QAR:The Library

[Queen Anne]

QAR: The Library
This is the largest room on the main floor. The walls are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with books, and yet there is always room for more. There is something odd about the books though. Protruding from the tops you can see scraps of paper marking pages. Some are newer looking but most are yellowed with age. At one end of the room is a fireplace. Angled in front of it is a couch, long and deep? it is a heavy piece of furniture that can swallow you whole. There are carafes of hot coffees, teas, and chocolate. This is a room for writing with friends, and for quiet talks. It is a place for planning adventures or taking naps?. a place for cuddling up with a good friend or a good book, or both.

Guidelines:
1. Enjoy the quiet and peacefulness to be found here.
2. Welcome others to share it with you.
3. Communicate? not only in words but also in the actions of your character. Try to avoid one- line posts. Share with each other what you are doing, seeing, and feeling.

~The Staff of QAR~

The Queen Anne's Revenge
The Private Rooms and Bungalows
The Cove
The Garden

 

[GageWilliams]

Gage in the Library

He raises his eyes from a copy of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and other Poems and looks up at the clock. He decides it is time to head into the main hall of the Queen Anne. He still needs to make other arrangements for a room and check out the rest of this new magical place, but he is always the first one in the library, always the first place he visited. He smiled gently and gets up, placing the book back on its shelf and lifting his portfolio off a desk, moving to the door and opening it, heading back to the rest of the manor.

What a wonderful, beautiful... magical place.

 

[faith]

exploring the house...

I find a beautiful room....

With awe I look at all the books, I lightly run my fingers along the spines. Some are soft as butter others are brittle with age. Gently I pull a book from the shelf. A paper slips to the floor. Picking it up I read the words...

I think I have found the map... the problem is the loss of the key. Without it the map is worthless. It is here somewhere... Damn him where did he hide it?.....

Quickly I hide the note back in the books.... there are others around I'll come back...


I leave to see if I can get a room for the night

 

[Swashbuckler]

After slippping back inside after my short dalliance in the garden, I wander through the old house. Finding a cavernous room filled with books, I can not help but wander in to its dim light. Running a careless finger across shelf of spines two books spill out. Bending down to pick them up a well worn, folded and yellowed piece of parchment hits the floor.

I set the books back in their place and open the parchment up. A sudden chill runs through the room and the old gas lamps flicker slightly. Thier hollow flickering flames reveal an old map. Tattered and torn, faded and coursed with time, forgotten. No key, just a riddle of a map.

Licking my lips I gently fold it up and tap my lower, smiling lip with it. Snapping my fingers twice the mysterious parchment vanishes up my cuff, safe and alone. Could be a vacation of work, I think to myself as I feel a hidden smile from the depths of the old house, as I head for the stairs.

 

[AngelicVixxxen]

Having never been in here before, I’m overwhelmed momentarily. The room smells of beautiful worn leather and musty old books. The quantity of the latter is rather startling as I was expecting maybe a hundred or so.

Glancing at the titles, I can see that they’re in no particular order and I scarcely know where to start. I run my hands lovingly over the spines, some fairly new, some old and cracked… and a lot with curious bits of paper protruding between their pages.

Pacing back and forth in front of the shelves, I am drawn to one particular book though I don’t know why. I pull it from between its companions and see that it’s a book of poetry with a worn dark brown leather cover and pages edged in gold. How fitting that I should inadvertently choose this when I love poetry so much.

I hug it happily to me and make my way back to my room.

 

[faith]

Being drawn to this room...

Sitting in the quiet of the room, I wonder what it is that draws me to this place. Leaning my head back i let my mind wander... opening my old battered journel, i take out a pencil. By the light of the fire in the hearth i begin to write...

Rain falling
Heads lowered
Tears soaking
Fists pounding

Screaming anger
Hope surrendered
Loosing faith
Arms embrace

Night cries
Hurt me
Kill me
Love me

Closing the pages, i sit and watch the dance of the flames....

