The Lake and the Library by S. M. Beiko Page B

he caught me, and we laughed as he helped steady me on my feet.
    â€œYou’re crazy!” I puffed, far from being genuinely peeved as I gave him a playful nudge. He just smiled and looked down, collecting his jacket where it had fallen and draping it over a nearby chair. He looked a little sheepish.
    â€œWhat, you didn’t think I’d come back?” I teased. He shrugged, but his eyes shone with gratitude. “You must be really bored, hanging around an abandoned library just to mess with me.”
    He puffed out his cheeks and rolled his eyes, pivoting on a heel back towards the bookshelf. I followed as he plied a few books free, balancing them on his head, feet feeling for the invisible trapeze line.
    â€œReally bored,” I said, following him close and walking his line, “to take all my pictures just to make sure I came back.” A surprised chuckle rose up as he lost one of his carefully balanced books to the floor. I rushed past him, snatching the last book from his head before he could get a hold of my shirt, and perched it on my head, instead.
    â€œYou know,” I started, walking his trapeze backwards now, “I don’t think it’d be in my best interest to keep hanging around with a thief. Not good for my reputation, you know how it is.” Hands clasped behind his back, his broad shoulders dipped down, he nodded and took on an air of gentlemanly understanding as he waltzed in my wake. I did a little twirl.
    â€œAnd I really needed them, so that of course adds insult to injury,” I pressed on, the book on my head wobbling a bit as my conviction started to slacken. He came around me in a slow half circle, appraising my form as he came to the other side, gently taking the book from my head. He clutched it to his chest like he was afraid it would get away, then revealed its cover and the title emblazoned on it in red cursive. He grinned like a clever cat.
Finders Keepers
by R. Stoat, it read. My mouth fell open and I just laughed. He gave a little bow and shelved it again.
    â€œI would have come back anyway, you know,” I said, flicking him hard on the shoulder. “When I make a promise, I keep it.”
    He beamed beatifically and pinched my nose before turning away, but I seemed to think there was something like relief in those grey eyes.
    He darted towards another row, and I pursued, and though I tried to bound right behind him, he was gone.
    â€œAren’t you
ever
going to stand still?” I crept alongside the bookcase with one hand on its contents to keep myself composed, until another hand shot out from an empty space between the books and made a grab for my wrist. I shrieked and evaded, backing into the case on the other side, but something was there to nudge me on the shoulder. It was the toe of a shoe, Li’s shoe, and when I looked up, there he was, hanging idly off a sliding ladder.
    â€œHow did you do that?” I asked, bewildered by his sleight-of-everything.
    He held up a finger as though he’d suddenly had an epiphany. He dug through his pockets, his sleeves, and only when he gave his curly head a scratch did it come to him. Reaching behind my ear, he thin-air-snatched a Polaroid, tumbling it between his elongated, precise fingers. I took it before I could be teased with it, seeing that it was a picture of the deer clock on the back wall. A picture of time, a thing I was arrogantly convincing myself I had in infinite supply.
    This time, the flapping got both of our attention. We both looked up, and floating down on us with all the grace it had failed to show before was the white bird. It kicked up its little feet before settling on Li’s outstretched hand. I was delighted at first, thrilled and awed that I was going to be able to get up close, but my face fell. I backed away, and both Li and the bird looked at me as though I was the crazy one.
    â€œWhat is that?” I pointed, feeling my spine tighten with something like