I had late library books. I wasn’t sleeping well. I couldn’t get a date. I had an ingrown toenail. I had lots of luck—bad luck.

My friend was doing quite well. Women wanted to date him. He never went to the library. He had perfect toenails. He got his beauty sleep each night. He didn’t believe in luck.

Like all stories of fortune, this one is strange.

I walked into the library. The lady librarian greeted me. She was beautiful, but she wore a mask, so I didn’t know for sure.

I was listening to audio books in the evening. I was tired. I wanted a story that would put me to sleep.

Stephen King was no good, because he might give me nightmares. Thoreau was divine.

The librarian coughed behind me, a couple times. “Can I help you find something, sir?” She asked.

“Do you know of any writers that could put me to sleep?”

“Most of them, but I take it, you want something enjoyable.”

“Yes.”

“Things aren’t working out for you, are they?” She asked me.

“How did you know?” I looked at her chest. She had on a dress, that cupped her bosoms. She was shorter than me, so I had to look down on her. It was like I was God, and I was staring at her mountains.

“I have just what you’re looking for.” She took me into a side-room where they kept the interlibrary loans.

Up, on a wooden bookshelf, she pulled down a black case. She stood on her tiptoes, to reach, and stretched her buttocks. I admired her desire to help me.

“There.” She shoved it into my chest. “Now, how about a kiss?” She pulled-off her mask and grabbed me around the waist. I laid one on her beautiful face. Then, I pulled back. For a moment, I saw two sunken eyes and a rotten mouth.

“Do you go to the dentist?” I asked.

“Why?”

“I thought your teeth looked black and silver.”

“Oh—no. I’ve never had a cavity,” she told me.

“Thanks for the love and the recommend,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it. If you want, I can come over to your apartment?”

“I’d like that.”

Give me your number.”

I did as I was told.

“What kind of story is this?” I asked.

“It’s the kind, you won’t want to wake up from,” she told me.

To be continued…