Thursday, September 2, 2010

Zouch

Working in a bookshop is just plain awesome, I've been part-time in a bookshop now for ten years and by jove its fantastic. You get to meet the weird and wonderful on a daily basis. Let me first of all speak about the weird.
The weird: You walk into a store that has a sign over the door upon which dons odd symbols on it that spell out 'bookshop', you walk past what seems like an endless line of books, there are books from the floor to the ceiling, you spot a staff member of this most unusual shop, its takes you quite a while to reach this staff member because of the amount of books that first must be passed, finally you reach him, he's sitting on a chair behind a large desk with a twin towers of books on each end, his face is framed by these books and he is deep in concentration as he prices another pile of books with a slow and purposive, click click click from the pricing gun in his hand. You inhale as you prepare to ask the question that has been on the tip of your tongue ever since you walked through the doorway. The worker's slighty larger that normal eyes are sharply focused on you now and you speak in a tone that seems too loud for the surroundings, "DO YE SELL BOOKS?". (I can't emphase enough how often I get asked this bloody stupid question while I'm at work, I used to think it was funny to answer that no we don't, we sell bookselves and that the books they see are only there for decoration, but recently I thought of a new thing to say the next time its happens, so the story continues after this bracket, here it comes. . .). The staff member looks at you with suspision clouding his slightly larger than normal eyes after what seems an age he finally speaks with an incredibly monotone voice, "I have been sitting here, waiting enons to hear someone ask that question, I am older that wind and more patient that the mountains and finally what the scriptures spoke of begins. . ." he sits after that sentence and forks his long fingers into a spire and rests his chin on the tips, his slightly larger than normal eyes look you up and down and finally fall to rest on your face and he says,". . .and it begins with you". Confused and mildly scared you not sure whether to leave or wait to hear more, but this is the first time that you felt special so you stay and wait. As if pre empting your question he begins to speak again " Let me explain, My name is the BOOK-KEEPER " even though he didn't speak his name loudly it still seems to reverbate around inside your skull. " and I have been given a vital responsibility by the Order of the Zouch, for you see your question of me was quite pertainent, I can see that you must be the 'one' that the writing of lore have spoken of because of your insightful question, because this is indeed not a bookshop, but the books are merely a thinly veiled guise that hides the true purpose of this place. I was chosen to guard a gateway, a gateway to a place in which all the wonders of the universe lie exposed for your perusal" The excitment within you has been building like a tropical storm, this man with the slighty larger than normal eyes has you hook, line and sinker. He says " one of the books in this place once it is pulled from the shelf opens this gateway, and now it falls to you to choose, but choose wisely, for you can choose only one and more importantly you can choose only once for if you choose incorrectly I must kill you."
And that is exactly what I would love to say, but until the next time, I say to you, keep watching the book shop, for it could be you.

2 comments:

  1. Well Knickers I am distraught and disillusioned. There i was thinking you were an elevated soul, a man of honour and intellect, a unique and original thinker, a deep and witty conversationalist blah blah.
    Now i sit disenchanted and cynical...
    YOU PLAGIARIZED YOURSELF!!!!
    Despite having pushed my usual alcohol consuption tolerance levels a little further than was wise on Sat night i still remember clearly a conversation with you in which it now appears you quoted almost verbatim your entire blog of Thus Sept 2nd. I also note that you were ably aided and abetted by your "wingman", who is clearly also posessed of some not inconsiderable guile .I shall henceforth regard any further dialogue of yours with scepticism and will question it's authenticity. I do hope that a letter of humble apology will be sent by yourself to yourself with utmost haste.

    Oh and by the way, did you make that call??.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll say this repeating a story and plagiarism are different, and no I didn't call. Chickened out so I did, like a very small chicken on the side of a very large dual carriage way who has this incredible urge to cross that road but his little chicken legs won't let him.

    ReplyDelete