The Library of Knowledge

In a place of limitless boundaries, a Library of Knowledge lay in the center of it. Contrary to the land around it, the comfortably sized library had a limitable circumference and no doors that entered or exited it.

However, under mysterious circumstances, there was a being who lived inside the Library of Knowledge: a girl.

She never knew of anything else except from the contents of her books and from what a big concave glass window showed her. Thus, the only things she knew of the outside world was from what the glass lens displayed; which was not much.

The building itself was an odd oval shape and was made of plain dark wood aside from the shaped glass in front of it. Furthermore, there was a rectangular wooden base with two triangular frames on either side to keep the ovular library erect and stable.

The girl was never named and had taken the responsibility to bestow herself a name she thought fit her well enough: Inn. She always saw it as a name that identified with her interior setting.

She didn’t always long to know what was beyond that which she could see.

For a long time, she was too caught up in the vastness of knowledge and information to really notice that she was imprisoned inside the Library of Knowledge.

However, all passions and interests slowly die down after doing it for a continuous amount of time.

And that time had come for Inn; the flame inside her spirit that devoured every word she read had begun to dwindle away and she started to feel a deep longing for something different.

Something she could not explain and could not figure out a way to fill.

The only time she felt -although only for a moment- an infilling of her newfound desires, it was when she gazed out her window.

Inn came to the epiphany that she never really noticed how beautiful it was outside until then. In that moment of pure awe, she came to realize that the sky was awfully blue and the tall blades of grass were a vibrant green that stretched on and on and even further than she could ever see.

The picturesque landscape that she lived in, or perhaps apart from, was something she was never able to imagine or picture in her head while she read all her books. Even when those books contained many skillful descriptions and thrilling plot lines.

Inn started to understand that words were not enough; that all the books she had read paled in comparison to what her eyes were experiencing in that short span of time.

Words suddenly felt dull to her because she had never experienced them.

How could she?

She was stuck in a room with no doors and haunted by a glass veil that only let her see a dim perspective of reality.

It was driving her mad!

From all the romance, adventure and tragedy her brain had been able to absorb with literature, her heart and spirit and soul could never comprehend the splendor of feeling it and understanding it from a personal experience.

How would she cope now after realizing that her Library of Knowledge was actually a prison?

It was a solemn thing to ponder about.

Inn decided she would figure out a way to either leave or discover a new purpose inside. Not from reading any books, of course. They weren’t much help in solving her crisis. She already knew each of them from back to front anyhow.

Then, what could she use?

There was not much else in a library. Its own definition meant a room in which books were kept.

All she had left was herself and the picture of a reality that seemed too far to reach, albeit it was only a sheet of clarity that refrained Inn from taking a small step out of the building.

′Perhaps, I can just break the window,’ Inn mused.

Doubts formed in her mind.

’Perhaps you are too weak, girl,’ a low voice called Reason told her, ′it is certainly an illogical thing to do. Why break something that cannot be fixed?’

′What about touching it? What harm would that do?’ Inn remarked, finding it odd to talk to the capacity of her mind.

‘Well, at least think of what the point would be in performing that destructive action.’ Reason shot back.

Inn flinched, she had never been conflicted with her mind before. So out of curiosity, she asked Reason a few questions.

′Why are you trying to refrain me from touching the glass? Do you not want to go outside? To see what else is out there apart from the grass and the sky?’

‘Why bother? There are no doors in this place. What you see now is all you need. The rest can be filled with the books which give us all the information we need to know about everything we cannot see.’

′But I feel like there is something missing from being in here. I can…I can just feel it. Right here.’ Inn pointed to her heart.

‘Where? Your heart! Ha! Don’t let Emotion fool you. He’s always been accustomed to feeling things that are not really there and then thinking things that are not really true.’

‘It’s pathetic you should say that about me when you are simply orating a similar vice about yourself, Reason! You reason with things that are not true, which then makes you see things that are not really there.’ Inn jumped at another voice that emerged, that of Emotion.

