A really dumb story for an English assignment

The library sounded like nothing. Sophie didn’t know what she expected, but as she snuck into the dusty, crowded old building, every footstep was deafening. Even the noise of her own chewing was startling her, so she regretfully put the carrot she was eating down. Hillyard Village really did have the best carrots. She tried to tear her mind off of the half-eaten, now dusty carrot and turn her attention to the exciting plans she was carrying out.

“Hey! Peter! It’s all clear!” She turned over her shoulder and whispered back into the darkness.

“I can’t see y-” Sophie heard a loud crash come from the dark. She winced at the noise and rolled her eyes, turning back around to help Peter up.

“I told you we should’ve grabbed a flashlight on the way over here!” Peter protested as he grabbed her hand. Once he was off the ground, they looked up and took in their surroundings. Cobwebs draped over the rafters and the large windows cast a warm light over the empty bookshelves. Chairs lay askew everywhere the pair looked. It was a dismal thing, but nothing they couldn’t handle. Peter looked at Sophie and smiled. “This is perfect. I’ll go grab the broom.” As he ran to grab the supplies, Sophie sighed, coughing a bit with the dust. She couldn’t help but imagine what this place could look like when they were done: Old couches all around, cozy blankets, old books, lanterns, and if they were lucky, Peter’s older brother’s ping pong table! This was bound to be the best hideout ever.

“Got it!” Peter said, handing her a broom. She stabbed it into the carpet of dust and began to sweep. By the looks of it, the floor hadn’t been swept for decades. The only thing disturbing it was their footprints and some leading to crude graffiti that covered one wall. Must have been some teenagers a few years ago. Sophie didn’t mind; after all, she and Peter were vandalizing in their own sense. At first, she chatted with Peter while they swept. They talked about school, Pete’s older brother going to college, and Sophie’s dog, but as they settled into a rhythm, the only noise that could be heard was the brooms against the floor and Pete’s faint humming. Suddenly, he stopped humming, and a small gasp escaped his mouth.

“What is it?” Sophie questioned.

“Looks like when they shut down the library, they forgot to donate one of the books. Come here, let’s take a look.” Peter leaned down and picked up the book off the ground. He opened it and grinned widely.

“You’ll never believe it,” He said, “But we just got lucky. This isn’t a library book, this is a journal!” Sophie grabbed it from him, peered at the page, and began to read in a grand voice, “Day one: As you can probably tell from the fact that this is the first page in a new journal, I have begun my next adventure. Tonight is my first night in the library. It has been abandoned for several years, and I doubt anyone will find me here. This is a perfect place to hide the...” Sophie stopped, confused. “I can’t read the next few words.” Peter looked spooked. “Oh no...I bet the next word is bodies. I bet there’s a murderer in here and he’s after us and we are all going to be murdered and no one will ever find-”

“Peter. that is IDIOTIC. Besides, the library has been abandoned since 1756, if he was still here, the only body we would find would be the murderers! There is something exciting going on here, though. I’m going to flip through the rest of this journal while you look for more clues.”

Sophie turned the page. It was a chart. The chart contained a calendar with measurements of some sort of liquid written onto each day. Sophie couldn’t gather any useful information, so she turned to the next page. “Day 30: They are coming along nicely. I think that I have perfected the water ratio, it’s time to figure out how to best use the books. I guess this is what I get for choosing to start in a Library...” Sophie continued to flip through pages. The pages were mostly the same. More charts about vague items, entries about the success of this strange item they were discussing, and the occasional personal entry. Suddenly, she realized something. These entries had been changing handwriting. She flipped back to the “Day one” entry. It was dated 1762. Then, she flipped to the most recent entry. It was from yesterday! “Peter...” Sophie whispered, “I think we are either dealing with vampires or dreaming. This journal has been consistently kept for 259 years!”

“I didn’t hear what you said,” Said Peter, “But this place sure has a lot of leaves scattered around, and some of them look fresh!”

“Maybe we are dealing with an immortal tree monster?”

“I don’t know, but the footprints leading to the graffiti on the wall lead somewhere else too! Let’s go!”

The two followed the footprints into the library’s dark hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a set of stairs. Peter and Sophie tiptoed down the stairs. Looking at each other in anticipation, Sophie leaned in to crack open the door. Suddenly, the door burst open! “Hey, Billy! Why’d ya leave the gosh darn journal out where any old folk could find it? These here strangers have it in their hands!” A huge man with a straw hat was glaring down at them. “Well, it was only a matter of time before someone found us out. Since y’all are here already, might as well show y’all around.”

The man gestured for them to follow him into the room. The room was brightly lit with sterile white lights. A boy, probably Billy, sulked off into another room. On the floor of the room, there were rows and rows and rows of...were those carrots? “Here’s where we grow Hillyard Village’s prize winnin’ carrots. Who woulda known books were the best fertilizer? My Great-Great-Grandpappy found this here library and started that there journal y’all be holdin’. We’ve been tryin’ to keep secret so them Smith’s don’t find us. That dang Smith family, always tryin’ to steal our farmin’ ideas.”

Sophie, in a state of shock, just stared. Peter opened his mouth and said, “Well, that’s a relief, we thought you were vampires. Anyway, Sophie and I have been trying to find a place to make a hideout. Would you, uh, mind if we clean up the old library and turn it into a hideout spot? We’ll protect you guys from the Smiths!”

“An enemy to the Smiths is a friend to us! Y’all look like strong youngun’s, just keep the Smith’s out and y’all are welcome to our library.”

From that day on, Sophie and Peter not only had the best hideout in the land, but they also had an endless supply of the best Carrots in the land.

The End.