The Bookkeepers

Books are man’s best friend and have been for centuries. Monarchs, kingdoms, civilizations, have all come and gone, but books have survived all catastrophes, and tell us the tales of years gone by, and all because of one troll community of book protectors called the ‘The Bookkeepers’, also known as the teensy librarians. They lived in a small, secret town, called Keepers' Ville. These lilliputian people were as tall as a child’s thumb, both plump and cute, and wore tall hats with pointed ends and bright robes. 

They were extremely passionate readers and true admirers of literature of all kinds. These trolls were the secret keepers of all books, but most importantly, they were the superintendents of reading, to keep reading alive among the humans. The Bookkeepers had been nominated as the guardians of books, by a famous wizard, who lived a long time ago. He wanted to keep the habit of reading alive in the generations to come, and someone to protect the precious books written by authors.

The Bookkeepers had a ‘council of keepers’, who kept a track of the popularity that reading had gained over the years. They had an enchanted map, called the ‘map of perusal’, which would show them, how many people read books around the world.

For hundreds of years, the map of perusal was entirely green, which indicated that almost all the people of the world read books. The deterioration of the green light had started in 1928 when the first television had been commercialized, but ever since the beginning of the 21st century, the green light had almost completely faded away, and finally, in 2050, only a speck of light remained, for an eight-year-old girl named June, who lived in the small town of Greenfield, truly read books, with interest. However, within a year, June too became engrossed in computers, and coding, and gadgets. It seemed that books’ doomsday had finally arrived. The people had lost all interest in reading since devices had taken over the world.

The council of keepers called an emergency meeting, wherein they shared their worries. The Grand Keeper said, ‘My fellow Bookkeepers, our D- day has arrived. No human reads any longer, and books have been completely erased. Even the children, who once loved reading fairytales and making their imagination run wild, have erased their memory of books.’, with that, he showed them the map of perusal. The trolls fell silent, aghast.

Out of the crowd, a young troll named Peter suddenly spoke up, ‘I would like to go out into the world and bring back the spirit of reading. Books are our best friends, and a friend in need is a friend indeed.’

Everyone was shocked by this, but the grand keeper encouraged Peter to pursue his mission. He said, ‘You are right. If you believe that you are capable of accomplishing this task, I am no one to discourage you. You may go and save reading.’

He told him about June and said, ‘she is a girl who loves reading deep inside. I believe she will prove to be an asset to you. I wish you good luck.’ He also gave Peter ‘The Enchanted Book of Bookkeepers’, saying that he may use it if need be.

Peter set out with his two friends Charlie Bucket and Matilda. They went in search of June. They traveled a great many miles, with the weight of saving books on their shoulders.

Matilda charted the course that they would need to travel and Charlie kept away all the animals at night. Together, they made a fearless team.

Finally, after traveling for days, they reached Greenfield.

They traveled up the garden path, to June's house, where they climbed up the wall and into Azra’s room. The room was filled with all sorts of gadgets. Speakers, a Karaoke set, a desktop, a tablet, etc. June had cleared her room of books to fit all her devices. She loved coding and programming games.

They all observed her carefully for days. She seemed like a sweet girl.

Peter thought of a plan for days. Until, EUREKA! an idea struck him.

He instructed Matilda, ‘Matilda, you must go and put ‘The Enchanted Book of Bookkeepers in the attic, but be sure to put it in the box in which Azra’s story books are kept.’ ‘Aye, aye captain.’, said Matilda and rushed to finish the job.

June's mother had instructed her to do some spring cleaning during her holidays. She went up to the attic and started cleaning it, taking one box at a time. Until she went to the books’ box. As soon as she opened it, a blinding light shone on her face, and the Enchanted Book gleamed in the sunlight peering through the window. She was inquisitive to open the book and as soon as he did, she became engrossed in reading it. Stories about dragons, and faraway castles, pirates and mad scientists, biographies, and journals, they were all in there. And before she realized it, it was dinner time, and she had finished the entire book. A thought struck her mind. ‘I loved reading until the gadgets took over.’ She took the book downstairs and called her friend, Eddie.

Eddie arrived soon.

‘Eddie, look at what I found. This book is awesome, I didn’t even know I had it. You must read it.’, June said.

Eddie was reluctant, but took it home and read it. He too was glued to the book and passed it on to his friend. June posted the Enchanted Book’s picture on her social media stories. Since June had many friends from Greenfield, the news of the book spread. Many of her friends wanted to borrow the book, but June only had one copy. Children queued outside the book store and libraries, to buy this amazing book. 

‘In the small town of Greenfield, books have triumphed. A recent survey indicated that children had forgotten reading completely, but this town, is the complete opposite.’, a TV channel reported.

Peter told Charlie, ‘Charlie, we need more Enchanted Books. I will need you to go back to Keepers' Ville and tell the Grand Keeper to send more.’

Charlie rushed back and soon arrived back in Greenfield with more books. They surreptitiously placed them in the book stores. Soon, children all over the country and eventually the world started reading the book, as well as others.

The map of perusal was shining bright green again, and when Peter and his friends went back to Keepers' Ville, they were applauded by everyone.

Peter felt on top of the world, for having saved books and rekindling the love for books in the hearts of everyone around the world.

Thus, books and imagination once again flourished and won over the hearts of people, both young and old.