Episode 2 - Strange New Friends

James meets a group of strange new friends who try to convince him they're old friends.

Written and Narrated by Rajiv Narang

Musical Score Composed by Rajiv Narang



Thank you for listening.

Keywords: fantasy, fiction, adventure, science fiction, friendship, story, action, mental health, mystery, Toronto, psychological exploration, self-discovery, fantasy fiction, supernatural

Transcript

The Lost Books

Angel of Aphelion - Two

Roused by the commotion, four figures walk out from the darkness of nearby aisles.

The first to emerge from the shadows is K, And though he walks with a cane, he's the liveliest man James has ever seen.

The second is SHEN, a six-foot-tall satyr-like creature with great, deer-like legs. His grey hair, grey beard, and grey fur frame his slender body. He looks well-worn, but there is clearly power in him. And he moves with caution in every step.

The third is ELIECER, a spritely little person of a handsome spritely race. Though he measures himself three pencil lengths tall, he would be a giant if honour were measured in feet. And his tiny smile is the herald of joy.

The fourth to appear from the aisle is CARISSA, a woman who carries herself with glorious grace -- her flowing hair, the colour of the most enticing caramel ever made.

The four walk out to see what's happening and find Nether hugging...

"James?" says K, bristling with joy.

The four stare at James and Nether, hardly believing what they see. James, red-faced from Nether's a-little-too-tight-of-a-hug, stares back.

"I knew you'd come back for us, brother!" says Eli excitedly.

Nether releases James, who recoils in fear. He trips over Eli, and the two fall to the floor. James, terrified, scrambles to his feet and backs away.

"The Big Forget," says K.

"The Big Forget," says Carissa. "Get his book."

Shen trots off down a row of books, his grey deer-like legs disappearing into the darkness.

Tiny Eli gets up and approaches James. "It's alright," says Eli.

James sprints for the stairs, but Nether grabs him.

"James," says Carissa, "you just need to listen. Can you do that for a moment?" James nods.

"Just listen," she says reassuringly.

James relaxes, and Nether lets him go.

James stands frozen, unblinking, in front of Nether for a moment... then breaks into a full-speed run for the stairs.

 "James!" shouts K.

 "Holy Hannah!" says Eli.

James only makes it down a few steps before Nether reaches over the balcony rail and grabs him by the back of his jacket. Nether lifts him off the stairs and holds the wriggling James out, high above the main room floor several feet below.

 "Careful!" says Carissa.

"Maybe a good knock on the head will fix him, Carissa.," says Eli.

Nether turns James in mid-air to see him. They pause there for a moment -- Nether and the dangling James -- face to face.

James looks like a puppy caught by the scruff of the neck in its mother's mouth. Caught and knowing it, he freezes.

The great purple behemoth brings him back over the rail, suspended a couple of feet above the floor, and back to the group.

Shen walks out from a row of books empty-handed.

"Where is it?" asks K.

Shen using sign language, signs, "It's not there."

The whole group is struck by Shen's news.

"What do you mean 'it's not there?" asks Carissa.

Shen signs emphatically, "It's not there. It's gone."

"Gone?" says K. "How could it be gone?"

Their worry-mixed-with-curiosity turns into alarm. Even James, in his state, can feel it.

"We need Rowle," says Carissa.

"He should be back very soon," says Eli.

Nether puts James down again and speaks. "You're our friend" This beast has the biggest muscles James has ever seen. With a voice as sweet and smooth as ice cream.

James takes a step away from them.

"It's true," says Eli. "You're a dear friend of ours."

An idea comes to K. He points to James's arm, completely covered by the jacket. "Before you left, you got a tattoo," he says.

"Yes!" booms Nether.

James turns and sees Nether leaning in at him, baring his teeth with hands by his head to strike the classic "scary monster" pose — appearing precisely as he does in the tattoo.

James, frightened, recoils.

Nether, surprised by James's response, drops the posture.

"It used to make you laugh," says Nether with concern.

Eli clutches the purple, blue, and green fur of Nether's massive leg and begins to climb the behemoth. "You wanted tattoos of all of us..." says Eli pausing mid-ascent, "but you left before they could be finished."

"You left without saying goodbye," says Nether as he picks up Eli, who stands proudly in the palm of Nether's hand.

