Young Writers Society

Esther cupped her face in her hands, took a deep breath, and tried to think of how best to explain all of this. She was used to everyone already knowing.

"The girls we met," she said. "They were the beginning. My father had fifteen followers by end. They lived at a commune in Colorado and killed five people in the summer of 1971. I lived as a baby there." She smiled weakly. "It's good to know he doesn't exist in other universes."

Just then, the Librarian reappeared with Iris, still in the same green dress and glasses she wore before. "And that's where I come in," she said. "I am trying to change the past, to save so many people from all the horror and destruction that Ms. Altman's father caused in so many people's lives." She caught eyes with all of them again. "It's good to see all of you again," she said. "When you all messed up so quickly the first time, I had to figure out a way to explain to the others the significance of this."

"Why me?" Esther asked. "Why not Adam?"

"Your brother is too emotional for this," the Librarian explained calmly.

"And is it true that I die?" Esther demanded.

"The future's unwritten, Ms. Altman," replied the Librarian. "This is where I leave you. By now, I trust you know what the books do."

Esther looked at the others, and her eyes shifted to the massive shelves. All she could think to do was laugh nervously.

I wanted to protest that Jay very well could exist in my world - I wasn't American, and had spent the good part of the last century tucked inside of a jar - but I had other things that I could comment on. I didn't even ask why this tragedy deserved attention while others didn't.

"Of course the librarian is going to disappear now," I said, crossing my arms. "It'd be too convenient for her to stick around."

I looked over at Esther, my seeming indifference fading for a moment.

I knew reminded me of Bickerstaff. It wasn't exactly the same - it didn't sound like he had gone quite into the death side of things like Bickerstaff had. But I still couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at the realization that the kid of a cult leader, who clearly didn't like to bring it up, was currently standing next to a guy who had actually been a part of one.

Not that I was going to tell her that.

Queenie flopped down onto one of the couches with a frustrated sigh. "What a bitch," she said in regard to the librarian. "If any of you so much as touch another one of those little books, I will personally break each of your fingers in turn, got it?" She was sick of this. Getting tossed through time like the plaything of some cruel god.

She had half a mind to kill Esther herself, just to prove that dragging her into the fight to fight to save her was a really bad idea.

It was funny how Skull and Queenie were pretending like they had much of a choice in the matter. Their infantile reactions only went on to prove that they were not fit for the task of remedying the past.

Of course, Carter wasn't happy that he'd been assigned this arbitrary story to make right, but whatever powers the librarian had to drag them all here and literally throw them across time and space to achieve this goal were not to be meddled with if he ever wanted to return back home. The best and the wisest route was cooperation. Sometimes in life, you didn't get the luxury of choice. You simply had to work with the hand that was dealt to you. He wished the others would see that sooner, instead of complaining like whining little children.

Esther, though, seemed to be taking the news decently. As much as a young girl could, when being told when and how she was (potentially) appointed to die. But no one in the room seemed ready to own up to the assignment given to them.

He sighed. It was time to stop toying around. Now that they knew more about what they were gathered for, they could at least begin to strategize. He stood up and began to wander to the middle of the room (though not directly towards any shelves yet).

"I agree that we shouldn't be so hasty as to grab a book off the shelf just yet, but I do think we will need to do so eventually if we ever hope to escape this. Apparently we're being asked to alter history for the better. Even though none of us asked for this to be thrust upon us, it has, and at least it's a noble task - if that matters to any of you."

He twirled his hand on his wrist in a loose gesture to Queenie and Skull with a slight shrug. His gaze drifted to Esther.

"Since all of the books lack labels or any outward indication of where they might take us, I think no matter what book we pick it will be like grasping at straws. We probably won't get a choice in where and when we are sent. We will just have to take it in stride and try to be a positive influence this time, instead of just wandering aimlessly and waiting it out."

He glanced back at Skull and Queenie.

"It also doesn't look like we get much of a choice in whether or not we all go. I don't know what that woman did with Iris, but it seems the rest of us are stuck working together whether we like it or not. So it would be in all of our best interests to be at least tolerably cooperative - because, like I said, not only have we been handed an opportunity to make Esther's world and history better, but this very well may be our only path to get back home, to obey the librarian's wishes. I don't love it either, but it is what it is."

"So why don't we all just take a moment to breathe and then we can figure out what we'll do next. Hm?"

Queenie rolled her eyes at his noble monologue and tucked her hands behind her head. "You're awfully high and mighty for someone who preaches about 'working together' and yet, can't list a single thing about me that can't be acertained through a brief glance."

He didn't even know her name, not that that part was his fault.

Esther took a deep breath inward.

None of them had asked to be in this situation, and yet, here they were. According to the others, Esther would die by driving her car off a cliff. Just like she'd fantasized about. It had been a while since she'd had those thoughts, but she thought about it again for a minute. Of being dead. Of ceasing to exist. At least then, she'd have no more pain.