 

[badmatt]

*sitting in front of the fire*

*sipping from my coffee mug after melting some chocolate in it....reading from a copy of Battlefield Earth that I found on one of the shelves....each time I come to a note I read it then put it back...so far I've found the following*
1. This book is evil, the devil wrote it.

2. If we ever get that wimpy kill us all.

3. Cool story, bad movie. Someone stop Travolta before he tries to make the other half into a movie too.

4. If you like this, read his Invasion! series. Some of it's really (fucking-literally) hot!

*chuckling and reading on*

 

[caspai]

*Walking through the French doors, I again pick up matches. This time, rather than lighting candles, I light a small hurricane lamp sitting on a table just inside the doors. Picking up the lamp, I walk along the shelves, the fingers of my other hand running along the spines of the books. Breathing deeply, I enjoy the smell of old books. Leather, paper, a faint hint of glue from the bindings...but more than that. Imagination, fascination, learning. All of these things are like a fine perfume in the air.*

*A book grabs my attention, and I stop. The collected works of Edgar Allen Poe. That seems like just the thing to get my heart pumping on a night like this. Matches my mood as well. Taking the book and the lamp, I find a deep leather chair in a dark corner and, curling my feet under me, I put the lamp on a nearby table and open the book. As if of a will of its own, the book opens to A Telltale Heart. Well then, that is what I will read..."

 

[caspai]

*Flickering lights, heavy leather book, dark night outside...The thumping of the heart, just under where he is standing....suddenly a crash! What the?....Jumping, I look around, a scream catching in my throat....*

Is anyone there? Hello? Hello?

*Holding the light up so that the shadows fall back, I laugh as a cat looks up at me from under a table, its eyes glowing red in the reflected light.*

Oh, Thomasina, it is just you. You scared the hell out of me, you know that?

 

[caspai]

*Setting the book aside, I lean down and hold out my hand, trying to coax Thomasina over to me. She approaches cautiously, not sure what to make of me.*

I know it has been a long time, Thomasina, but I would love to give you a scratch under the chin.

*Suddenly, she arches her back, tail puffing out. She is staring straight behind me. Turning quickly, I don't see a thing. When I turn back around, it is just in time to see Thomasina's tail following her out the door."

Well, goodbye Thomasina. I hope you manage to find your way back to Niamh.

 

[caspai]

*Feeling the hair on the back of my neck standing up, the room seemingly colder than a moment before, I look down at the book on my lap, and then around the room. Shaking my head, I think, you know, maybe Poe wasn't such a good idea on a night when I am all alone.*

*Walking back to the shelf, I replace the book and wander a bit until I find a slim volume, almost pushed behind other books. Ah, the Scarlet Pimpernel. Just the thing. High adventure and hidden identities....*

 

[caspai]

*Walking back to the chair, I curl up once again and begin to read the book. Percy and Marguerite, madly in love and yet torn apart by their own misunderstandings....just another example of bad communication skills, complicated by war...*

*Sinking deeper and deeper into the book, my eyelids begin to droop, and as my head falls to the side, the book slips from my hands...sleep overcomes me...*

 

[darrenfate]

I have heard of this place often and had yet to make my way to it. The large new megasized bookstores and the impersonal online resellers each had their place, true but leave me wanting. Ah, to peruse unencumbered through a place that holds real books, bound in leather or solid hardcovers, put together to last for generations this was indeed an event in itself.

Quietly I enter the library, pulse racing in anticipation of the wonders that lie ahead. Much to my surprise the most exquisite thing in the room is not any book, first edition or no. It is a lithe sleeping creature with the Scarlet Pimpernell fallen loosely into her lap. I stand for a moment, unsure then I proceed to one of the great book walls before me.

Instantly I find a worthy book. The Great Gatsby, one that I have never read. I find a comfortable leather chair that faces the sleeping beauty and read the preface and author's notes. Then onto Chapter 1. Fitzgerald, I realize, is an artist of word craft. He writes such vivid descriptive passages that I am left shaking my head in amazement. Genius.

