Page 47 - The Midnight Library

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Every Life Begins Now

‘Well?’

Mrs Elm had her arms folded. ough she looked identical to the Mrs
Elm Nora had always known, her manner was definitely a little more
brusque. It was Mrs Elm but also somehow not Mrs Elm. It was quite
confusing.
‘Well what?’ Nora said, still gasping, still relieved she could no longer feel

the intensity of all her regrets simultaneously.
‘Which regret stands out? Which decision would you like to undo? Which
life would you like to tr y on?’

She said that, precisely. Try on. As if this was a clothes shop and Nora
could choose a life as easily as a T-shirt. It felt like a cruel game.
‘ at was agony. I felt like I was about to be strangled. What is the point of
this?’
As Nora looked up, she noticed the lights for the first time. Just naked

bulbs hanging down from wires attached to the ceiling, which seemed like a
normal kind of light-grey ceiling. Except it was a ceiling that reached no
walls. Like the floor here, it went on for ever.

‘ e point is there is a strong possibility that your old life is over. You
wanted to die and maybe you will. And you will need somewhere to go to.
Somewhere to land. Another life. So, you need to think hard. is librar y is
called the Midnight Librar y, because ever y new life on offer here begins now.
And now is midnight. It begins now. All these futures. at’s what is here.

at’s what your books represent. Ever y other immediate present and
ongoing future you could have had.’
‘So there are no pasts in there?’