A Little Helping Hand

Peggy Lette 20 

[cestlabeaute]

“you know,” belle smiled softly, closing the book in her lap as her eyes trailed to admire the morning sunrise, “some people say that the best time to wander is during the night but i disagree. sure, there’s mystery around the darkness but how can it compare with watching the world come alive?! i mean just look around — the bird’s are chirping, the grass has that morning scent to it, even the air smells like a brand new day, and the best part is the tranquility of it all. it’s like you can hear your own thoughts for once instead of the chatter we hear as people pass us. it’s beautiful.”  

[oh-p-p-peggy-blog]

“Oh no definitely not at night,” muttered Peggy and took a small sip from their coffee mug. “Its much too dangerous and you can’t really see what’s out there are what could be waiting out there.’ Peggy quickly shut up once they realized the woman next to them was attempting to enjoy the scenery. “It is beautiful though,” they agreed.

[welcometoyouredoom]

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“Now, d-do you actually work here? A-At the library? O-Or are you one of those, you know, book worms w-who spend a majority of their time here? J-Just curious,” Panic asked the other as he followed them down one of the aisles. They began to describe the nonfiction section, an area that Matthew would probably not find himself at, considering he wasn’t in school and didn’t find research all that entertaining. Although, the quietness of it could potentially be nice. “Good to know,” he replied with a simple nod, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Oh I..I suppose I would like to work here someday,” Peggy stopped and looked around for a second before turning back to Matthew. “It’s just that...well there’s so many options and how do you really know if you’re making the right decision? What if one day you wake up absolutely miserable because you realize you picked the wrong career? It’s not like  you can suddenly go back and change it all. It’s just too much to think about.”

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“then it’s one third of a lie. how about that?” he stated, feeling silly for bartering over fractions of the truth. at this point, he was willing to do anything other than work. “oh no..i still get the paycheck, but in a different way,” he assured.

“But....how is that possible?” Peggy shook their head completely clueless to whatever it was that Flynn was trying to assure them of. 

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lilopls

“I’m going to start the apocalypse by misplacing a book?” Lilo raised her eyebrows. She didn’t know where Peggy was getting their information, but it sounded like a bit of stretch to her. Ignoring their question, she decided to give some unsolicited input. “Personally I think the apocalypse will start with a deadly disease spreading faster than doctors can find a cure, turning people into zombies that eat our brains – which, in comparison makes your thing seem safe and… honestly… a little boring. No offense.”

“Oh no no,” Peggy shook their head trying to get visions of disease and zombies out of their head before the feelings of panic could set in. “Even the smallest or boring events can build and build into something far worse. You can never be too careful.”

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A scowl formed on the boy’s lips, as he went back to the book they placed on the shelf, “Is that so?” his words were curt, matching his current mood. Back with the book on hand, he dented whether he wanted to be a full asshole about their words, but instead he just leaned against the cool shelving, flipping through pages, “I think our world is already utter chaos.”

“B-be careful with that...please,” Peggy muttered. They watched, slightly taken aback as Jim reached out to grab the book off the shelf. Watching him flip through the pages, they wanted nothing more than to grab it back and put it in it’s proper place but the scowl on Jim’s face stopped them from attempting it. “Well yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to go around making it worse. The library never did anything to you, you know.” 

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“it’s not a lie. it’s a half-lie…which, if you round down, isn’t one. you’re fine it’s not like you’re ordering a scotch. you’re just playing messenger,” he assured, knowing the flaws in his logic were so obviously present. “alright, kid, alright. i don’t want to make you do something you can’t do,” he replied with a sigh.

“No actually when it’s half-way there you’re supposed to round up,” Peggy muttered, unable to stop their nervous chatter. “I don’t understand though, why don’t you just go to work? Think of the paycheck you’re missing out on.”

[oh-p-p-peggy-blog]

—- “the butterfly effect, yeah. there’s this video game called until dawn that deals with that. except this one is like… monsters. not clutter,” oliver replied, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets. watching the other as they seemed to reorganize them self or their thoughts. “good thing no crisis. last thing i’d want is to be part of a crisis,” ollie mused aloud. “oh, any good mystery books?”

