Gone... (Lit Club Feb 2024)

The clubroom was silent.

Before a meeting, the Literature Club would normally be abuzz with all sorts of discussions, but that was not the case today. Instead, the members all sat uncomfortably in their seats. Some fidgeted, some twiddled their fingers, but all stared at the empty bookshelves that lined the room. You could still see the dusty outlines of where books used to be.

The eerie quiet was interrupted by sniffles from the club's smallest guest, before the toddler began sobbing. Kookie, the child, occasionally joined meetings with her father, Samuel, who immediately began bouncing and shushing his daughter. The lapse in silence was enough to pull everyone out of their silent revere, with eyes being drawn to fellow peers instead of the bare shelves.

"We need to start the discussion at some point." The room turned towards Sebastian, a vibrant pop who was tapping a finger to his chin. "I know I was planning to leave the club soon, but I guess there won't really be a club left to leave."

Crystal, the brittle sitting next to Samuel, physically winced before silently nodding her head. "I don't know what we can do anymore", she signed. "Even my textbooks were taken away, so we don't even have that as a last resort."

Across the table, a sugar gave a loud sigh before slumping down in her seat. "You'd think we'd at least get reimbursed for them, those suckers were expensive." Olive, said sugarfloss, fiddled with her hair before continuing. "But seriously, why take all of the books? I just can't even fathom why every single book on the planet would be confiscated."

"They wouldn't even let me keep the children's books I had for Kookie. She's been so fussy without a bedtime story." Samuel had finally managed to calm his toddler down, gently playing with his daughter's arms to keep her distracted. He massaged his temple as he continued "I tried to hide some of her favorites, but the agents still managed to take them."

Crystal winced sympathetically, before signing "Have you tried making up stories for her? I know that we can't exactly find digital copies of books right now, but you could still probably make up something similar to some of her favorites."

Samuel shook his head. "Kookie really likes the pictures that went with the books. I'm not exactly an artist, so my notebook doodles haven't been enough for her."

A silent understanding passed between the club members, all upset at the current situation. "I wish we had more info on what was going on," blurted Eric, a sourtruff who had been anxiously tapping his feet. "I hate being left in the dark. Why the heck did all of Carmella go into lockdown?! Why has the internet and cellphone towers been shut down?! They're trying to hide something, and it's something big."

The already tense aura in the air darkened into an oppressive one, with several floss needing to take deep breathes to adjust to the looming atmosphere. "At least we're still allowed to meet up?" signed Crystal, her face scrunched in upset. "It shouldn't be another pandemic, right?"

"If it was, we'd at least be told what was going on," scoffed Sebastian, who angrily tapped his fingers on the table. "Honestly, this is ridiculous. You'd think the people in power would realize that a lack of information is only going to scare the people more."

"But what if that's just it?" Heads turned toward Olive, who wore a thoughtful expression. "Maybe the information could cause more harm than good, or maybe the information is what's dangerous in the first place." When she noticed the puzzled expressions of the floss around her, she continued "It could be an ignorance is bliss thing, y'know? Like if a giant meteor came crashing to Earth. Floss would start doomsday prepping and hurting each other."

At the look of upset and dismay on several floss' faces, Olive quickly shook her hands in a placating manner before rushing out "Or, y'know, it could be something like those old chain emails, right? Like you're safe as long as you ignore it, and the governments just trying to stop people from accidentally screwing themselves over."

Crystal shifted uncomfortably in her seat at Olive's words, her anxiety about the situation only skyrocketing. Eric took note of the brittle's distress, and tried to offer some comfort. "I'm sure it'll be fine, alright? There's like, no way that books of all things could bring about the apocalypse. Maybe the people in charge just really wanted to make a super secret mega-library, and that's why they're trying to keep everything on the down-low."

"I hope so," Crystal hesitantly signed back. Although Eric's words certainly helped, both the brittle and all of the other members were still on edge. There was a heavy pause as the group collectively thought on the matter, the room only not completely silent due to Kookie's babbling as she was bounced on her father's knee. The child started making grasping motions at one of Samuel's arm halos, who reluctantly allowed the toddler to tug on it, wincing as she tried to bite it.

"Nuh-uh, kiddo", Samuel quietly chided. "Let me get out one of your teething toys." He gently maneuvered around Kookie so that he could reach into the bag at his side, and pulled out a well-loved little toy. It was about the size of a keychain, and the child shoved it into her mouth almost as soon as she could get her hands on it.

(TBA)