Summary: It started out as a normal day in Mary's library at Mineral Town, but soon it became something not-so-normal. The surprise meant some unwelcome trouble.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, or The Da Vinci Code. And I think that about covers it…

www. definition for novel: Strikingly new, unusual, or different

Mary's Novel Library

It was 9:30 A.M., and Mary was busy dusting the shelves before opening time. She was surprised at how dusty they could get, which just reflected on just how many people actually visit the library. It was just sad, really. Reading was fun, and in Mary's opinion, more people should try it.

Mary dusted the shelves till ten o' clock, for that was opening time, and that was when she would get into her position behind the counter. She grabbed a book on Chef, the red harvest sprite, and began to read. Unfortunately, she heard a sound on the second floor before she had time to turn the page. It sounded like a stack of books fell to the floor. Mary rushed up the stairs and gasped. There was a mess of books all over the floor, and five mice working together to open the cover of the library's only edition of The Rodent Encyclopedia. Mary couldn't believe her eyes. Right in front of her, the mice began to turn the pages, and they stopped to admire every single picture.

Ten minutes later, Mary heard the door to the library open and shook herself out of her daze. She walked downstairs again and stood behind the counter. Then she suffered her second surprise of the day.

"Cliff? I've never seen you here before…" Mary smiled slightly. "May I help you?"

"I'm just looking...thanks anyway," said Cliff, as he made his way to a shelf. He scanned the titles of some of the books, and looked like he was making the hardest decision of his life. "I don't have much time to read, but I thought I'd stop by…"

Mary nodded, and then began to think about her situation. It wouldn't look good for the library if there were mice living in it. Maybe she should call an exterminator?

Finally, Cliff picked out three books and walked up to the counter. "I only want one, but…" Cliff embarrassedly shrugged. "I'm not sure which one to pick! They all look so good…What do you think?"

"I think that you should've come to the library sooner," said Mary, smiling. She glanced down at the three books that Cliff picked out. "I found this one the most enjoyable, The Da Vinci Code."

"Thank you! I'll take that one out then," said Cliff.

"Tell me what you think of it when you're done!" said Mary.

Cliff was about to leave, when Mary thought about the mice on the second floor. "Wait! Cliff…can I show you something?"

Cliff paused in the middle of opening the door, and turned around. "What?"

"Follow me…It's on the second floor," Mary led Cliff up the stairs, and found the mice still poring over the encyclopedia. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't going crazy, because she was almost positive that this wasn't normal mice behavior. She wasn't even scared of mice; she just wished that they didn't make such a mess.

"What…what are they doing?" asked Cliff, with the world's most surprised expression on.

"Reading…do you think there are more of them?" It would be a shame to get rid of them, for they looked like they could be good pets. But if they were going to damage the library's reputation, Mary had to get rid of them. And to do that, she wanted to know how many there were.

"Wow…" breathed Cliff. "I honestly don't know."

Mary paced for a while on their side of the room, thinking about the pros and cons of keeping mice. What got her the most was that the mice seemed to know exactly where everything in the library was, especially since they only knocked down the books from the shelf that contained information on small animals. They seemed right at home, and looked like any other patron of the library: they didn't want to be disturbed.

"What should I do?" asked Mary. "I should've known something was wrong the moment some of the books disappeared! There are gaps in the shelves, see? I just took all of that for granted…"

Cliff shrugged. "The mice aren't doing anything to anyone. Let's just leave them here."

Mary's eyes widened. "What if some people are allergic to mice in this town? What should I do…?"

"Uh…" Cliff stared at the mice, which looked like they were now discussing what they read in the book. One of them stamped repeatedly on the ground, as if it disagreed with the encyclopedia.

Mary giggled quietly at the endeavors of the mice, forgetting the disadvantages of having mice. It didn't look like an infestation, anyway, so it couldn't be that bad. While she mused, the mice began to work together to close the book, and dragged it so that it lay next to the bookshelf. Then they began to drag the rest of the fallen books the same way, and put them in about seven stacks of two near the bookshelf. Afterwards, they nodded to each other, proud of their work. They turned around, as if to leave, and then spotted Mary and Cliff for the first time. Squeaking in a frightened fashion, they scurried past Mary and Cliff, and down the stairs. Confused, Mary and Cliff followed them, and since they were faster, they witnessed the mice leaving through the small slit underneath the door.

"That was interesting…" remarked Cliff. "I think we should keep this a secret, because no one would believe us…"

"Right," said Mary, nodding. Then she smiled. "I hope you enjoyed your visit."

"I did, yeah. And not only because of the mice. I think I like it here. A lot. I'll be coming here more often!" promised Cliff. "See ya!"

"Bye," said Mary. This time she let Cliff leave, and sighed. That explained some of the mysteries that were occurring in her library recently. Books disappearing, some reappearing near the shelves within a two week period…That gave Mary a comforting feeling. Maybe sometimes the people of Mineral Town neglect the library, but not all the villagers do that.

Mary made her way back to the second floor, and began to put the books in their appropriate spots. She realized that the mice were usually more careful than today, and that that was the only reason she heard them.

And from that day on, Mary knew that there would always be visitors to the library, no matter what size they were. She needn't worry about it anymore, and she was glad. She inwardly thanked the mice, and then went back to her book on Chef. The following year, she wrote a book on her experiences, but decided to keep it to herself. She only showed one other person, and that was Cliff. He was so impressed, that he told her to publish it as 'fiction', so that she would at least get recognition. Following his advice, she did have it published, and she used the extra money to make the library bigger and more beautiful. The library began to awe the villagers, and soon Mary became very busy. More people began to read everyday, and it was becoming a popular spot in town to go to.

And to think that it all started with mice…

End