Super Librarian

By Nicole Cowell

          Born to a middle class family on April 6, 1956, Marian was a beautiful baby girl.  By the time she was seven, she had blonde ringlets and big blue eyes that could melt anyone’s heart, and acquired the nickname Mary.  Up until this time, Mary was an only child.

          In January, her mother told her that she was pregnant with a little boy that was due in May.  Mary was so excited, she had always wanted a younger sibling, and a boy would be perfect, because she would never have to share her “girl” toys.  She couldn’t wait to meet her new baby brother.

          In about mid-March of that year, Mary’s mother had an appointment with the obstetrician, just a check up to make sure that everything was going well.  That night, though, when she came home, Mary, eight years old now, could feel something weird in her stomach, like something was wrong.

          It was dinner time, and her mom called her into the kitchen.  Mary walked in to see her mom with a pale face and blood shot eyes, like she had been crying.  “Hunny,” Mary could remember her mother saying, then it came, “I have something to tell you.”  These words could strike fear into anyone, including a child.  Tears were beginning to pour down her mother’s cheeks, “we won’t be having a baby anymore.  Mommy had something called a miscarriage.  I know you won’t be able to understand, but the baby isn’t in my belly anymore.”

          Mary looked at her mother, eyes welling up and raising her voice, as if she were growing angry, “then bring him back!”

          “I can’t, he’s gone.”

          These words threw Mary into a fit.  She ran out of the kitchen and down the hall, slamming her bedroom door behind her.  The walls of her room were lined with shelves filled with hundreds of books, which were now being torn down by Mary and thrown across the room.

          Upon grabbing one of the books, she pulled down a few unintentionally, causing them to fall on her head, knocking her unconscious instantly.

          After hearing the loud noise that the books made falling, Mary’s parents rushed into the room, only to see her lying lifelessly on the floor, covered in books.  At this sight, her father ran out of the room and called an ambulance.

          Soon after arriving at the hospital, Mary awoke to her parents concerned faces and immediately sprang up and apologized for her actions.

          Mary asked to leave but the doctors said she would have to remain in the hospital for a few days because she suffered from a massive concussion caused by the corner of the book hitting her hard in the back of the head.  They wanted to monitor her since she was only a child.

          Little did they know that the real reason for her stay was a tumor-like mass they saw on her brain where the book had hit.

          Later that night, Mary had some trouble sleeping, so her mother decided to stay up with her until she could fall asleep.

          “Is there anything you want dear?” her mother had asked her.

          “Could I have that book over there?” said Mary as she pointed to her favorite picture book sitting on the heater.  With this, the book lifted into the air and floated over to the bed and into her hands.  They were amazed.  This had never happened before.

          “What was that?” asked her mother in a shocked, almost frightened voice.

          “I don’t know, mommy.”

          “Do it again,” she pleaded.

          Mary looked hard at the bottle of Pepsi sitting on the table next to where her father laid his head.  “I want the bottle.”  The bottle lifted up, just as the book did, and floated into Mary’s hands.

          After that day, Mary decided that she wanted to dedicate her life to the one thing that gave her this power, books.  Mary became a librarian and used her powers to amaze kids, and make them want to read.  She showed them that things like this could happen in books, that they can create places that they could never imagine.  Mary eventually funded her own library, and takes care of everything herself.  That library is the most well known library because that is where Super Librarian works.