A part of her understood what the Librarian was saying, but she couldn't fully wrap her head around it.

"Sometimes," Esther finally said. "The only way out is through."

Esther walked over to the bookshelf, picked a random book, and closed her eyes as she opened it.


**

It was hot, and it was dusty. Perhaps even hotter than it had been the morning they'd woken up in Utah in 1969. Esther saw she was wearing a straw cloque hat a short sleeved purple floral dress that went past her knees. it was incredibly itchy. Maybe the dress would look good on someone, but it didn't suit her. Her chin length hair was set in finger waves, her bangs swept aside.

The others were with her, and they appeared to be in an alleyway.

She looked. On the street, directly across from, was a long line of dirty and tired people, waiting for something. The line stretched for blocks. That was when Esther saw. They were waiting for food. On their side of the street a tired and gaunt man was selling apples for five cents a piece.

While Esther had never been to the town where her father had grown up, she'd seen pictures, and she recognized it immediately. Even from some fifty odd years back.

That could only mean one thing. Her grandmother must be close by.

And her father, too. Her chest went tight, and she covered her face in her hands again.

"Listen," she said, not in the mood for anyone to be difficult. "We're in...before my time, okay? I think I know why we're here. And we need to get along if we're going to do this right."

I groaned when Esther opened the book and suddenly appeared in an alleyway. I knew there wasn't really anything I could do about being forced to rewrite history right now; I'd have to go along with whatever Esther thought was the right thing to do.

Not that I had to like it.

We were in some town that honestly reminded me of London. Not Lucy's London - that London was relatively tame to the one I had grown up in, even with the ghosts. I wouldn't say the time periods were the same. I had definitely come from a few decades before. But I wasn't really phased by the hungry people lining the streets. It was more than I was used to, sure. But hungry people were hungry people no matter where you went.

Then I finally had the smart idea to look down.

My face immediately contorted into a look of disgust. I was wearing a suit. My hair was still its normal style, but this was horrible. I'd take the denim over this any day!

"Ew," I said, picking at my collar and cuffs of my jacket - more to myself than anyone else. "I look like Natty boy."

Or, worse, Lockwood. I tried not to entertain that thought too much.

I glanced over at Esther, still messing with my suit jacket.

"So," I said, "how far are we before your time? Early 1900s? Late 1800s?"

Esther had to laugh. Not just because of what Skull said, but because it was funny to see him in a suit.

"We're not that far in the past. Try 1930s sometime. I'm trying to figure out what year exactly," she replied. She was on the lookout for a blonde woman with brown eyes who nonetheless looked like Jay.

Her grandmother. Of course, she'd only be about twenty at most. Depending on what year they were in.

Carter held his tongue and blinked slowly as the scene changed around them. The heat. The humidity. He was wearing a flat-cap and overalls. The button-up undershirt and the loose jacket on top felt a little more familiar to his world, but only mildly. He looked down at his dusty shoes in mild disappointment but decided not to comment on it. Skull was doing enough complaining for everyone.

Of course, he'd ended up in a suit. He actually looked proper for once, but Carter wasn't interested in trading places at the moment.

He drew closer to Esther, since she knew more about this time than the rest of them, and seemed to have an idea of what or who to look for.

"Is this when your father was a child?" he asked.

Queenie glared at Esther. What did I just fucking say. Her hands balled into fists as the urge to make good on her threat made her muscles tremble.

Another year, this one farther in the past than any of the years before. And she was wearing a dress. The thing was long, not ankle-length but she might have actually preferred that. Instead, this horrorshow of a garment was just above ankle-length and seemed to be designed to keep her from walking in any way that actual human being's walked. She grit her teeth. Even the little nightmares of stiff, itchy fabric and whatever they used to make it glisten and sparkle allowed more mobility then this.

She tugged on the elbow-length sleeves of the top of this atrocity, resenting the fact that she was somehow the person the loon in the library plucked from some twisted lottery to save Esther's life.

On top of everything, her hair was down. Apparently her natural curls did just fine in this time period. Oh-fucking-joy.

She pulled some of her hair over her shoulder and twisted a strand around her finger.

"Why can't you just solemnly swear not to kill yourself or something so the rest of us can just go home?" she asked Esther scathingly, not allowing her to answer anyone else's questions.

"Hey," Esther shouted. "I didn't ask to be the fucking lovechild of two murderers, alright? And be fucked in the head on top of it! Must be really fucking nice not to be depressed, hmmm?"

Just then, she caught a woman staring at them. Long blonde hair and wide brown eyes. She recognized her grandmother immediately, even with some fifty odd years subtracted from her face. She'd only met her once, two years ago.

