Perry glided his bike over the lawn that stretched out in front of Beacon Falls Public

Library. Beacon Falls was a small city situated in the town of New Haven, Connecticut. It was

early morning and the grass was covered with dew. In front of the library he could make out the

silhouette of a girl who stood waiting. He parked his bike, and hopped over the steps toward the

library’s entrance. Keys jingled in his hand.

“Hey there, Roe” he said as he unlocked the doors.

“Hey yourself. It’s about time” she said, rubbing her hands hard against her arms. They

both went in.

            Perry was in his middle thirties and the head librarian. He had a mop of dark brown hair

that partly covered his forehead and his face was starting to grow a beard and mustache. He had

met Roe when one of the staff members, Daniel, was having a loud nasty fight with her near the

back of the library.

            “You can go fuck yourself sideways,” she retorted before stomping away.

Perry thought it was actually funny. He knew Daniel rarely ever got angry at someone.

Later, he had found her asleep in the poetry aisle as the library was closing. She introduced

herself as Roe, and apologized if he had overheard the loud arguing. Ever since then, he’d see

her come walking through the library doors every day and she would always greet him with a

hello or smile. Sometimes she helped him shelve books and they would chat a little about

themselves each time. He mostly noticed she liked asking questions, whether it was about

movies that were playing or what his favorite food was.

Perry walked over behind the check out counter and started switching on lights and

turning on the main computers. He looked at some papers that were on his desk for a few

moments, then placed them back where they were. Roe was somewhere around the History

section. Another long day, he thought.

            Later in the afternoon, the library started filling up. Kids from middle school crowded

noisily into the children’s section, while older students went to go study closer to the adult aisles.

Perry glanced at his watch from the paperwork he was finishing up and realized he hadn’t had

lunch. His stomach had been starting to growl.

            “Be back” he told one of the librarians. 

            He walked out to the back of the building where there were some long tables and

benches. There stretched a huge back lawn where kids were playing and lounging around. There

were also trees scattered here and there. Perry sat on one of the few benches that had shade, and

pulled out a sandwich from his lunch bag. He spotted Roe chasing around the lawn with a

younger boy and his dog. He watched her and the two of them frolicking around. It reminded

him of his younger sister, all those summers ago when they used to play on the beach on visits to

their grandparents. She would get so angry every time he’d accidentally mess up the sand castles

they’d build, or when a wave would come washing over, taking the castle with it. He would

laugh about it all the time, teasing her, which made her even more mad. But he remembered

how, at the end of the day, he always took her onto his lap and told her a story. It always cheered

her up, and then they’d both laugh together. It wasn’t until a few years later, after their last visit,

when the accident happened. Perry hated to think about it. He straightened up a bit when Roe

recognized him sitting there. She quickly walked over.

            “That’s one of the Collins’ twins,” she said, looking back. “His name is Mutton.”

            “The dog, or the boy?”

            She threw him an irritated look while Perry chuckled. He studied her for a moment as she

chattered away about Mutton and his owner. Perry munched on his sandwich. He started to tell

her about a pet iguana he once had when he was her age, but he noticed her eyes were distracted.

She looked hungrily at his food.

            “You gonna eat all that?” she asked abruptly.

            Perry handed the rest of the sandwich to her while he took out an apple and started to

munch on it.

            “Thanks. My birthday’s next week, you know,” she said. “I’ll be seventeen.” She paused

for a moment. “Perry? If there was anything in the world you wanted, if it were anything, what

would it be?”

            He thought a moment, and fiddled with his apple. “Fly, most likely,” he said. “I’ve

always wanted to know what it’s like to fly a plane, what it’s like being an aviator. Of course, it

never really turned out that way.” He looked at her. “But what about you? What do you wish

for?” He took another bite of his apple.

            Roe looked out at the lawn that stretched all the way to the back of the surrounding wall.

“You know in the Greek myths, about Homer and the Odyssey? Have you read about Odysseus?

I think he’s my closest hero. I like the long journey he makes to get back home, to his wife and

son he hasn’t seen in twenty years, and he discovers so much about himself and his men and the

world. That’s what I want. I want the longest adventure to a place where I can finally rest and

call home..But not here.” She looked at him and held her gaze. She didn’t even flinch.

