because it’s old and been in the woods. 

You continue walking and meet a man. Tall. Wavy, brown hair. He looks kinda like a lumberjack.... let's just go with that. Well, he has an axe over his shoulder, so his quest might have to do with chopping something, but you haven't asked him yet. Do you continue with the man, or meet the woman approaching from behind him? ... Well, the woman looks like a witch, so probably the man.... Wait - you don't like either of these options. You turn into a faerie and fly away. Your wings are shimmery green, but kind of transparent-y green, like dragonfly wings. You fly to your home, which is in a lilac bush. You're not a tree faerie; you're a bush faerie. You are visited by a robin named Roberta. The two of you discuss the weather and whether the fish are swimming south yet.

Your story ends with a song.

Nature Walk Through the Mind of a Bibliothecary, Pt 1

By Ashley Thedford

Walking along a mountain river at sunrise, you encounter a bear. What do you do? Perhaps make yourself bigger than the bear? That doesn't make sense; bears are huge. You stand there and have a stare-down with the bear, calling to the Saviour: "Oh, Jesus! Oh, Jesus!"

You continue along the river bank and find a key. It is very old. An antique. Silverish. A little farther down the path, you find a cup - a McDonald's cup, to be exact. But wait! It changes before your very eyes into a tin cup with a hole in the bottom. After attempting for several minutes to drink from the mountain river, you continue until you find a box. It is an old chest with a name stamped on the top. The contents of the box are clothing, pots and pans, and a book.

A short distance away, a craft floats on the river. It is made of felled pine trees tied together with string. Aboard the craft is a man, a shipwrecked captain, whose clothing is not exactly pressed, if you know what I mean. You consider boarding the craft but notice a woman approaching. Do you continue with the shipwrecked captain or meet the woman? She looks like an apparition, so it probably wouldn't be wise to go with either of them. But how do you escape? The apparition overtakes the captain, and you commandeer his craft - Haha!

Before reaching the end of the river, the craft below you begins to sink, and you are rescued by salmon. You continue on foot until the river comes to a halt in front of a boarded-up, two-story log cabin, where you are visited by Freemasonry treasure hunters - not Freemasons hunting for treasure, but hunters on a quest specifically to find Freemasonry treasures. After they leave, you discover a cellar filled with the treasure they sought, but you do call them back.