Saturday, April 19, 2014

Horror Stories of a Book Addict: I Almost Lost a Book

So last night, around 2 AM, I was putting this bad boy back on my shelf:

And I was still on an assassin-y, magic-y, sneaky-sneak, scheme-y high (<- my official recommendation for that book, and all books by Leah Cypess) when I noticed that something was missing.

Specifically, my copy of Mistwood, which Leah Cypess had signed and doodled unicorns on for me.

Obviously, this was a serious situation, of twitter-worthy proportions.



It was not on my favorites bookshelf. It was not on my secondary, meh/school bookshelf. It was not in any of the assorted paper stacks shoved into corners of my room. I refrained from checking the rest of the house because it was 2 AM. But the more I looked, the more I became very afraid.



Then I realized that I was also missing my signed bookmarks, which may or may not have been left in the same place, but what if they had been thrown out? What if I had lost them forever? My only links to the lovely authors who never venture into the rural midwest?



Worse, I had a very hazy-yet-firm memory of lending Mistwood to someone at school, long, long ago. And I could not remember if I had ever gotten it back.



I got into bed, but worst-case scenarios kept flickering through my mind. Awful mental conversations with the possible pilferer of my book.

"Oh, that was yours? I gave it away."
"I tossed it out."
"My dog got to it and chewed it up. Sorry."

I didn't even know if the most likely candidate had a dog, but I still worried about it, for at least half an hour, probably more.



In the morning, the first thing I did was check the hallway shelf. Not there.

Checked my little brother's shelf. It didn't even have many books on it, for heaven's sake, and I vowed to appropriate it as soon as possible.

Then I spotted my little brother's bedside table. With some papers covering it. A slim book corner sticking out, but not the book.

Heart pounding, daring to hope, I lifted the papers--

--and found Mistwood safe and unharmed in all its unicorn-doodled glory, ready to retake its place on my shelf.

Apparently Lil Bro and Mom read it a long time ago and never put it back in my room.

The crisis is now over, except for one thing.

I still can't find my signed bookmarks.

Ever lost a book? What's sent you into panic mode? Also, hey, read Mistwood / Nightspell / Deathsworn, because they're good.

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