            Perry felt a little more curious. “You don’t like your home, huh?” He studied her again a

little more. “Are you running away from anything?”

            “Perhaps. I don’t like my parents. We’re not the same people. But it doesn’t really make

a difference. I’ve already been away for nearly two months. I’ve slept in some churches, parks.”

            “Where are you staying now? Is anyone taking care of you?” Perry didn’t know this

about Roe, but then again, he wasn’t all too surprised. He figured by her worn out shoes and

similar clothes she always seemed to have on.

            “Sure. I have you and Daniel,” she said with a smile.

            Perry stopped. “How do you mean?”

            “Here. I’m staying in the library. This is my home.” She said this so matter-of-factly,

Perry didn’t even realize he had dropped his apple. His jaw fell open.

            “Wait a minute. How can that be? I saw you standing outside this morning.”

            “I left my jacket out in the front and went to go get it, but couldn’t get back inside. So I

waited, and then you showed up.”

            “No, it’s not possible. There are security guards who check the parameters nightly.” Perry

stopped again, his eyes widening at her. “Are you saying you’ve been getting past them?”

            Roe smirked. “Well I can’t really sleep here if Moe and Joe find me, can I?”

            Perry sat silent for what seemed like hours. He let out a deep breath, and thought for a

few moments. The sun was beginning to set, and the air was growing cooler. He definitely didn’t

want either of them to get caught, but he also didn’t want her to sleep outside freezing. He

thought of taking her over to his place, but then thought against it. He already had two

roommates who happened to both be males. At the end, he finally decided he had to be okay with

it, as long as it was kept secret between the two of them.

            “I can only allow you to stay for the rest of the month.” There was only about a week and

half left. “But after that, Miss Odysseus has to continue her journey onward. Is that a Deal?”

            “Deal,” she thanked.

            “And I think it’ll be a good idea if you had some food and extra clothes with you.” He

thought this out carefully. They went over anything else she needed, and by the time it was all

thought through, Perry had a small list in his hand. She wasn’t asking for a lot. In a way, Perry

liked that about her.

            “So where have you been staying? I mean, when you avoid the guards?” Perry asked.  He

was careful to keep his voice low.

            “There’s some storage rooms in the back. I managed to get one of the keys from Daniel,”

she admitted sheepishly. “I hide inside one of the cabinets, so after the guards leave, I climb

out.”

            Perry looked up at the clouds. They were turning purple as the light was fading. “Well, it

looks like the library is going to start closing soon. You better get inside.”

            “’Kay,” she said. She threw away the sandwich wrapper, then made her way back inside.

            Perry watched her leave. Then pretty soon, got up himself, threw away his trash and also

went inside.

            People started filing outside as the library was closing. Perry said bye to Daniel and the

other staff members. Roe was nowhere in sight. A little tired, he walked out to where his bike

was parked. He watched, a little nervously, as two security guards started making their rounds

towards the back of the library. Once they were gone, he got on his bike and rode away; on his

way home, thinking about the story of Odysseus and his Greek Fleet.

            The following morning, Perry arrived a little extra early. He brought with him two

grocery bags for Roe, one with dry food, and the other with clothing and other necessities. He

parked his bike in front of the library, and made his way inside, shutting the doors behind him.

He wondered if she would be where she said she was hiding. All of a sudden, there was a loud

sneeze.

            “oops,” she said.

            “Roe?” he called out. “It’s Perry. You can come out.” He heard some shuffling near one

of the bookshelves. Soon Roe emerged with a book in her hand.

            “Hey there, Perry. What’s all that you got there?” she said, pointing to the two grocery

bags.

            “This is for you. Some stuff I think you’ll need while your living here,” he grinned,

handing it to her. She thanked him.

            “Look what I found. It’s a book on how to write poetry.” She showed him the book,

pointing to its cover. “Do you think I could learn to write poetry?” She paused. “ Maybe I could

become a poet. I could write about my adventures. I could be a traveling poet!” she exclaimed.

