Does your imagination float to worlds that exist beyond pages?
Do you search for magic around every corner, in the dust on old bookshelves and the ripples in a clear pond?
Do you marvel at the sheen of an ink-dipped quill, see fairy doors in tree trunks and gape at clouds in the evening sky, certain they mustβve been painted by the feathers of swooping griffins, as the ivory moon emerges in all her radiance?
Do you check wardrobes and rabbit holes, just in caseβ¦ tilt books from shelves in the hope that something clicks, and opens a portal to another universe?…
Youβre not the only one.
Welcome, friend, to Katieβs Literature Corner. Itβs quiet here, except for the ticking of the clock above my writing deskβ¦ but donβt let that fool you.
In the binding of my brown notebook, words squirm to escape. The stack of novels on the floor grows by the week, potions simmer, and in the shadow of flickering candles, magical creatures hide among the ornaments. Thereβs a house brownie called Thistlebrush who dusts the surfaces (though he is rather lazy, and I have to feed him maple syrup as compensation).
A small dragon named Squirt sleeps on my desk, and a friendly witch called Hooty Baggins stares at me from beside my wax-seal stamp and reminds me to write. Barny the owl perches by the fireplace, and Shelley the tortoise lives under the red lampshade. On the cupboard-top, there is a cottage-shaped teapot (which is in fact a teapot-shaped cottage), where some tiny, shoe-making elves live.
Reflected in my glasses beside the paintbrush, you can sometimes glimpse the friendly Victorian ghost, Meryl, who likes to make the lights flicker from time to time but is otherwise harmless. Near the alchemy corner, a brown fairy door with a silver handle leads to a chest of memories, and a broom rests by my lace-up boots near the door (handy for night-flying).
There are so many candles about the room that it smells like woodsmoke, vanilla, cinnamon rolls and jasmine all at once. At the end of the room is a wooden door surrounded by ivy, which leads to magic realms of castles and crescent moons you may be familiar with. Perhaps we shall adventure to them together.
I hope you will feel at home here. If the occasional memento-mori, dried flowers and picture-filled walls havenβt scared you awayβ¦ feel free to leave your shoes by the door, sit in the comfy chair and have a cup of tea. There you are β watch as the steam coils into shapes around you. The biscuits are just there, if youβd like one.