Glancing over at the woman's prone form, I smile to myself. Perhaps I should take a pen and try my own hand at describing the scene before my very eyes ...

 

[caspai]

*Slowly, I become aware of the sound of birds outside a window, and a soft, warm breeze blowing over my shoulders. Yawning deeply, I crack an eye open and begin to stretch out my legs. A book falls off my lap and I jump at the sound. Opening my eyes, I see a familiar face in front of me.*

Darren! How long have you been here?

 

[darrenfate]

I've been here just a few minutes. You looked so peaceful sleeping there. I was thinking about the great portrait painters in the past. I had just a glimmer of what they must feel when they had a great subject to pose for them.

Its been a long time. I've missed your company Caspai.

Great place here. I think I may frequent this place with your permission that is ...

 

[caspai]

*laughing* Permission to start posting in an OOC? Now there's an idea. *grin* Maybe we should have people submit auditioin pieces. Pull out a red pencil and go to town on them. *laughing* I am JUST JOKING on that one, really.

Seriously, the Queen Anne is open to anyone and everyone. Someplace nice and big to come and visit. Lots of rooms and areas to explore. I would be happy to have you come and visit any time you like.

*stretching, I smile widely at Darren*

The more, the merrier.

 

[darrenfate]

With your permission... <Evil grin> Hmmm. Well, I have written that phrase saying one thing and meaning another! It was more of a warning to you than a humble request. Sort of like "Tornado warning" ~ Take Cover. LOL.

Read any good books lately, or read/written a thread that you considered very good? You know that you have given me great recommendations in the past after all.

 

[caspai]

With a warning that I only have just a few more minutes left before I have to run, I will say that while I have gotten sunk almost totally into the world created by Jacqueline Carey, and am waiting impatiently for the months to fly by so that I can read the third book. I have found a couple of books about the Wars of the Roses that look interesting. Fiction this time, not history. They are called We Speak No Treason and The King's Grey Mare, and are written by Rosemary Hawley Jarman.

 

[caspai]

*looking at my watch, and smiling as I walk over and give DArren a hug.*

Much as I might want to stick around and talk about books with you, i hear the real world calling me. I will be back in a few hours if you are stil here.

*Waving at Darren, I wander out of the french doors and go vaguely off in the direction of my bungalow to freshen up before I leave for the time being.*

 

[darrenfate]

On this beautiful day, I select two books from these shelves.

Treasure Island for inspiration in my new favorite open thread. And Hemingway's Women. I settle down in an overstuffed chair the sun streaming in over my shoulder as I sip some green tea.

Ahh what a great way to spend time ...

 

[caspai]

Sneaking quietly into the room, I see Darren deeply engrossed in reading, and carefully walk over to the shelves to get a book for myself. Finding a copy of Mutiny on the Bounty, and grinning in his direction, I find a quiet corner and begin to read.

 

[darrenfate]

I wake with a start, realizing the evening has slipped by. Its dark outside. I see a copy of Mutiny on the Bounty left out casually on the table.

A kindred spirit then. I'm sorry we missed each other.

My head spinning of pirates, cutlasses, yardarms, frigates and Man o Wars, I get up to leave. Time to get caught up on some Chaos and Mayhem!

 

[darrenfate]

The sunlight pours in like liquid gold through the gothic arched stained glass windows of this place. I have my eye on a red leather chair here. The perfect place to sit down and read a classic - Rudyard Kipling's Kim.

Mmmm now this is the way to spend a lazy day !

 

[caspai]

*lmao*

Aren't we a bit old for playing hide and seek through the boards of Lit? *grin*

 

[darrenfate]

Stormy weather .... a perfect QAR library kind of day. Clutching my own version of a pulp novel - A Thousand Country Roads by Robert Waller I nestle into my favorite red leather chair next to the high arched window.

I have two wishes today .... one is that Waller finishes the story of Francesca and Kincaid in a worthy manner. The other is that all my old friends at Lit have had a good last few months. Even the Utes. <eg>