The girl was very bewildered; she had never heard voices before and thought herself absolutely insane. Was this from reading too much or because she finally stopped to think?

She did not know.

All she did know was that she was not in the mood to read right then. Instead, she moved her great armchair and placed it facing the window.

Perhaps a bit of conversing with Reason and Emotion would do her some good. She was ready to listen to both ends of the argument and knew that she had the final word. There was no question: she was Inn, Reason was reason, and Emotion was emotion. What gave Inn the upper hand over both of them was that she was in control of her own actions and would never relinquish it wholly to either of them. Whatever ‘them’ truly were.

She sat down and began to ponder rather profound questions.

Were they manifestations of her subconscious being externalized so to bring Inn to a state of critical thinking?

Or were these voices only a by-product of late nights and a packed brain?

Did she read too many dramatic and scientific books that they started to become intertwined with each other in her mind?

Inn contended that she had too many questions and not enough answers; perhaps that was the reason she began to hear Reason and Emotion.

But then were they not the start of all her puzzlement?

Or the catalyst to her realizations that only came early but would have crashed upon her nonetheless?

‘You think too much, Inn. Do what you feel is right.’ Emotion whispered to her, as though trying not to capture Reason’s attention.

‘I can still hear you, Reason. We function from the same host.’ Reason explained, exasperated from Reason’s inept attempt to keep him in the dark. ‘But you can fantasize that I didn’t if that aligns with your feelings.’

Another insult was dropped and Inn could still not fathom how she was hearing the two voices of Reason and Emotion, let alone hearing them provoke each other because of their different use of spectacles.

’That’s not how it works but I have no time to talk to you.’ Emotion then turned his attention onto Inn, ‘You need not be afraid of leaving this place.’

Inn felt comforted when Emotion spoke (more so when he spoke to her rather than the sharpness that lingered when he argued with Reason), it was soft yet passionate and the girl felt that every word he said was sincere. Yet, there was a part of her that still felt stuck. Could she really leave the Library of Knowledge?

‘Even if I wasn’t afraid and really wanted to explore outside, how could I? There are no doors and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to break the window.’

‘Ah! Finally, a voice of reason besides myself. And remember, girl, your books would be ruined if it ever rained.’

Now Reason’s voice was much different, but not in a negative way. His voice was profound and seemed to give Inn a sense of peace. Like that of a sturdy hammock that lulled any person in it into a feeling of content security.

‘But what if there is another way? Do you not have an ounce of hope you can use that will propel you into the fullness of your desire? Go ahead, just break the glass with the happiness that something good will happen from it. If you feel like you should explore, just do something about it!’

Inn was in a difficult situation: both voices felt good yet they both relinquished varied and compelling answers to her sense of lack.

Should she cling to the strong emotion connected to the deficiency she felt or think rationally about what it was she felt was missing?

′I do want to go outside but I don’t want to break that which covers and protects the Library of Knowledge. My Library of Knowledge.’

′Do what you feel is right.’

‘No, do what you think is right.’

She took the fervor of Emotion and the sensibility of Reason and with those attributes decided to draw knowledge from the depth of her spirit. Where either feelings nor logic reigned.

Inn then strangely felt compelled to touch the glass. Only a simple touch; a simple action, yet it seemed to have much more weight behind its meaning.

Instead of doing what she felt was right or what she thought was right, Inn did what was right. What her spirit knew was right. Not from a feeling or from a logical explanation, but from a place deep down that showed her Truth and the purpose of her behavior. Like a law of human nature that everyone just knows. A kind of shallow well of understanding that she could draw from and only at that precise moment (at which, those kinds of moments felt quite rare for Inn).

′I need to touch the glass.’ Inn said in a way that was neither quizzical nor uncertain. It was a fact derived from an untamed desire.

It was a timeless moment that could be better conceived as a point in Inn’s life where she was most ardent on reaching.

From any foreign perspective, touching a window would be seen as a mundane action. Although an action that was forbidden to children by their parents due to the grubbiness on their little hands, such attempts on the parent’s part were always futile since children want to do the things they are told not to do. Mostly because they feel like it and because they think that nothing bad will happen to the clean surface if touched.

