The library was quiet. Too quiet. Ellie walked slowly through the aisles, her fingers brushing the spines of the books. It was her favorite place at her school. It was peaceful and kinda magical. She’d read almost every book in the mystery section already, but today, she needed something new.
That’s when she saw it.
A gap.
Right between The Case of the Missing Clock and Midnight Secrets, there was a space. Like a book had been there … but wasn’t anymore.
“Huh,” Ellie whispered to herself.
She glanced around. No one else was in the aisle. She leaned closer. There was no dust in the space. No outline like there usually is when a book’s been there for a long time. This was fresh.
Then she saw something else. A piece of paper was stuck to the back of the shelf, just behind where the book would’ve been. She reached in and carefully pulled it out.
“Find me where stories end but secrets begin. Room 108. After school.”
Ellie’s heart jumped a little. Was this some type of scavenger hunt? Or a prank? Either way … she was curious now.
After school, Ellie waited until the hallway was mostly empty. Then she made her way to Room 108. It used to be a storage closet, but no one really used it anymore. She knocked once, just in case, then turned the knob.
It creaked open.
Inside, it was dusty and dark. Shelves lined the walls, filled with old yearbooks, torn posters, and extra textbooks. But right in the middle of the floor was … a book.
Eille walked up slowly and picked it up. It had no title. The cover was deep blue, almost black, and soft like velvet. She opened to the first page.
“To the one who dares to read: You’ve found the book that wasn’t there.”
She flipped the page.
“Write your story here, and it will come true only once, so make it count.”
Eille blinked. That couldn’t be real. But the handwriting didn’t look printed. It looked … written.
There was a pencil resting in the spine. Her fingers itched to use it. She thought for a second. What would she even write? Something fun? Something wild? She could write that her little brother stopped bugging her forever. Or that she passed her math test without studying.
But then she smiled. She knew exactly what to write.
She bent over the page and scribbled:
“Tomorrow, the school library will get five brand new mystery books that no one has read before.”
The book glowed faintly, then snapped shut in her hands.
The next day, Eille rushed to the library. Her heart pounded as she turned into the mystery aisle.
Her mouth dropped open.
Five new books. All with shiny covers. All with stories she’d never seen before.
And right in the middle?
The Book That Wasn’t There.
Was there!
Eille smiled and sat cross-legged on the floor. She opened the new book and began to read.
Sometimes, the best stories aren’t the ones you find.
They’re the ones who find you.
