The Quite Ordinary and Utterly Unremarkable Guide to Charming Glass

by velvet-sometimes

It is quite a thing, to be the eldest of three. And Sophie Hatter had contented herself with her perfectly 'lovely' and ordinary existence in Market Chipping. But giving in to the temptation of a dusty old tome opens the way to a dangerous journey, where beauty is in the eye of the beholder - and the greatest adventure is learning how to 'see'.

2. Labyrinthine

Disclaimer: I don't own Howls Moving Castle (the book or the movie, sadly), no matter how much i do love both versions so. I'm also not making a cent of profit from this; this is a fanbased work, merely for improving my own writing, and playing with themes.

Labyrinthine

"A Kiss can beautify souls, hearts, and thoughts." That was the last line she had read of her book before Mrs. Smith had come calling, and the line swirled in her brain as if on an endless loop as she traversed the labyrinthine pathways of her store-room, created by piles and boxes and shelves of books that had yet to find a home after having arrived.

"The Proper Guide To Cooking." she murmured to herself as she scanned the labels on the boxes, heaving a couple out of her way so she could check behind them.

"Not you. Not you." she rattled off with every box that was destined to be not what she was searching for. "Definitely not yo- Hello there." Sophie pause, coming across a dusty old box she didn't remember having seen before. "And who might you be?" she asked softly, setting down the heavy package in her arms so she could inspect the oddity.

She carefully lifted the aged box into her arms, fingering the note that was tied with twine to the outside of it.

"Dear reader," she began, blowing the dust from the surface of the paper. "If you find yourself to be holding this parcel in your hands, you must have been gifted with Propriety Books and found it while looking for something or other. I implore you, whoever you may be, to set this box back where you have found it and once again forget that you ever found it as all, less you give into the temptation and open it. It is a book, of course you nosy fellow, but a very particular book that you should find all sorts of things amiss if you were to read it. If you value your quaint and quiet life, please return to what you where doing."

Sophie leveled the package with her gaze for a long moment, before setting it back down. "Well, you couldn't be more concise than that."

Note: So a second update today, as per my norm, because I feel in drabble series that a single to begin with is far too short to capture someone's attention.