Henceforth, while mundane to most, touching this particular window, in this particular circumstance, and during this particular epiphany, was tremendously significant to Inn.

This was why she inched ever so slowly to the window, as though time was on her side.

In the instant she touched it, the incredible happened.

Something more impossible than there being a library in an endless sea of grass.

Something more impossible than there being a girl inside a doorless room.

Something more impossible than said girl hearing the voices of Reason and Emotion.

As soon as the girl’s hand touched the glass, the window shattered in countless pieces and instantly vanished into thin air.

Inn jumped back and crashed into the armchair, dumbfounded as to what had just occurred. She quickly checked her hand for any cuts or blood.

They were perfectly clean.

As was the floor by the window; the shards of glass really had disappeared. It was not an optical illusion.

She gathered her jarred thoughts and scrambled off the seat to examine the condition of the window…or the newly made hole. However, Inn’s mere nearness to it gave her context that it was neither a window nor a hole.

Although the blades of grass were swaying by a gentle breeze, Inn could not feel any of its warmth on her skin or any of its freshness in her lungs. The atmosphere had not changed around her even if the glass had broken.

Strange.

‘See, what I told you to do worked,’ Reason stated as a fact.

‘What are you babbling on about, Reason? She listened to my counsel.’ Emotion shot back, his voice prouder than usual.

‘Do not fool yourself!’

‘I will only ever listen to you when you stop thinking foolishly!’

‘Will both of you be QUIET!’ Inn shouted, stomping her foot in ire. ‘I cannot do anything until both of you stop bickering. I am in charge here. You are simply along for the ride, in a manner of speaking.’ She huffed out an agitated breath. ‘So shut up or I will find a way to ignore you two all together!’

Inn gathered from the incoherent mumblings of accord followed by an absolute silence that her bout of chastisement was effective.

She could now extend the regime of her curiosity into something more objectified.

Her first approach was to reach her hand toward the boundary that sat between the boundless field and the knowledgeable library.

And that was what she did.

What happened next would only be comprehended by such people with senseless reasoning and a profound imagination. So Inn only understood half of what was taking place.

Her hand reached outside. There was no glass yet there was still something there.

Something new.

Something quite paradoxical.

The least complex explanation would be that – where the window had once been – there was now some sort of force field; a penetrable protective barrier that was both sheltering and uncovering.

It was a shield which gave Inn the freedom to choose her fate: to stay inside the Library of Knowledge or to enter into the Unknown Expanse.

Another epiphany came to Inn; she always had the choice to leave but was always too busy to realize it. This thought made her rather melancholy; she had many detrimental times learning from her books but wasted so much more of it doing inconsequential things.

′I should not dwell in the past. I already have not much time in the present and perhaps less in the future.’ Inn reasoned out loud, feeling a wave of gratefulness wash over her.

At least she finally did something about her freedom.

‘Well done, wise Inn. I agree with that.’

‘How I never! It seems that I do too! I cannot talk against such wisdom, sweet Inn.’

‘Did the pair of you just agree on something? Now that is what I enjoy hearing instead of all those awful disagreements.’ Inn smiled and would have patted Reason and Emotion on the back if they had tangible forms. Instead, she awkwardly patted her own shoulder with a silly grin etched across her face.

Before either presence could reply, she proceeded to ramble; a feat she scarcely did. She never really had anyone concrete to talk to before. Unless herself could be accredited. In a way, perhaps she was talking to herself, but at least her subconsciouses were listening and were talking back.

‘I just realized that, if you look at it in a certain way, we all worked together. I mean, I was the one who was led to use some of Reason’s reasoning and Emotion’s feelings of gratitude. I can hardly say whether I gave myself a pep talk because I first felt gratitude or because I saw the reality of my circumstance. Either way, it was the right thing to say.’

‘Undoubtedly.’

‘Without a doubt.’

‘However, I must say this, there will be times when you can only listen to me. Reason is wrong at times.’ Emotion gasped out, as though he had been having a hard time keeping the thought inside.