"Your tattoo also has the address of this place and a message," says K.

"Don't forget us," says Eli.

James grabs the balcony rail with both hands to steady himself. "Did they drug me at the hospital?"

Struggling to reconcile all this bizarre information, James walks along the balcony rail. But, unfortunately, the others follow -- too closely.

"Stop!" he exclaims. And they do. "I need to... I need to get it together."

Seeing James overwhelmed, Carissa walks to the stairs and signals to the others to give him some space.

She walks down. "This library is extraordinary, James," says Carissa. "It's unlike any other. It's fantastic." She reaches the main floor and looks at the group. "As you can see."

The others follow Carissa down the stairs. "And each of these books is unique, the last of their kind."

James follows cautiously. He stops halfway down the stairs and sits.

"Years ago, this place had an owner. He was a scholar of Early English Literature and a book collector. The Old Watch, we called him. The afternoon when he first arrived here, he was alone."

K interjects, "that didn't last very long."

Carissa continues. "Fascinated by this impressive collection of books, the Old Watch picked one up to read and the world around him changed. He found himself transported into the actual story he was reading. He saw people suffering, all living in the absence of free will. Mistreated people locked into the outcome of their old stories, trapped in a choice-less and bounded world."

Shen touches Carissa's shoulder. He wants to say something, and she speaks for him as he signs.

"Then it happened. Late one afternoon, The Old Watch made contact for the first time. He entered a story -- a world, really -- and a person saw him and talked with him. The Old Watch was overjoyed. But then he watched as this person was mistreated again and again…." 

As he searches for the words, sadness and distraught appear on Shen's face. 

Carissa puts a comforting hand on Shen's arm and continues on her own.

"The Old Watch returned to this library traumatized by the mistreatments he saw. But he resolved to help his new friend. So he went back into the story. He convinced the man to try and follow him away from the mistreatment and danger. And the two bewildered men found themselves here."

Eli points to a spot marked with two hand-painted flowers on the floor. "The Old Watch sat there, surprised to see his new friend from the book... sitting in front of him."

"The First," says Nether.

"Once the Old Watch discovered he had freed the man... He made a plan to free others," says K, translating Shen's signing.

"The Old Watch realized that the characters in these books in this Sanctuary... live. He liked them. He wanted to help them, to show them that there was more. And he found that here, in this library, he could get them out," says Carissa. 

Eli steps forward. "He talked about a new world, and we followed."

"We are the ones he saved," says Nether. 

"We were once "characters" in these books. Just like you were," signs Shen.

"You're one of us," says K.

They all notice the lost expression on James's face.

"We shouldn't have let him go," says Nether.

"So, you're telling me... I was a character... in a book?" says James, not believing any of it.

"These aren't just books. They're lives. They're worlds. And inside one of them is yours," says Carissa.

And you know what happened to my memory?" asks James.
 
Nether lets out a deep and hushed sigh. 

"What's the Big Forget?" asks James.

Shen begins signing. Carissa translates. "This seems to be the limit of our freedom. We were brought to this Sanctuary, but we can't leave it for the wider world without eventually losing the knowledge of who we truly are."

K interjects. "Liberated from one prison only to find ourselves in another."

"Not now, K, please," says Carissa.

Eli steps forward. "You remember me a little, right?" he grins. James, expressionless, gazes down at him. Eli, seeing the blank look on James's face, grows dismayed. "Oh, come on!"

There's no way that I'm one of you. There's no way that any of this is real.

A bright grin makes its way across K's face. "Why don't you have a seat, James. We might be able to convince you." They look at each other and smile.

Outside the Lost Books library, many blocks away, is the posh area of Toronto known as Yorkville.

Dee, a young woman with a girlish build, walks along a luxury shop-lined street. Her platinum blond hair flows from dark roots, which she makes no attempt to hide. She is capable of much more than most people see when they look at her. So much more.

Her eyes sparkle with some inner struggle -- a combination of darkness and light. As if she were some glorious queen and the revolutionary who overthrows her, both at once.

She gazes into the shop windows as she passes at all the expensive and pretty things — jewelry and jackets, cars and sculptures. Finally, she sees a door to an art gallery, but a "closed" sign is up.