“Mystery novels? Yeah, I can help you with those.” Peggy turned and began leading him towards the fiction section. “I would suggest a classic with Sherlock Holmes or maybe even anything by Agatha Christie. Of course, if you read anything by Christie then you might want to lock your door and check to make sure you aren’t living near complete strangers because her books will really make you rethink the people you know and trust.”

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Panic smiled, nodding at the other’s response. “Y-Yes, actually, that would be great.” Maybe getting a tour from someone with experience in the library would show Panic how great the library really was, since right now he only saw it as intimidating.

“There’s a lot to go over so if I go too fast you need to let me know,” Peggy said and began to lead Matthew down one of the aisles of shelves. “This is the nonfiction section and mostly I find that it’s really good for doing research and finding books you need for any school subjects. Personally, I spend more of my time over here because it can be a bit quieter.”

[ridcrs]

“look. i know you don’t like me. hell, i don’t like me either. but i really need you to do this one teeny, tiny, little thing for me, okay?” flynn practically pleaded with the nearest person. “all you gotta do is walk into that pub, and tell the guy with the eye patch that flynn rider can’t make it into work today on account of…his, his beach house flooding. got it? simple, right? easy. so, do we have a deal?”

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“But Flynn that,” Peggy looked around them, as if they were about to tell a secret, “that’s a lie. And besides I’m not even old enough to step in there!” Peggy shook their head quickly and took a step back. “Oh dear I’d get in so much trouble and then they’d know I was lying and then you would get in trouble and fired or worse! Flynn you need to go to work.”

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Lottie’s eyes grew a lil fuzzy as Peggy talked about one of their complicated theories again. It’s not that Lottie didn’t appreciate the sharing - no, she loved that! It all just…went right over her head sometimes. “Darlin’, I’m gonna need you to slow down for just a second and rewind - I’m just tryin’ to understand, that’s all. So the end of the world is gonna start because we’re not puttin’ our panties in the right drawer?”

“No...I didn’t..I didn’t say panties,” Peggy mumbled, their face turning a bright red. “It’s just that....you never know what could happen now after not putting the book back in the right place Lottie. What if someone comes in looking for the book and can’t find it because it’s not in the right place? Therefore, they give up hope of finding it and go back unable to do the proper research for whatever it is because they don’t have the right resources and then they receive a failing grade because of that then....” Peggy stopped themself as they tried to calm down the images now rushing in their head. “It’s just a lot to consider.”

[oh-p-p-peggy-blog]

wilburofthefuture

Suffice to say libraries were not Wilbur’s favorite place to be; regardless of how often he found himself there, it just managed to make him feel stressed out every time he hunkered down and studied. But, perhaps that was more akin to the studying rather than the library itself. “Hm?” Wilbur hummed, spinning on his heels, barely noticing he had put the book he was using in a completely different spot where he had found it. “Oh! My bad! I guess I just kinda wanted that book out of my sight as quick as possible, so I just sorta stuffed it wherever. And that’s not cool.” He couldn’t help but find himself pouting. No doubt it was annoying to reorganize because of people like him. “But, I dunno how fair it is to equate my, understandably silly and stupid mistake, to the beginning of the apocalypse, y’know? I’d hate to have that kind of pressure on my shoulders.”

“Right,” Peggy nodded looking down at the floor, slightly embarrassed. “I’d hate to make someone feel less than or make them start worrying that they alone could start the apocalypse. Imagine trying to walk around and do anything all the while suspecting that any one of your actions might start a chain of even that ends the world as we know it.” Peggy shook their head trying to get the images out of their head and looked back at Wilbur. “I’m so sorry please forgive me.”