            “Sure, you could be a poet. You should be whoever you want to be,” said Perry. “Are

there any poets you like?”

            “I like Walt Whitman. There’s part of a poem I actually memorized two nights ago while

I was here. It’s from his book, Leaves of Grass. Do you want to hear it?”

            “Sure,” Perry said.

            She began slowly. “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the

stars, and the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, and the

tree-toad is a chef-d’ouvre for the highest, and the running blackberry would adorn the parlors

of heaven, and the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery, and the cow

crunching with depress’d head surpass any statue, and a mouse is miracle enough to stagger

sextillions of infidels.”  Roe opened her eyes.

            “That was really lovely,” Perry said.

            “Do you know what ‘infidel’ means?” she asked.

            Perry went to open the doors and clicked some numbers on the alarm system. “Yeah.

Um. It means someone who doesn’t believe in Christianity mostly, but it can refer to other

religions.”

            “Oh,” she said. “Are you Christian?”

            “No, actually. I’m not,” he replied. “I’m not so sure what I believe now,” he said with a

slight frown. He tried to hide it.

            “I believe there’s a heaven,” she said, pausing. “What do you think happens after we

die, Perr?”  Roe asked.

            “Well, I don’t know. You die, you just die. It happens to everyone.” Perry turned away.

            “We can’t just die and that’s it. There has to be an expla-“

            “You DIE, alright-and then you’re gone!” The words stung in his own ears. Roe stared

.

at him amazed, not moving. Perry could only look down. He took in a deep breath. “I’m so sorry

I yelled at you, Roe. There was.. an accident that happened to my family a long time ago. I

haven’t really told that many people, and ever since it happened.. it never really got erased

completely.”

            Roe stood quiet.

            “I was fifteen, my sister was twelve. We were staying at our grandparents’ beach house

one summer with our parents. My sister got terribly sick and my parents were worried. They took

her one day to a hospital. They were driving near the edge of a cliff because the roads were so

narrow. A gasoline truck was also driving down real fast on that same road. The two collided and

both fell off the edge of the cliff. I never saw them again.” He looked up to meet her sympathetic

eyes. He felt a shudder crawl down his spine, and then it went away.

            Roe spoke slowly. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know that about you..but I’m glad you

were trusting enough to tell me.” She looked up at him. “You okay?”

            Perry self-consciously adjusted himself. “Yeah..yeah. I’m fine now. Thanks.” He let out

a partly crooked smile.

            They both heard footsteps approaching. Someone was walking in to return a book. Roe

looked up at Perry. “Well,” she said. “Looks like you better be off to work,” she said with a

smile. “I’ll see you later.”

            The next few days followed the same routine. Perry would come in a little extra early to

check in on Roe. Roe would talk about a new book she had been reading late into the night or

about the neighborhood cat that frequently came to visit her by one of the windows. She started

to name it Salem, because of how black his fur was, she’d say, “and his eyes were bright like the

moon and the sun put together, like a little witch-cat.” Perry would share his memories about his

younger sister, Sara, and their summer days together on the beach. And Roe would ask more

questions, how she looked like, what her favorite things to do were. Little by little, she also

started to talk about her family at home.

            “How are your parents like?” Perry asked.

            “My dad would drink a lot. He’d come home, yell at me..and hit me. My mom was

barely any different, except she smoked a lot and started leaving me alone more often in the

house. One day, these two guys broke in to steal something. I hid. They saw me looking at them,

but they didn’t do anything to me. They just took as much as they could,..and then they left.”

            Perry was beginning to not like the idea of Roe being out on her own. His brows

furrowed. “Where do you think you’ll go from here?”

            “I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about staying with my aunt and uncle who live a couple

of miles away from where I was. But then again, I’d like to go to California, where the sun’s

always shining. Who knows? I can make it if I wanted to.” She looked at him, brushing her

smooth brown hair away from her face. “You shouldn’t worry that much about me, Perr. I’ve

been doing well on my own, and besides, this is something I want to do. I’m glad you ever got to

be a part of it.” 

            That night, before the library closed, Perry and Roe both decided the next evening to go

catch a movie together. It would be his goodbye gift to her since tomorrow would be her last day.

