Page 48 - The Midnight Library

www.urdukutabkhanapk.blogspot.com
www.urdukutabkhanapk.blogspot.com

‘No. Just the consequence of them. But those books are also written. And I

know them all. But they are not for you to read.’
‘And when does each life end?’
‘It could be seconds. Or hours. Or it could be days. Months. More. If you
have found a life you truly want to live, then you get to live it until you die of

old age. If you really want to live a life hard enough, you don’t have to worr y.
You will stay there as if you have always been there. Because in one universe
you have always been there. e book will never be returned, so to speak. It
becomes less of a loan and more of a gi. e moment you decide you want

that life, really want it, then ever ything that exists in your head now,
including this Midnight Librar y, will eventually be a memor y so vague and
intangible it will hardly be there at all.’
One of the lights flickered overhead.

‘ e only danger,’ continued Mrs Elm, more ominously, ‘is when you’re
here. Between lives. If you lose the will to carr y on, it will affect your root life
– your original life. And that could lead to the destruction of this place.
You’d be gone for ever. You’d be dead. And so would your access to all this.’

‘ at’s what I want. I want to be dead. I would be dead because I want to
be. at’s why I took the overdose. I want to die.’
‘Well, maybe. Or maybe not. Aer all, you’re still here.’
Nora tried to get her head around this. ‘So, how do I return to the librar y?

If I’m stuck in a life even worse than the one I’ve just le?’
‘It can be subtle, but as soon as disappointment is felt in full, you’ll come
back here. Sometimes the feeling creeps up, other times it comes all at once.
If it never arrives, you’ll stay put, and you will be happy there, by definition.

It couldn’t be simpler. So: pick somet hing you would have done differently,
and I will find you the book. at is to say, the life.’
Nora stared down at e Book of Regrets lying closed on the yellow-brown
floor tiles.

She remembered chatting late at night with Dan about his dream of
owning a quaint little pub in the countr y. His enthusiasm had been
infectious, and it had almost become her dream too. ‘I wish I hadn’t le Dan.
And that I was still in a relationship with him. I regret us not staying

together and working towards that dream. Is there a life where we are still
together?’
‘Of course,’ said Mrs Elm.