Dangerous tomes.
- joneworlds@mailbox.org

I  sure  wished I'd  have  kept  my old  gas  car.
Electric's all  they allow  by now, and  for folks
like me  that means a  wrecker chassis and  one of
those lousy eMod refit kits.   I can barely get 50
clicks on this pile, when it starts.

So  I'm at  Rav's  in town,  and  she's trying  to
upgrade its  software or something.  Says  it will
be a bit.  So I go to some book store I see across
the street,  wedged between  a pawn shop  and that
new government-run termination service office.

The  store is  so packed  with dusty  old stuff  I
can't barely get in the door and turn around.  Guy
in there looks about 97  years old, but bushy grey
hair and  mustache.  Got  these bulgy  watery eyes
following  me around  as  I go  find something  to
stare at.  I'm not much for reading so I go to the
back and  grab the  biggest book  I see,  big read
leather thing  must be the  size of a  truck tire.
Somehow I get it off  the shelf and open, but it's
all  gobble-gook  inside,   nothing  I  can  read.
Suddenly, old  grey from front is  right up behind
me, hand on my shoulder.  He says to me, I see you
have ...  an interest ... in forbidden lore.  What
me, oh no  I just grabbed this for  no reason.  He
looks  at  me  wide  eyed and  nods  slowly,  then
suddenly grabs  the collar of my  shirt and scowls
at me with this horrified look.

"Unnameable scripts, buried since time immemorial!
Unnowable volumes!  Ancient rites!  Cursed spells!
Forgotten    bestiaries!      Mad    incantations!
Dangerous  tomes of  banished ceremonies,  ancient
beyond reckoning!   The insane  medieval ramblings
of Count Von Hililgitz, who read too deeply of the
Mad Arab, Azkellobeth!  These books are UNSAFE!"

My collar is almost ripped off by now, and my eyes
are about as  wide as his, although  I'm trying to
blink away the spit he's  spraying into my face as
he's whisper-screaming at me with all this.  I can
barely get an ummm...  out of my mouth, before the
floor starts  shaking under his little  store.  He
lets go of me and  yelps, ahhh I've said too much!
I back  off and kind  of give him some  room.  But
then the  tall bookcase suddenly wobbles  and tips
over onto  him as he  lets out a  horrible scream.
He's  crushed, and  all  I can  see  is his  hands
sticking  out  under  the   sides  of  the  fallen
case. And I'm so shocked that I just stare at this
for a  couple of  seconds.  Then I  go to  try and
help, but  then a couple of  tentacles slither out
from under  the fallen bookcase.  One  of them has
an eye  on the  end, it  winks at  me, and  then I
guess it sucks the old  man down under with it, as
both disappear from under  the case and the ground
stops shaking.  And now I'm  all by myself in this
place.

I show myself  out the door.  Wow, I  guess he was
right.   Those books  were pretty  dangerous after
all.