The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen Read Free Book Online Page B

account, including you, now that you’ve moved back home and everything.”
    “Thanks, Mum,” Ella said. “That’s very thoughtful.”
    “And there are money matters to think about,” her mother said in a hurt voice. “You’ll save a pretty penny if we put you under the same stone as the rest of your family. It may not feel like a pressing issue to you now, but you ought to plan ahead.”
    “What would you think if I wasn’t buried in the same plot as you and Dad?”
    Her mother looked at her sharply, then nodded, hers eyes wet now. “That’s that, then,” she said, and scribbled something on her shopping list. “We’ll just buy a headstone for two. You can look for your own plot and choose all the features you want to buy.”

    The next night Ella Milana dreamed about the library.
    The library floor was covered with grass. Ella was hurryingbetween the stacks looking for something. She stopped at the M shelf. There wasn’t a single book with her name on it.
    She burst into tears. She’d never felt so terribly sad.
    “Look on the E shelf,” someone whispered from above. “But if you see Dostoevsky, please don’t tell him I’m here. I had a ritual burning of his clothes, because they were cancerous, and he’s quite cross with me. He also accused me of lying, and what’s more, he’s right.”
    Ella looked up and saw a long-necked cat sitting on top of the shelf. Much higher up there were bright-winged fairies hovering, guarding the library.
    “Be careful not to step on those,” the cat said, looking down at something. “You don’t want to make them angry.”
    Ella looked down at her feet and saw small, shadowy shapes scuttling here and there.
    She walked forward carefully so she wouldn’t step on anyone and, following the cat’s advice, found a row of books under E written by Ella Amanda Milana.
    She ran her fingers excitedly along the spines of the books, greedily reading the titles of the novels. They were enigmatic, fascinating, brilliant titles. Some were just one word, others were extremely long. She sobbed with happiness.
    The cat appeared on the top shelf again.
    “Hurry!” it hissed. “The gates are open. Listen! Oh, listen! Listen to that rumble, that thundering clatter. They’re coming. And everything, everything’s still left undone!”
    Ella plucked one of the books from the shelf and wondered at its weight. The cat laughed.
    “Heavy as a stone, isn’t it? But they make the pages out of crushed stones, of course. Hey, why don’t you open it?”
    Ella opened the book and was horrified to see that the pages were empty. She took down another book, and another.
    “They’re all empty,” the cat said tauntingly. “You’d better hurry up. I’d start writing if I were you. Do you want to know how to write novels? I’ll tell you the secret: start on page one and keep going, in order, until you come to the last page. Then stop.”
    “Just write! What will I write with?” Ella shouted. “I don’t have a pen! All my pens are in my pocket and I’m not wearing any clothes!”
    It was true—she wasn’t wearing anything but socks, and even they were mismatched.
    The cat scoffed. “Everybody comes to the library naked. That’s why they come here—to dress themselves in books. And if you don’t have a pen, maybe you can ask him.”
    The cat cast a dread glance over Ella’s shoulder. Ella realized that there was someone standing behind her. Breathing down her neck. The breather was having difficulty staying in rhythm.
    Ella noticed a book on the shelf titled
A Guide to Smooth Breathing
. It looked as if she had written it.
    She picked up the book and tried to turn around, but she couldn’t move. It was too cold. Someone or something had put its cold hand against her skin. The stinging cold on her back seeped through to her internal organs. It hurt.
    The cat meowed and leaped out of sight. Snow started to fall.

    Torrential rain began on the first of October and lasted for three