Francine is brushing her teeth in the bathroom when she hears an avalanche in the next room. She spits into the sink and calls out, "Masani, are you OK?"
"No!" she hears from the other room.
Francine drops her toothbrush on the vanity, and runs over to Masani's room. She opens the door to find Masani under a fallen bookcase and heaps of books. Masani pushes some books aside and crawls out from under the bookcase. Kicking a few books aside, Francine gives her a hand getting up. "Careful, that one was a first edition!" Masani cries.
"Sorry. What happened?" Francine says, as Masani dusts herself off.
"Too many books apparently. Well, that and a cheap bookcase from Mart Mart saw me reenacting a scene from Howards End by E.M. Forster," Masani says, holding her right side tenderly.
"Never read it, so I don't get the allusion. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I think so, Honey. I just think I have too many books. The Friends of the Library had a buck a bag sale and I couldn't resist."
"How many bags of books did you buy?"
"Oh, ten," Masani whistles and looks away.
Francine tilts her head, and waits for Masani to make eye contact again.
"OK, twenty," Masani says, squatting down and scooping up a few books.
"That's a lot of books," Francine bends down and picks some of the books up to form a neat stack, "I think you're addicted to reading."
"My name is Masani and I am a bookaholic."
"You certainly do have a lot of books. Have you read all these?"
"Not yet. But I want to be well-stocked so if civilization ever collapses I won't be bored."
"I think we'll have bigger things to worry about if civilization collapses."
"Not me. Civil war could break out and the US could split into different countries, the oil could run out, the electricity could stop and all those fancy electronic items can become expensive doorstops, but as long as I have sunlight and a few books I'll have a good time whatever happens."
The two women gather up the books and pick up the black metal bookcase, which is twisted in the middle.
"Well, I don't know about civilization, but I think this bookcase is a lost cause," Francine says, trying to bend the bookcase back into shape.
"I think you're right. I certainly won't trust it again. Let's just stack the books in the corner, and throw the bookcase on the porch. I can take it to the scrap metal place and get maybe a buck for it."
"So you can buy another bag of books?"
"What an excellent idea for how to use that dollar, Francine."
Blog Love Omega Glee is a novel by Wred Fright about two bloggers who fall in love while the world falls apart, which is being serialized on his blog. To start reading from the beginning or read another installment, please visit Blog Love Omega Glee Central on WredFright.Com. If you like what you've read, or you've read all of Blog Love Omega Glee and want more Fright, then please read his first novel, which is available in print and as an ebook.
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