He gave her a small book light for her as a reminder and token of their friendship, and then they

said their goodnights. Perry saw Roe’s face quickly disappear from the window as soon as a

security guard started walking up the steps, towards the doors.

            Perry awoke the next morning feeling a little dazed. He had had a weird dream. He saw

Roe, but mostly just remembered seeing a lot of darkness. He shook his head a few times until

he thought no more of it. Then he stood up and got dressed.

            Roe was waiting for him inside when he got there. She was holding a familiar looking cat

on her lap. Salem. “Isn’t he mysterious looking?” she asked him. “I think he wants to be a library

cat. He’s always coming here to visit.”

            Perry laughed. He did look like a magic cat. “So,” he changed the subject. “How does

watching a comedy tonight sound?” He felt like ending their day together on a positive note.

            “Laughing is good. I’m in,” she said smiling.

            Although the library was starting to fill up as usual, Perry felt the day was moving more

quickly. Tension started to creep up on him as it got closer to three. To keep him feeling cheered

up, Roe would sit near him while he was shelving books, and read him passages from subjects

like poetry, Egyptian history, and Shakespearean plays she liked. All of these, he found out, she

had been reading during her stay. He watched her eyes travel over each line, over each page. He

could see how much she absorbed all the words. She then pulled out another book from her pile,

The Odyssey.

            “Look what I found in the discarded pile,” she said showing him the book. “There’s

another part in here I liked, of how Athena goes to visit Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, and all of a

sudden, he realizes he’s going to see his father for the very first time.” She paused, reading

through the lines to herself. “Athena’s my favorite Greek goddess,” she said. “..goddess of all

wisdom, and all knowing.”

            Outside, shadows started growing longer; the sun was sinking slowly to the west. Roe

was looking through the library one last time, observing all the people who were reading,

studying, or waiting to check out books. Perry watched her go outside to find Salem and enjoy

the last few moments of daylight. He finished shelving books and returned the book cart behind

the check out counter.

            “God- the damn key,” he heard someone say.

            It was Daniel. He found Roe’s key sticking out on a shelf. Perry grinned to himself,

shaking his head. He felt better.

            When she returned, Roe and Perry were the last ones in the library. It was about a quarter

before closing time, but everybody had gone. So they decided to shut the doors early anyway.

They both walked to where Perry had parked his bike. The sky was now dark, and stars could be

seen here and there. As they walked to the theatre, they chatted about what other movies they’d

watched recently. Mostly Perry responded, but he didn’t mind at all. Pretty soon they were about

halfway, and were approaching some old looking apartments further down the block. They

passed by these and came across a deserted parking lot. Roe had moved closer to Perry. They

 both noticed two dark figures standing by in a corner of the lot, and recognized them as men.

Two tiny yellowy-red lights could also be made out as their cigarettes.

            “Just keep moving, Roe,” Perry said in a hushed voice. He tried not to look at them.

            “I am, I am,” she whispered sharply back.

            Perry could sense they were being followed, but at a distance. They made their way

across the lot and were now walking along an empty street. The street lights stretched out almost

miles from each other. The gaps between them were almost pitch black. The two of them

quickened their pace. Perry’s bike was causing more of a hassle for them as they hurried. Roe

helped in trying to push it by grabbing hold of the other handlebar. They could hear loud

footsteps running after them.

            “Hey, where’s the little bitch running to, man?” One of them called out. They were

getting closer.

            “Run Perry-RUN!!!” Roe shouted.

            “Roe- C’mon!! Leave the bike!!” Perry yelled. The two of them started racing, but they

could still hear the loud footsteps of the men behind them getting closer and faster. Perry was

suddenly grabbed by the back of his collar and was flung onto his side. Everything was dark. He

couldn’t see anything, and felt around blindly as he tried to get up. He suddenly felt a huge blow

hit him right through his stomach, then another on his back, then on his face. Roe was also

screaming out in pain and calling out for him. He could do nothing. He tumbled and fell over and

over. He could only hear the world around him shattering. Roe’s screams were becoming blurs.

