Disclaimer: All this belongs to the BBC. I'm just playing. Please don't sue.
Big thanks to Saganami Dreams for her wonderful encouragement and corrections.
I need feedback in order to improve. Please tell me what you think.
Enjoy,
XWA
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You wanted me to keep it clean?
There was no more paper.
That pulled the librarian out of his reverie. He'd been caught up in his memories, reliving them so intensely he'd forgotten he was trying to write them down.
On paper, he could precisely identify the point at which he'd descended completely into recollection. From there, the elegant and concise French phrasing lapsed into cruder and verbose Italian, and the handwriting degenerated as the pen had struggled to keep up with his thoughts. Ink spots and small tears where the point had cut into the paper marred the lower part of the sheet. Words and letters cramped together ever closer as the end of the page neared, where he'd attempted to fit more thoughts into a constantly decreasing space.
He'd lost himself. Lost himself in the experiences of a boy on his way to losing his innocence.
But innocence wasn't as easily lost as the priests would have one believe. No, that young boy, and even that young man, had remained innocent for years to come. He had lost nothing that night. Instead he had gained something - focus. Where all actions, all thoughts, every fibre of his being were concentrated towards a single point, with a single purpose.
And the release of that focus brought with it confidence. Together these things allowed a bright but scatterbrained and shy lad to become the star pupil of his masters, and the most favoured among the young women that kept house for the school. Oh yes, happy days.
But this description of how a young man discovered his focus wouldn't do. The only place in this library suitable to house it was the second shelf on the left, and for that the prose was far too awkward to be worthwhile. So, an honest account of his experiences it might be, the librarian considered, but still he had best rewrite it.
And this time, he would have to focus.
