story time! {joseph and jeremiah}

[wendy]

The New York Public library had just about everything she could ever want. It had Fantasy and Fiction and Adventure and Romance and Children and Science Fiction. Was there a genre that this library didn’t have? Of course every library had these books but did every library have so many types of one genre? She’d been living in New York for three years and still had yet to make it through all of the Fantasy section. She’d just gotten started on Science Fiction, finding a sudden interest in it after seeing that movie about dreams or something. Movies weren’t exactly her cup of tea, just like dress shopping, because she was the type to make movies out of the books she read. Why, she could imagine exactly how a character looked and just where each room in that mansion went. Yes, her imagination worked much better than Hollywood ever could.

With four books in her arms, Addison practically pranced to the comfortable chairs that she always occupied. Particularly, the one with the perfect view to the sky outside. That chair was her favorite. Alas, it was taken today. She could understand that; it’s not like she was happy to take a different seat but it wasn’t like she was going to speak up and tell the person to move. That would be terribly rude! Curling up in a different chair, her legs folded beneath her, Addison balanced three of the books on the armchair. She’d become rather good at this during her time spent here. Addison wanted to read J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan but it was third in her stack of books, and she always went in order. It wasn’t that she’d never read the book before (heavens no! it was one of her favorites) of course. Addison was reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton now; she’d gotten halfway through it during her other visits. One of Addison’s favorite things about herself was her memory, particularly this one in remembering which page she was on of a book. No matter how much time spent in between or how many books, Addison could always remember where she’d left off.

In minutes, Addison was fully immersed in the book, imagining herself on the island. Dinosaurs! That would be so cool.

notes; terrible starter ): sorry! i hope it still works out.

[mugs]

At the window seat in the Fantasy section of the library, a tall boy sat, papers scattered on his lap and around on the floor. He poured over the words, feeling as if there was something missing. Nearby, his brother was perusing the aisles. Jeremiah closed his eyes as he heard books toppling over a few rows down.
A muffled "Sorry!" was heard and he shook his head, exasperated.
His brother could be so dense. One could never tell that he was eighteen by the way he acted. Truly, he had about the attention span and attitude of a five year old.
Looking up, he noticed a girl sitting near him and he vaguely wondered when she had gotten there. He got up, walked to the other aisle, where he peeked around to see his brother picking up books. Rolling his eyes, Jeremiah ducked back into another row, running his finger along the tomes, searching for the one he needed.
He frowned as he came upon a blank space. It wasn't there?
It had been, only a few moments ago.
Still puzzled, he returned to his chair, only to look over and realize that the book he was seeking was balanced with the other's the girl had.
Jeremiah approached cautiously, embarrassed about having to interrupt her. He knew he hated when people barged into his reading time.
"Uh, excuse me, miss? Um, hi. I'm sorry to bother you, I just wondered.. Might I borrow that book you have there, Peter Pan? I only need it for a moment, to reference something for a psychology study."
His voice gave off the smallest hint of a British accent and he gave her a shy, apologetic smile.

[josephmarshall]

Joey glanced up at the shelf warily.
Truth be told, he hated libraries.
He didn't see the fun in sitting and reading when one could be out doing something really exciting.
Jeremy always said that reading could be exciting when you dove into an adventure in a book.
But Joey liked to live the adventure instead.
Also, what was the fun in a big building in which you couldn't run, jump or speak above a whisper?
Joseph Marshall stared at the large colorful book a few shelves above his head.
He could almost reach it.
Checking quickly for a librarian, he stepped up onto a shelf.
It creaked lightly, but otherwise did nothing.
He stepped up another one.
This one also creaked, more loudly this time.
Joey gave a little smug smile.
His own secret adventure in the library.
Up onto the next shelf, he felt the large stacks sway.
He made a grab for the book he wanted, but it slid right off the shelf and hit him in the face.
Joey lost hold of the bookshelf and fell to the floor, other books coming to fall on and around him.
Getting up, he silently cursed for a few minutes, before a librarian poked her head around the row, only to gasp in shock.
"Sorry!" he told her, beginning to return the books to their rightful place.
After throwing him a dirty look, she pointed to the ladder beside the bookshelf, then she whipped around and went back to work.
Joey eyed the ladder.
"Oh.."
Sighing, he knelt down and stacked the books into his arms.
He could almost hear Jeremiah's eyes rolling a few rows down.
He really ought to have been more careful.
But what fun was life without a little fun.