She stares at her reflection and is surprised by what she sees. The two stone wings of an angel's statue in the gallery window now frame her shoulders. And in that reflection, she looks like an angel.

She stares at herself, taking in the image, but she's interrupted. Bale, a hulking man with a shadow that seems bigger and darker than it should be, steps up to Dee.

"Boss," he says with a grumbling voice, "it's open." "What's open?" she asks, adjusting her reflection so that the wings align perfectly with her shoulders. With one look at his face, she knows the answer.

Outside the Lost Books Library, the evening is arriving. From the alley, light can be seen escaping the library's foyer, tracing a line around the small opening of one of the front doors as it does.

Inside the Lost Books Library...

James sits halfway up the stairs, staring at Nether, Eli, and K as they argue. Shen reclines in a nearby chair, his great deer-like legs stretched out in front of him.

"I'll pick it!" says the tiny Eli.

"But I've got the perfect place!" declares K.

"You know where it has to be," says Nether.

Eli pops up onto a bench. "Five, five, five?" he asks.

Nether, K and Eli each put a fist forward as if they were playing a round of rock, paper, scissors. "First two to copy one another are out!" says K enthusiastically.

They count together. "One, two, three." With a slight flick of his wrist, Nether holds out four fingers and accidentally swats K and Eli, who tumble back.

"Oops! Sorry," says Nether apologetically.

Eli, defiant, jumps on Nether, clinging to the massive creature's thick fur. Nether hardly notices as he helps K up.

"How about choosing a favourite place you all share?" she asks.

They all look at her and smile in agreement.

"I'm going to check on Rowle," she says as she walks to the door by the counter.

"Let's go," says Eli. and the group walk upstairs."

Outside the Lost Books Library...

Dee and Bale stand at the corner, observing the place and its open door.

"What do you want to do, boss?" asks Bale. Behind them stand another seven severe-looking people — all in black with patches of white- gathered together like a tribe of hungry magpies.

"I'm going to take a look. And you're going to wait out here," says Dee.

"You got it, Boss," grunts Bale.

"Maybe I'll come with you," says one of the thugs. Dee strikes him and, with a single hand, sends the large man flying into the street.

"Maybe I'll do as I'm told," says the thug as he lies in the street.

Inside the Library...

James enters a reading room on the second floor. There are chairs of different shapes and sizes, a beautiful Persian rug on the floor, and a tiny window in the corner. On the carpet stands a tall drafting table. Nether, Shen, and Eli are gathered around the table with excitement shining on their faces.

K returns with a book and places it on a tall drafting table. The others, almost giddy now, circle around.

"Page 57," says K.

"Page 57," Nether and Eli say as Shen signs, all in unified enthusiasm.

Dee approaches the front door cautiously, pushes it open a few inches and peers through. Then, with no one in sight, she enters, carefully returning the door to its not-quite-closed position. 

She steps into the centre of the main room, taking in the details of the space — the vaulted ceiling that looks like the sky, the white plaster walls, the long tables and benches, and of course, the rows and rows of books.

She can feel there's something special about this place.

Then she hears voices echoing down from the second floor. She walks to the stairs.

In the Reading Room...

K grabs a metal bar attached to the drafting table and pulls it into position over the open book like some heavy metal bookmark. "Are you ready, James?" K asks eagerly. "For what?" replies James.

"And… Nether?" says Eli as he nods toward James. Nether places a hand on James's shoulder. "Got it," says Nether.

K begins reading. "There they stood, ready to be covered in dust and glory. In the middle of the afternoon. In the middle of this desert." A flood of colours washes across James, and he thinks he sees Eli vanish from in front of him. The colours intensify to a pleasant hum. And they are all carried by some wondrous transmission from where they were -- to where they are.

From the middle of the staircase, Dee sees the spectacle of colours and, curious, walks up to the second floor and enters the now silent room where the group stood seconds before.

James, Nether, K, Shen, and Eli now stand in a magnificent desert valley where a sunset gleams over distant mountains.

"Holy Hannah, that's a fun ride!" says Eli.

James is dumbstruck.

He stares out across the great desert valley. He reaches down, scoops up a handful of dirt and studies it carefully. It looks and feels like dirt. "Where are we?" he asks.

"Page 57!" cheers K.

