Ghost of You

The inside of the library was the same as my dream. Bookshelves went from one side of the room to the next. A large, wooden desk sat at the head of the room, large windows rising up behind it. A sign hung in front of me.

Childrens' Area and Reading Area with an arrow pointing west. Checkout Desk with an arrow pointing east.

Someone coughed, and I looked up quickly.

An older woman sat behind the desk, her graying hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, her reading glasses hanging on a chain around her neck, her hand stroking a fat orange tabby cat. Both she and the cat stared at me with hawk eyes.

“Oh, um, hello,” I said, going up to the desk. The woman clicked a few things with her free hand on her old, chunky desktop computer sitting on top of the desk. She looked up at me.

“What can I help you with?” she asked, her voice stern.

“Uh, I was wondering if you had any books by Doghouse Publishing?”

The librarian nodded her head, pointing. “Straight ahead. Would you like to escort him, Lou?” the woman asked, looking down at the cat.

The cat let out a meow and stood up, stretching out its legs, hopping down from the desk. Pursing my lips, I turned and followed the cat as it led me around the different aisles, finally stopping, turning back to look at me. I watched as it climbed the shelves, stopping at an empty space on the fifth or sixth one, scratching its ear.

“Uh, thanks,” I said to the cat, looking around at the different books.

The cat let out a hiss and began pawing at the book next to it. I looked up, staring at the shelf it was laying on. There I saw it, a book with Doghouse Publishing etched across the spine. I pulled the book out and inspected it closer. I turned the book over in my hands, dropping it as I jumped back. The book let out a thud as it smacked the floor.

My heart began pumping furiously as I tried to process what the front of the book said. “Oh, my God,” I whispered, shaking my head. “Find the dog, find belief...”

“...now find the heart.”