[wendy]

Why couldn’t dinosaurs still be around today? That would be so incredibly awesome. Addison would definitely go to Jurassic Park. So what if the fences had failed and carnivorous dinosaurs were roaming the park? Big deal! She could definitely handle that. It would just require a lot of tree climbing and skillful maneuvering and—why, it would just be one exciting adventure. Addison had officially decided that Jurassic Park should be real when there was a sound of books falling from their shelves. It hardly pulled her from her concentration, but it did make her awfully curious. Soon enough, this curiosity got to her. Before she could look up from her book, though, there was somebody speaking to her. And they had a rather subtle British accent. Addison closed the book, looking to see who had spoken to her. Well, he certainly wasn’t familiar… except, he was. He was the boy that had taken her seat. Addison looked to her stack of books. “Peter Pan and psychology?” she asked, carefully pulling it from beneath the others. Addison appraised it for a moment before handing it to him. “How does that work out?”

Addison peered around him, seeing that there were papers scattered about the floor. “Wow, looks like a lot of research.” Addison looked back at the boy and smiled. “I’m Addison, by the way.” She looked around back towards the bookshelves. “Do you know what the noise was earlier? It sounded messy.” A librarian left the area, looking frustrated and annoyed. It must be rather frustrating, having to deal with people who didn’t really have much respect for books or libraries. Addison almost wanted to see what it’d be like for Matthew to be here. That would be disastrous, she thought, if he stayed long enough. He’d probably rip the place apart looking for something interesting. Of course, the interesting was within the books. He just needed to look there. Addison shrugged, pushing away the random thoughts. “Peter Pan is one of my favorites.” Addison somehow felt the comment was necessary as she turned back to look at him.

[mugs]

Jeremiah's cheeks tinged pink as she handed him the book. It DID sound rather odd.
"Humanistic psychology and Psychoanalysis. Peter Pan is kind of a gold mine of repressed thoughts and behavioral abnormalities."
His eyes also fell to his homework, and he grimaced.
"Yes, quite a lot, really. I'm Jeremiah. Nice to meet you"
She smiled kindly at him and he gave her one in return. She seemed very nice. And she liked reading.
Jeremiah watched the librarian huffing as she stalked away and he sighed, looking a little ashamed.
"My, uh.. younger brother, Joseph. He... is better suited to be outdoors. In the county. Far from any civilization."
His bluish eyes held a kind of twinkle that said he was joking. Barely.
"He and I don't get on so well.."
Addison motioned at the Peter Pan book, mentioning that it was a favorite. He grinned.
"It's one of mine as well. Which is actually a surprise. I haven't read any fiction books in a very long time. What with all my psychology stuff, I've adapted well to non-fiction."

[josephmarshall]

Joey finished up re-stacking the books and rushed away before the librarian could return. What a cranky lady..She'd certainly be after him once she saw how the books looked.
None were in order, some were stuffed in backwards.
Jeremiah wouldn't be happy if they had to leave early.
Hoping his brother was finished with his work, Joey returned to where Jeremy had been sitting.
He was surprised to find him talking to a girl.
Jeremy didn't talk to girls.
At least, not when he was around.
Not even pausing to consider that this was a reoccurring pattern, Joseph marched right up, grinning at the girl.
His voice held no accent like his brother.
"Hiyya! I'm Joey."
He looked at Jeremiah.
"Is this why you come to the library, Jeremy? To talk to girls?"
He turned back to the girl, eyes widening at the books she had with her.
"Wow! You like adventure books too? Well, you're a lot more fun than Jeremy, that's for sure."
Joey threw his brother a grin, earning only a glower and a red face in return.

