Climbing the ladder, he took them down one by one.

..Dickins, Fielding, Austin

Mother had amassed her own library of classics.

..Spark, Wolf, Browning

The pages of old books stirred such passions. And now generated such warmth. He took the box outside remembering how he read to her every day.

Her choice not his. He would have liked to play with the other boys but she wanted him ‘educated’. She taunted his slow reading, his inability to recite Keats.

But not anymore. He threw another couple onto the pile.

..Hardy, Eliot.

His neighbour laughed: “Great bonfire you’ve got there!”

Another dark response to Charli’s flash fiction prompt at the Carrot Ranch!

March 2, 2016 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that includes a library. You can honor the libraries in your own experience, dream about libraries of the future or explore a community without one.