-Introduction-

-I have no idea where this came from. It just sort of popped into my head. I would recommend having knowledge of at least two of the following, or it really won't make any sense. I kidnapped characters from: X Men Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkein) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (JK Rowling) Emma (Jane Austen) Charlotte Gray (Sebastian Faulks) The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster) Riders (Jilly Cooper)

And I also nicked a few names out of some Beatles songs, just for the hell of it. I don't own anything which pops up in this fic, much as I wish I do.-

Eleanor Rigby was having a bad day. One of those terrible days which involved destruction and mayhem. As the mother of a three-year-old, this shouldn't really be unusual, especially as her own three-year-old most probably had ADHD and enjoyed smashing things up.

This evening, Jude had decided it would be fun to tear pages out of books. Eleanor had been enjoying a quiet cigarette and a cup of coffee (which one needed to keep up with Jude), having thought he was comfortably settled in front of the television watching some sort of inappropriately violent show. Once the Marlboro Light was finished and there wasn't even a drop of coffee left in the cup, she wandered back in to the living room and discovered her son grinning, surrounded by books and pieces of paper.

"I can read," Jude said, though it was evident that he could not, as reading did not entail tearing up books, unless Eleanor had learned to read entirely the wrong way. She picked up her nightmare child and told him to go to his room. It was no use shouting at the kid, as that generally made him behave in an even worse manner.

Now to survey the pile of books. A few she'd never read and kept on the bookshelf (how had Jude reached that, anyway?). One or two which she had read on holiday. Lord of the Rings. Eleanor didn't really care about that one, as it had been far too heavy to read. Oh no. Her prized copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Eleanor had queued up outside the book shop at midnight for that one. Read it all night. Read it again just to make sure she hadn't missed anything. At least there were only a couple of pages on the floor. And it got worse. Eleanor had been a comic collector for a number of years, and thought her collection was out of reach of Hurricane Jude. Evidently it wasn't. Bang went the value on that. Bollocks.

Eleanor picked up the debris on the floor. It really wasn't that bad; only a few pages here and there. It was just going to be a hassle sellotaping it all back together. And she really didn't have the time tonight. She had a date, the babysitter would be along soon, and she was still wearing her dressing gown.

And so Eleanor gathered up the detached pages and put them all inside the largest book she owned; the world atlas.