[wendy]

Addison tilted her head, confused and also not confused. Repressed thoughts and behavioral abnormalities? Why? Because he didn’t want to grow up? There wasn’t anything wrong with that. Was there? Addison nibbled on her lower lip, thinking. She didn’t really want to grow up. Was there something wrong with her then? Did she have behavioral abnormalities? Addison shook her head and pulled a hand through her hair. She was definitely over-thinking it. It was just for some psychology class. “Oh.” she answered shortly, trying to keep from asking any more questions. She’d just met him after all, and she highly doubted he wanted to talk about his homework. “Nice to meet you as well!” Addison dipped her head as if to make up for the lack of a handshake. She found this to be an appropriate enough replacement. Addison laughed, reminding herself to keep quiet; this was a library, after all. “I understand that. I quite like being outdoors too.” She paused, “but not from civilization. I think you can have better adventures if there’s more to a place. The country seems like it would be empty.” It almost made her shudder. Addison grinned. “Well, you should try spending time with him outdoors some day. And he with you, uh… studying.” Addison nodded, as if this were a brilliant suggestion.

“Non-fiction can be interesting,” Addison shrugged. “I do quite love fiction, though. It has—” Before she could finish, another boy had joined them. Joey was a nickname for Joseph, so Addison assumed this was Jeremiah’s brother. They looked alike, though Joey was lacking the accent that his brother had. “Hello, I’m Addison.” She replied with as much enthusiasm as he had. Addison followed Joey’s gaze to his brother and she laughed a little, not finding the situation awkward at all. Addison looked down to her books and then back to Joey. She nodded quite eagerly. “Oh, definitely. They are very exciting.” Addison smiled, glancing back to Jeremiah. He didn’t look very pleased with his brother. “Oh, I don’t know if that’s so true. We all have fun in our own ways.” Addison wondered why she was sounding so… philosophical. Was she sounding like that? Maybe not. It was a good word, though. It was fun to say. Phil-oh-soph-ical. Yes, that was fun to say. She smiled a little, amused by her own thoughts. “What were you doing to knock down those books?”

[mugs]

Being outdoors and having adventures had used to be more fun than anything. But Jeremiah was a shy boy and eventually, he took to staying inside and letting his mind do the wandering. That too, he outgrew and became an adult.
She began to tell him how much she enjoyed fiction when Joey approached and Jeremy's heart sank.
He merely opened his mouth and within seconds, Joey embarrassed him.
Jeremiah threw his brother a ferocious glare.
He was never going to make friends with Joey around.
To his horror, Addison smiled brightly at Joey and began to make conversation easily.
Typical. She was just like him.
With a sigh, Jeremiah returned to his seat, leafing through Peter Pan. So much emotional turmoil resided in this thin book.
The weight of expectations on his young shoulders.
The rejection and betrayal Peter felt when returning home to find a new brother in his bed.
The confusion he felt, attempting to understand why his friends had the desire to grow up.
The bottled up anger, sadness, jealousy and fear that resided in all small boys.
Jeremiah was glad he could use his favorite book in his report. It helped with the stress of it all.

[josephmarshall]

"Addison," Joey repeated, grinning.
She looked to be quite as energetic as he was.
Jeremiah glared at him, then took up his post as the King of BoringTown.
Addison laughed a little, then gently scolded him.
He shrugged this off.
Brothers were supposed to be that way.
She asked about the books and he shrugged, unabashed.
"I was climbing. I didn't see the ladder and I wanted a book up high. So I just got up and started scaling the shelf, but then the book I wanted fell on me and I lost balance and the books buried me. I got paper cuts, look."
He showed her his battle scars proudly.
"Watch out for that librarian. She can be pretty mean."
The librarian passed by, evidently in earshot because she hissed at him and Joey hid behind Jeremiah's chair quickly.

[wendy]

Oh dear. Had she done something wrong? Addison watched curiously as Jeremiah returned to his seat, looking anything but pleased. She’d always hated when others were upset around her. It made her question just about everything. Had it been her fault? If it hadn’t, whose fault was it and should she suggest they apologize? What if it was the fault of no one? What then? Addison nibbled on her lower lip, entirely unsure what to do. Of course, Joey was still here to talk to. Addison had grown used to talking to more than one person at a time. She’d always had to pay attention to both of her brothers while telling stories, lest one find themselves bored and ignored. Then again, Jeremiah did have homework to do and it was probably best to not bother him. . . . For now.