‘You had to destroy the moment, didn’t you Emotion? Let me say this, in the terms to smoothen out some disheveled facts, there will be many times when you can only listen to me. Emotion is wrong most of the time.’ Reason stated under protest, vigorously identifying his partiality.

‘Here we go again,’ Inn mumbled, trying to grasp whether harmony amongst the three of them was approachable or downright inconceivable.

Right then it seemed downright inconceivable from where the girl was standing.

She decided to ignore them for the time being and focus on going outside while not wanting to be locked outside forever.

What if the newly formed barrier was only one way; an exit but not an entrance?

She had enough with all of it and felt a surge of courage to take a risk. In which her first risky stance was to sit on the ledge, half of her being in the Expanse and half in the Library. Considering that the Library’s floor was five feet from ground level, Inn’s legs dangled in the air.

The girl looked down at the green floor below her and gulped; she would have to jump. There was no other way but down – and with no ladder or stairs, to say the least.

‘What do you think, guys? Think I can safely jump?’ Inn asked, quickly dropping the prospect to ignore either presence. She needed them more than she could honestly divulge and sometimes less than she would rather want.

‘The drop is adequately safe. You are strong enough to do it without hurting yourself.’

‘It’s not high enough to be afraid. Unless you are afraid of heights, but it seems that you are not because then I would be as well, I presume.’

‘So I guess I’m jumping…’

And so she did.

Inn’s bare feet landed on soft ground and she felt damp blades of grass and dirt roll between her toes. The sensation was alluring but not completely agreeable; she would eventually get accustomed to the new surface. Perhaps she should have worn her shoes, but then the experience could have been less stimulating to her senses.

Letting out a delighted cry, the girl fell onto the bed of grass and started moving all around, not caring one bit that her clothes were being painted with grass stains and mud. She would not have done anything differently; she could finally experience nature’s footing, where no man had trodden before.

After ten minutes of rolling and flapping around, Inn decided to lie still on her back and look at the sky. She had never been able to look at the sky at that angle before; she found that looking up at it felt more real, more known to her.

It was nice; basking in the warm sun and watching the clouds pass by.

She never wanted to leave; she felt refreshed and at ease in her spirit and soul. She remained on the ground for hours, losing her grasp over time.

However, after some time, the girl realized that the part of her that felt empty before was starting to be filled – but there was a catch; she was getting hungry.

She was once again in an imbalance. Now, another part of her was running on empty and she suddenly had the longing to go back inside her Library and read a book.

This desire troubled Inn.

How could she live with the constant feeling of emptiness?

When she stayed in the Unknown Expanse, she missed her Library and when she stayed in the Library of Knowledge, she felt the need to go outside.

It was a continuous circle of discomfort without any concise end or trajectory.

‘Do you guys know what is missing? If I’m not fully satisfied with my books but also not wholly full when I’m outside, then what am I forgetting to feed myself with?’ Inn asked out loud, hoping Reason and Emotion were not left behind when she had crossed the boundary.

They had not.

‘I do not understand myself. This is beyond my reasoning, to be honest.’

Inn hoped Emotion had an opposite response to her cry for help.

He did not.

‘I do not know what I feel about this. I am feeling so many emotions at once that I cannot straighten any of them out. I’m just as stuck as you, beautiful Inn.’

Inn then had an idea.

‘Well, then perhaps you can help each other. Emotion, tell Reason what you are feeling and maybe then he can piece something together.’

‘I guess I could try…’ Emotion mumbled hesitantly. ‘I am feeling the need to stay close to the Library yet I am also feeling adventurous and want to see more of what is outside but without losing sight of the library. So, I feel the need of familiarity coupled with the need for adventure. It is all very perplexing.’ Emotion expressed, letting out a small sigh.

‘What do you gather, Reason? Any thoughts?’ Inn queried, unsure of where to look since the conversation was taking place internally.

