Current mood:	cheerful
Entry tags:	chapter one

Chapter 1B: A conflict is introduced. No, really. Read carefully.
Sara wandered back downstairs, still in a daze. She sat at her desk, swiveling in the rolly chair, reliving the surprise meeting in her head.

"Sara, is that you? Sara? Miss Sara?"

She blinked her eyes and focused on the little blonde girl, about four years old, in front of her desk. "Meg, hi, sweetie."

Meg pouted at her. "I was calling your name, Miss Sara, and you didn't hear me."

"I'm sorry," Sara said. "I'm ready now. What are you looking for today?"

She quickly helped Meg find her books, chatted with her mother, and waved goodbye as they headed out.

"Nice work, Miss Sara."

Sara turned around and found Jason Murry, the library's extremely good-looking technology coordinator, behind her, smiling. "Thanks, Jason," she said, surprised. "Meg's a cutie, isn't she? In every week like clockwork."

"So if I asked for a very funny book, silly, even, with a mouse, would you help me, too?" Jason grinned.

"How long have you been waiting?" she asked. "I'd point you after Meg, since she has the one I know about!"

"I guess I'll just settle for some computer time, then," Jason said. "Cathy called and said that one of your computers is frozen on a game and won't reboot."

"Oh, no," Sara frowned. The library's computers were old and donated, and while it was great to have them, one of the three was down more than it was up. "Again? Well, you know the way." She sat back down in her seat, determined to actually get some work done for her next storytime. She was pretty sure it was set for Friday morning, and she didn't even have a theme yet.

She did a search in the system for mice, Meg's requests still stuck in her head. She wrote down a few possibilities, and then saw a familiar author. Richard Peck! She and Luke had traded Richard Peck's books all through junior high. She wrote down a few titles she remembered most clearly and went to pull them. Blossom Culp books, Voices After Midnight...she spent the next two hours skimming through the books, delighting in them all over again. Before she knew it, it was time to close and she still didn't have her storytime books ready.

-Damn, she swore to herself, flying around the basement, turning off computers and collecting stray books for the pages to put away the next day. Well, tomorrow was a new day, and she'd be ready to keep her mind on work then.

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