“Oh, that sounds exciting!” Addison exclaimed, glancing once again to the bookshelves. It was certainly something she would try. Well, maybe so long as the library was closed and the shelves empty. She peered at the paper cuts and laughed, “proof of a dangerous expedition. Well done!” Of course, paper cuts could hurt and be rather uncomfortable. Addison had to ignore the Mother in her, knowing it wouldn’t be the best idea to treat a boy she’d just met like her child. It would be different if she treated him like a brother, though, right? Sisters helped their brothers with small wounds, yes? Oh, it could wait, she decided as Joey ducked behind Jeremiah’s chair. Addison smiled sweetly at the librarian before pivoting in her chair so she was facing the two of them.

“Jeremiah, will you read us a passage from Peter Pan?” Addison asked, sending an obvious look to Joey that clearly said ‘you can sit still for at least this, can’t you?’ “I do so love being read to.” It was always a nice change as she was usually the one reading to others. Addison always got joy out of listening to a person read aloud from a book they loved, the way their voice changed for a character and their hand motions during an exciting scene.

[mugs]

Jeremiah tried to hide his distaste as she praised Joseph for his "adventure."It was quite abnormal for an eighteen year old boy to be disrupting the entire library by toppling books as he climbed the shelves out of sheer boredom.Of course, there was hardly anything normal about his younger brother.
Joey ducked behind Jeremy's chair as the librarian passed, shooting him a well deserved glare.
At Addison's request, Jeremiah's eyebrow raised.
"Read to you?"
About to refuse, he looked up from his papers and gazed at the hopeful expressions on Addison and Joey. Sighing, he put down his work and flipped open the book.
What part? He cleared his throat and read quietly, occasionally looking up to check for the librarian.
"'There is one thing,' Peter continued, 'that every boy who serves under me has to promise, and so must you.'
John paled.
'It is this, if we meet Hook in open fight, you must leave him to me.'
'I promise,' John said loyally.
For the moment they were feeling less eerie, because Tink was flying with them, and in her light they could distinguish each other. Unfortunately she could not fly so slowly as they, and so she had to go round and round them in a circle in which they moved as in a halo. Wendy quite liked it, until Peter pointed out the drawback.
'She tells me,' he said, 'that the pirates sighted us before the darkness came, and got Long Tom out.'
'The big gun?'
'Yes. And of course they must see her light, and if they guess we are near it they are sure to let fly.'
'Wendy!'
'John!'
'Michael!'
'Tell her to go away at once, Peter,' the three cried simultaneously, but he refused.
'She thinks we have lost the way,' he replied stiffly, 'and she is rather frightened. You don't think I would send her away all by herself when she is frightened!'
For a moment the circle of light was broken, and something gave Peter a loving little pinch.
'Then tell her,' Wendy begged, 'to put out her light.'
'She can't put it out. That is about the only thing fairies can't do. It just goes out of itself when she falls asleep, same as the stars.'
'Then tell her to sleep at once,' John almost ordered.
'She can't sleep except when she's sleepy. It is the other only thing fairies can't do.'
'Seems to me,' growled John, 'these are the only two things worth doing.'
Here he got a pinch, but not a loving one.
'If only one of us had a pocket,' Peter said, 'we could carry her in it.' However, they had set off in such a hurry that there was not a pocket between the four of them.
He had a happy idea. John's hat!
Tink agreed to travel by hat if it was carried in the hand. John carried it, though she had hoped to be carried by Peter. Presently Wendy took the hat, because John said it struck against his knee as he flew, and this, as we shall see, led to mischief, for Tinker Bell hated to be under an obligation to Wendy.
In the black topper the light was completely hidden, and they flew on in silence. It was the stillest silence they had ever known, broken once by a distant lapping, which Peter explained was the wild beasts drinking at the ford, and again by a rasping sound that might have been the branches of trees rubbing together, but he said it was the redskins sharpening their knives.
Even these noises ceased. To Michael the loneliness was dreadful. 'If only something would make a sound!' he cried.
As if in answer to his request, the air was rent by the most tremendous crash he had ever heard. The pirates had fired Long Tom at them."
Jeremiah paused, finding himself quite as immersed in it as the two sitting before him.