[oh-p-p-peggy-blog]

“um, what?” alice asked, curious eyes looking up at them before looking back at the book that they’d moved from where the blonde had left it. while she loved a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person, she wasn’t completely sure how a misplaced book in the library could caused the end of the apocalypse. the petite girl shook her head, somehow still lost but figuring she still owed them some type of answer. “no?” she shook her head, “but do you really think if the apocalypse were to happen, it’d happen in this library? i feel the five cent memorial .. or montauk, would be a more appropriate place to iniciate an apocalypse. besides,” alice reached back to where they put the book and picked it up, “are you really going to tell me nancy drew will be the start of the end? i dunno about you but i’ve always thought of dear ol’nancy as more of the saving type than chaos, a bit too detectivey to be able to start something like that. if anything, she’d be the one making sure it didn’t happen.”

“Oh it can happen anywhere at anytime,” they mumbled, trying to look around for someone who could help back up their claim. “In fact it’ll probably happen when we least expect it. Those places are way too expected for doom and gloom. You always have to be constantly aware of your surroundings or else who knows what will happen.” Peggy watched the book silently, mostly worried the young girl wouldn’t remember where to put it back again. “Well....Nancy is a fictional character you know. She has no real control over reality or even her story. She doesn’t even realize she’s not real. Tragic....”

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“ hm…? ” she hummed in a slight daze of preoccupied thoughts, blue eyes lifting to meet the soft voice. finally understanding, ariel’s cheeks tinged a light pink and she bit down sheepishly upon her bottom lip. “ oh. no, you’re right. wouldn’t want that. sorry… ” she finally replied, apologizing for her mere absent-mindedness. “ i um — i’m sure there’s plenty of truth to that. ”

“Well of course it’s true. I wouldn’t be so quick to help if there wasn’t some level of truth to it.” Peggy’s face turned red as they made a mental note to check up on that article later this evening. “Besides, even if this book wasn’t responsible for causing the world to end....you can never be too careful you know.”

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—- oliver watched as the other moved the book that he had just put away. “er… i always thought that the apocalypse would start because of corrupt regimes and war fallout,” he casually commented. he jammed his hands in his pockets before nodding slowly. “i guess i don’t want to be the reason the apocalypse starts. my b,” he said, slightly muffled from chewing on his lip.

“Well I’m sure that’s what everyone wants to think, but even the smallest little actions can have really large impacts. Eventually....who knows what could happen if we all just started putting things back wherever we wanted all willy nilly.” Peggy tried to calm themself down before they got all worked up and looked back at Oliver. “Emergency avoided though, or for now at least.”

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Panic didn’t go to the library often; one of his new years resolutions at the beginning of 2018 was to try to read more. Although it was now three months later, Panic was finally getting a start on the resolution, starting with the library. The only problem was how many options were presented in front of him, seeing the endless possibilities of books to choose from. Panic was always pretty indecisive, so this had become a conundrum.

After placing a book down, another person caught his attention just a few moments later, placing the book in it’s proper place, since it seemed that Panic hadn’t. Their explanation caused his eyes to widen slightly, not realizing the importance of organization in a library until now. “Oh, s-sorry about that. I uh, I’m kinda a newbie here,” Panic replied with a nervous chuckle. Although he just wanted to fulfill a new year’s resolution, he felt so out of place at the library, unsure of where to even start looking.

“A newbie,” Peggy repeated, their eyes widened. “Oh....well I suppose it’s not really your fault then.” Peggy nodded agreeing with themself before turning to face the shelves. “Did you want some help looking? I don’t really have anything going on and I’d be happy to show you around.”

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lilmichaeldarlin

Michael had spent the whole day studying, eyes sore and back stiff as he put away the few books he was using, he was slightly startled by the other voice, turning to them to give them his attention. “Really? Sorry.. Long day,” he said, giving them a small smile, “thanks for catching that. If the library is in chaos I’m not sure where I’d go for peace and quiet outside my own room.”

“It’s okay,” Peggy said quickly, their face turning a bit red at making someone else feel bad. After all it was just one book right? “Imagine all the other students who would lose their place to study or take a nap. It’s almost too much to think about.”