Nether, grinning, taps James on the shoulder. James turns to see him pointing at a filling station and a paved-black highway winding off and away. 

In front of the station is a collection of gleaming motorcycles of various shapes and sizes, including a massive bike which belongs to Nether and a tiny one which belongs to Eli.

James follows the group as they head toward the motorcycles with ever-increasing excitement.

Glancing back, James sees a faint glow like the colours he'd seen before, forming a shimmering circle of coloured light emanating from the ground.

"What's that?" asks James.

"That's where we came in, and that's where we leave. It's our passageway. It'll stay open for us until we all go back," says K.

"Or until someone closes the book," says Eli.

Nether approaches his huge, pride-inducing motorcycle. James sees a brand new bike of blue and chrome next to it. "That one's yours, James," says Nether.

The group looks over at James, who has stopped in front of his motorcycle. "I can do this," says James to himself. They watch as James hops clumsily onto his bike and clearly doesn't know what to do next. Finally, Shen walks up and points toward an ignition switch, which James presses.

The bike fires up, and James and Shen give each other a thumbs up. James pops the bike into gear, lifting the front wheel into the air. He rides on just the back tire for a few seconds before wiping out.

Shen runs over to him.

"For a second, I thought that was on purpose," says Eli.

James -- helmet and goggles on -- cruises along happily with the wind in his face. His hands gripping the middle of the handlebars of Nether's bike. James sits on the gas tank as Nether drives. "This feels like flying," shouts James over the wind and engine noise.

They cruise down the highway through the desert, chasing the setting sun.

On the second floor of the Lost Books library...

Dee looks around the now-empty reading room. She can see no doorway or passage or aisle by which anyone could have left.

She notices a couple of strangely shaped chairs and a black mark under the carpet. Then, she lifts the edge of the rug to see a large, star-shaped black brand burnt into the floor. 

Then, something else unusual catches her attention -- the metal bar positioned across the open book on the drafting table. This draws her attention to the open book, and she begins to read.

A flood of colours washes over her. And she is carried by the wondrous transmission from where she was -- to where she is. And as the twinkling of lights dissipates, she is wonderstruck, staring out at the sun setting over the desert, the black road that winds through it, and the filling station nearby.

Farther down the highway...

Nether, James, K, Shen and Eli pull over. James stares in wonder at the world they find themselves in. "We're, inside the story, right now? We're in it?" asks James. "Yes," nods Shen.

"I love how the sun wraps its arms around these mountains as it sets. I like to think that's how it really is," says Nether.

"Have you been to the mountains... out there, James?" asks Eli.

"I don't remember," he answers.

Shen gestures for K to say something. And K knows what that is. "There's a way to get your memory back," says K. "How?" asks James. "Your book," says Eli. "You've got to go back into your book."

"If anyone enters their old story, even for a moment, they get their memory back," signs Shen.

"Okay. I'll try it. Where's my book?" asks James.

Shen doesn't have an answer. "It's missing," says K.

James feels a pang of fear. "What do you mean it's missing?" he says.

Shen signs as Eli translates, "we keep all of our books together. But, unfortunately, when I went to get yours, it was missing. We'll do everything we can to find it, James."

"Rowle will help. He can do it," says Eli.

"Who's Rowle?" asks James.

"The Old Watch left shortly after you did," says K. "Rowle is the new owner of the library."

Nether interrupts. "We should return."

"Not yet," says K as he stares across the desert at a small gap between two hills.

Shen shakes his head. Eli agrees. "James doesn't need to see that yet," says Eli.

"If not now, then... well, why not now?" says K.

The group rides their bikes off the highway, crossing the desert toward that small gap between those two hills.

K leads them up to the gap, where they stare at a great emptiness. The mountains look like mountains only from the front. From this perspective, they are just a facade. The mountains and the desert just end as if they've reached the edge of this world. Even this sun seems strange from this angle -- as if part of it were... incomplete.

"These old stories can look nice from just the right perspective," says K. "But they all have their limitations. I just thought you should know."

The group cruises back along the highway. The filling station appears in the distance. Next to it, a bright golden light shimmers. "What's that?" asks James.

"I've never seen it before," says Nether.

The group rides up. 

Dee's bracelet reflects the desert sun as she faces them on the road.