[josephmarshall]

Joey smiled triumphantly.
He did so love to brag about his adventures.
Accepting her praise eagerly, he stuck his tongue out at the librarian behind her back.
Addison suggested that Jeremy read to them and Joey gasped with excitement.
"Jeremy is a great story teller! But I bet you're better. I don't like reading. It's hard."
One may think he was just unintelligent, but this was not the case.
Joey, who was already diagnosed with ADHD, had the unfortunate burden of dyslexia as well.
This made for horrid reading and through a very resistant attention-span, Joseph still read as if he was a third grader.
Smiling widely, Joey sat on the floor at Jeremy's feet.
Jeremiah began to read and Joey's mind wandered blissfully.
How wonderful it would be to fly and go to a hidden world.

(short, but the last one was long, so i hope you don't mind... )

[wendy]

Addison could not choose a favorite part from Peter Pan, nor a favorite character or quote. This scene was certainly one she enjoyed reading. If only she could fly. Airplanes did not count, of course. She’d been on many airplanes during her life and not one had ever felt so exhilarating as she was sure flying would. Many a time, Addison had asked her parents if she could go hang gliding but they’d always said no (of course) which had always frustrated her. Hang gliding would probably be the closest she could ever get to actual flying and her parents wouldn’t’ let her! Addison had it all figured out, though. Unfortunately, her plan meant turning eighteen and growing up. You could do whatever you wanted at eighteen because you were an adult and didn’t need permission from your parents. She still had to figure out if hang gliding was worth growing up, though.

Joey was right. Jeremiah was a great story teller. Then again, Addison had never heard anybody else tell stories. It had always been her telling the stories when she was younger. Her mother had told a few, though… Addison could hardly remember them, though. So, yes, Jeremiah was sort of automatically a great story teller. He got into it as she did, hardly letting anything distract him. Addison caught him glancing up occasionally but that didn’t through her off. In fact, she was rather focused on painting the scene in her mind, imagining how the characters looked and the scenery in which they flew over. Being read to was almost more fun than reading to. While it certainly was a nice change, Addison knew that she would never want to give up her story telling for listening to another’s. Once he’d finished, Addison blinked a few times, clearing her mind. She applauded, quietly so as to not annoy the librarian. “That was very good! Joey is right; you’re a great story teller.” Addison glanced to the boy, sitting at his brother’s feet. “I am quite a good story teller myself,” she laughed a little, not wanting to bruise anyone’s pride by saying she was the best.

[mugs]

Jeremiah gave a small smile and blushed lightly as Addison applauded very quietly and praised him.
He looked down at the cover of the book. It was old and worn, obviously being a favorite here at the Library.
"Thank you," His voice was quiet and deep, "I'm quite out of practice. I haven't read aloud like that since our little cousin's came to visit a few years ago."
Addison smiled and gave a little laugh as she proudly said that she was good at telling stories as well.
"I'm sure you are. From the stories you picked out to read, you obviously have an active imagination. Alas; I can only read the stories, I cannot make any of my own. Joseph, here, is the creative mind."
He looked at his brother with a twinge of jealousy. He sometimes wished that he could be as sociable and imaginative as Joey.

(SHORT. LO SIENTO [aka: Spanish for "SORRY"])

[josephmarshall]

Joey grinned widely at Addison.
"I told you so!"
It wasn't a statement meant to sound mean.
It was merely a statement.
But Joey did have a knack for childishly bragging.
And whining..
Addison claimed her success as a story teller and Joey's blue eyes lit up.
"Won't you tell us one? Please?"
Joey's face was eager.
He glanced at his brother's homework with distaste.
How could Jeremy say no?
It was the perfect way to keep Joey quiet.
Not to mention a wonderful break from all his work.
Joey gave puppy eyes to his new acquaintance, silently pleading.
Okay, maybe not silently..
"Please, please, please, please, please, please.."