"Sorry, Anna," Esther said. The name came out of her mouth before Esther could stop of it.

"How do you know my name?" Anna responded.

Esther felt her face turn hot as she desperately thought of a solution. Then she turned to Elizabeth. "I was apologizing to my friend Anna. Is that your name too?"

Anna nodded. "What a coincidence," she said, laughing nervously. "I''m sorry. I didn't mean to accuse."

"We're new in town," Esther. "We're looking for a place, but hard for us to find one these days."

"Tell me about it," Anna continued. "There's me, two other couples and my son in a two bedroom. I think Mildred's friend runs a boarding house. They have a couple open rooms and they'll pay in work."

"Sounds great," Esther said.

"I'm sure you two will want your own rooms," Anna said.

It took a moment for Esther to realize what she meant, and then she looped her arm inside of Skull's. Elizabeth would have to be stuck with Carter. No, not Elizabeth. Anna. "Of course," she said. "Right darling?" She smiled at Skull.

"Well, I'm on my way to the grocery now," she said. "You're welcome to come with me. My son's half birthday is next week. I thought I'd get him something since his actual birthday falls so close to Christmas."

"We would love to come to the grocery with you Anna," Esther said. She kept her arm locked in Skull's as they followed behind her.

Carter had suggested we were in Jay's childhood right now, and Esther knew the woman's name - if this wasn't Esther's grandma, I'd be just as surprised as I was by Esther's improvising.

When I thought about it, she had come up with a good story when we ran into her dad's group. Esther apparently had a knack for it.

I was upset I had been forced into pretending to be a couple again, but at least it was with someone other than Carter - Esther definitely had done it out of necessity and not to get on my nerves.

Still, Skull wasn't really a name. And if I wanted to fit in and get this over with, I'd have to come up with something a little more believable.

I leaned a little closer to Esther, making sure to drop my voice down so only she could hear me.

"If anyone asks," I said, "tell them my name is..."

I faltered. What name was I supposed to give? I didn't want to be stuck as Nathaniel or Lockwood for however long we were going to be here.

"...Van," I finally decided. "Van Sullivan. If you say the name now, Carter and Elizabeth can catch on, too."

Then I flashed her one of the loving kind of looks a husband (boyfriend?) would give his lover, just in case the actual Anna wondered what we were talking about.

Ah. So they were doing the couple thing again, but this time he was stuck with Elizabeth (or "Anna," now). He guessed it could be worse.

He was impressed by how quick Esther was on her feet, coming up with excuses that made sense. The real Anna seemed quick to believe and to trust, which was good for them.

He looked over to Elizabeth and gave a very subtle shrug before offering her a hand to hold if she wanted. It wasn't like they had to hold hands to sell it, but it could help. He wasn't as interested in making her angry as he was Skull, so he left it open, instead of smothering her like he did Skull.

Queenie took the offered hand and gave Carter a kind, loving smile. No rings meant they couldn't pretend to be married, but she already had something of a cover story spun up in her head. She was getting the impression that this was somewhere in the 1930s, so the Great Depression could very well be in full swing. She could claim he was her fiance, but they had to sell her ring and couldn't afford a wedding. Believable enough, sympathetic but not overly so. She hated playing pitiable characters, but here, it couldn't really be helped.

She leaned a little closer to Carter and kept a pleasant look on her face to hide the fact that she was still oh so very tempted to snap little miss Esther into several pieces.

It wasn't far to the grocery. But the streets seemed empty. If he was five, that meant it was 1939. The Depression was waning down by then, but its effects were still clearly present in this town.

"Anna, how old is your son?" Esther asked. Continuing to hold onto Skull's, sorry, Van's arm.

"Jay? He's five," Anna said. "A real handful." Esther was nervous that she'd struck a nerve because Anna's face tightened. "So, you're not going to ask me why I'm not married?"

"No.... I wasn't," Esther replied.

Anna must have sensed she'd made a mistake as they entered the grocery. "I only have to get a few things."

Esther walked ahead with her grandmother, leaving the others to linger. It was shocking how cheap everything was. 22 cents for a loaf of bread? 49 cents for a gallon of milk? Then she remembered, it was the depression. But it's not like the economy had been great under Reagan either.

They ended up in the toy aisle when she saw Anna eying a stuffed rabbit. Of course. She'd never seen pictures, but she knew this was the rabbit. The one who her father had decapitated with a kitchen knife after he'd only had it for a few days.

"Actually," Esther said, taking a toy car off the shelf. "A boy might like this more."

"You're right," Anna said. "I'll get him this." She put the car in her basket, and Esther felt a weight in her stomach. She had just changed history. She didn't know what to make of that. She supposed there was still time to tell Anna to get the rabbit, but something kept her silent.

She exchanged a worried look with her companions. She'd have to explain later, provided Anna followed through on her promise to find them lodging.