            “PERRY!!!” was the last thing he heard from her before his eyes closed and he drifted

out of consciousness. Then, everything lay in quiet darkness.

            Light had shone in through a window.. He could hear low voices around him.. Perry

slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in a white bed, in a hospital, layered with white and blue

blankets. Memories of the attack came back to him, and he suddenly felt pain throbbing on his

head, back, shoulders; everywhere felt numb with pain. One of the nurses came by his bed to see

how he was feeling. He asked about Roe, about a younger girl and where she was. The nurse

pointed to the left cot right next to his. Perry felt his eyes trembling when he saw the small body

lying there. Her face was covered in bandages, but he could still make out the bruises that were

left on her cheeks and on her arms. Her condition appeared much worse than his. He wondered

how long it would be before she awoke. He reclined back in his bed, and decided he’d wait. He’d

wait right beside her so she wouldn’t be alone. He then let his eyes close.

            The next day, a police officer came by to speak with Perry. He explained what happened

during the attack. Some neighbors had heard loud screams coming from a nearby street. Perry

was left unconscious by the sidewalk, but the two men had taken Roe with them. The cops had

found them when they were starting to drag her into their apartment, and from there, they were

arrested and on their way to jail. Perry listened in silence. After a moment, he thanked the

officer, who wished them well, then left. Perry sat there, thinking about how it all happened. He

played it over and over in his head. It was so hard to let it go. Tears began welling up in his eyes

until he could finally no longer hold it in. He let it all come out; his sister, the attack, Roe. He

kept on crying and crying, and just let it all come out.

                Roe had been asleep for five days before she finally awoke. She felt the most pain in

her head, but mostly everything felt alright. Perry told her about what happened during the attack

and what the officer had told him. They both talked about their separate experiences that night,

and what was going through their heads each moment. Roe shuddered, remembering the last

thing she saw before she was knocked out. She felt grateful that it was over, and shared that she

wanted to start putting it behind her. She was happy to see Perry doing well, and kept asking if

he felt there was any pain left in his body.

                “Just a couple of bruises is all,” he reassured her. He had already been out of bed on

the third day, but still returned after that to look after Roe. He had brought her a vase of flowers

that sat beside her on a small table. She smiled at him when she saw them.

                “Have you been back to the library?” she asked.                                                                          

                “Just once. Yesterday. The guys there found out about what happened, and they’re

taking care of things for me while I’m away,” he replied. “I also believe a friend of yours has

been visiting. Daniel told me how there’s a black cat that keeps walking into the library to visit.”

He rolled his eyes to tease her.

                 Roe laughed, a huge smile spreading across her face. She lay back down on her

pillows and after a few moments, her eyes started to get heavy, despite her attempts to keep them

awake.

                “It’s okay, Roe. Go ahead and get some rest,” said Perry.

                 Roe finally closed her eyes and lay there, asleep.

                 Several hours later, Roe awoke again. It was nighttime. Outside, she could see a few

stars in the sky from her window. She noticed Perry across the other side of the room. He was

also looking outside the window.

                 “You’re still here,” she said.

                  He nearly jumped in surprise. “Oh, yeah. I actually have something for you,” he

said, walking over to her bed and handing her a wrapped package. “Happy Birthday, though I’m

not sure what day you said it was. All the same, I hope you like it,” he added with a smile.

                  Roe looked up at him, her eyes flickered excitedly. “Thanks Perry, for remembering.”

she looked at the package, then slowly tore off its wrapping. Inside was a book. “..The Iliad,” she

sounded out the words.

                  “Oh, and you’re gonna need this,” Perry said, tossing something silvery onto her bed.

It was a small book light, similar to the one he had first given her.

                  She grinned up at him. Then her eyes looked back on the book. “The Iliad…isn’t it

another myth about... how it all ended?” she asked slowly.

                  “No, no. Not at all,” said Perry, partly surprised and partly glad that she had not heard

of the epic myth that had come before The Odyssey. “I figured while you were on your journey,

you could read this. I think you actually might find another hero in this book, named Achilles.

Achilles was a fighter. No, the Iliad is a story of how it all began.”