‘Well, I would say that the option we could possibly do to stimulate both -somewhat contradictory- desires is to discover what is on the other side of the Library of Knowledge, where there was no window. Inn, we’ve only been on the north side since we left it and have not ventured to look at the south side yet. It keeps us near familiarity yet brings us to a place we have not yet discovered, which is in itself, adventurous.’ Reason explained, his voice filled with pride and surprise.

‘Golly! I thought I would never see the day that Reason and I would actually achieve something together.’

‘I concur.’

‘Well, I don’t see why you guys are acting so surprised. Let’s go to the south side of the building and see if there is something different over there.’ Inn said as she got up from lying on the ground. The girl then began walking around the ovular structure, grazing her fingers along the smooth wooden surface.

It was a sight to behold when Inn finally came to the south side of the building.

Although there was only one difference between the north and south side of the Expanse, it was a very life-changing difference for Inn.

There was an oak that had planted itself only a few meters away from The Library of Knowledge.

It was tall, towering over Inn majestically. Its trunk was thick and dark and its branches stood up straight, proudly carrying thick green foliage.

Inn looked down to her feet and noticed over a dozen thin grooves in the soil that ran from the base of the tree to the edge of the Library. It looked like the roots of the oak had been dug up and the grooves were what was left behind.

Inn was compelled to inch closer to the great tree. As she went nearer, two shiny gold plaques on the tree trunk caught her eye.

One was written Mind and on the other was Heart.

As soon as her hand touched the bark of the tree, a yellow glow emanated from the tree and from Inn’s hand. She could not say what started glowing first: her hand or the oak.

A warm sensation rushed through her as her knees buckled and she leaned on the trunk of the tree.

Then the impossible happened for the countless time that day.

The oak was being transfigured into something even more extravagant. The transformation was so bright and brought such awestruck fear into the girl that she squeezed her eyes shut.

It was too much to bear watching. She dared not move in fear of disrupting the process of the moment. She felt connected to the tree and as it was changing, so was she. In a strange manner of speaking. Inn could not explain what was happening she only knew that something was happening.

Soon after the light had faded, Inn opened her eyes and witnessed a beautiful spectacle: the tree was no longer an oak, but a willow tree.

Instead of its previously unreachable branches, long numerous branches hung low all around Inn like a protective mother. The tree’s leaves were now longer and danced playfully in the breeze rather than the bulky leaves of the oak.

Suddenly water came rushing out from the center of the tree and started to gently run down each drooping strand and streamed into each groove on the ground.

Inn then followed the route of the trickling water down the linear trenches and gazed wide-eyed as it flowed beneath the Library of Knowledge.

Her pulse quickened and the girl felt a wave of fear wash over her as she began to envision the many horrible ways water can do to wood; books or otherwise.

However, she oddly believed that the willow would do no harm to her or any of her possessions so she quickly calmed down and observed the trickling phenomenon.

The water that was flowing under the library unexpectedly started to magically flow upward and around the round sides of the building. After a minute or so, the whole wooden area was surrounded by clear water from the tree. The longer the liquid remained upon the library’s surface, the harder it was to clearly see the dark wood underneath. Before long, the water appeared to have dissolved any trace of it and all that prevailed was a bubble of water encasing the contents of the interior of the Library of Knowledge – such as bookcases, lamps, desks, chairs, and books.

The singularity looked like the barrier that materialized after the window broke.

The Library of Knowledge was now one big glass dome.

Inn, at that moment, felt satisfied. Like that shallow well in the pit of her spirit suddenly became a glorious fountain and sprang forth life. Where knowledge and feelings felt connected and both uniquely important.

She couldn’t hear the voices of Reason or Emotion anymore, yet she knew that they did not leave her; instead, they bonded with her. Not just Reason bonding with Inn and Emotion simultaneously bonding with the girl as well, but all three of them interconnected. She saw the necessity of her mind, her heart, and her spirit working together to discover her self-journey and the Reality of her surroundings.

Inn was Emotion, Inn was Reason, and Inn was most importantly Inn.

And on that day – whenever that may have been, is, or will be – the Willow had only one golden plaque.

And on that plaque was its name.

The Tree of Truth and Life.