One sunny day in a quaint Pennsylvania town a 14 year old Lucy Hamilton shut the door to her elaborate house. It was 1934, the middle of the Great Depression, and everyone was beginning to feel its wrath, except for Lucy’s family that is. While the economy was failing, her family was thriving. Her father had been born into a great deal of money, but he was very intelligent as well. He was a well known politician who could bring in a lot of money, and thats all Lucy cared about. She wanted absolutely everything, and she got it.
“Martha! Tell Mother I’ve headed off to the Library. I should be back in an hour or so,” she called to the gardener.
“As you wish Miss Lucy."
She galloped down the sidewalk, passing house after house. The walk from the Hamilton Estate to the library wasn't very far. As she neared the library she noticed the unusual amount of missing children reports posted outside the door. The thought quickly left her mind as she pulled open the door.
The bells chimed as she walked in letting Mr. Linden know someone had arrived. Mr. Linden wore a grey beard and rectangular shaped glasses that concealed the bags under his eyes. He was in his mid 60s, and had been the librarian for as long as Lucy could remember.
“Oh well hello Lucy,” Mr. Linden said, greeting her with his raspy voice.
“What can I assist you with today? I just acquired some rather mysterious novels I thought you may enjoy.”
“Delightful!” Lucy said.
He guided her back to the books he had been talking about. She scanned the aisle, looking for something that caught her eye. Her gaze slowly halted when she came across a novel by the name of Where Have All The Children Gone. Lucy cautiously slid the book out of its home. She examined the fragile binding , which was being held together by a few lone threads. Peculiar, she thought, it had no blurb or pictures anywhere, just a plain torn up book.
“Mr. Linden, I would like to check out this book.”
“How did that get on the shelves?” he mumbled to himself.
“That is not a book you would want to read Miss Hamilton,” he continued.
“Mr. Linden I want this book!”
“I’m sorry Lucy, but you cannot check out this book.”
Lucy began to feel infuriated, no one had ever told her no! She wanted that book, and that book only! She placed the book where it belonged , as Mr. Linden began to leave to assist another customer. When he left her sight, she pulled out the book, and stealthily ran out the door. She wondered why Mr. Linden had warned her. The book seemed harmless...or so she thought.
Lucy skipped the rest of the way home, anxious to read the mysterious novel. She arrived at her house and ran the rest of the way to her bedroom. Her room was fit for a queen. She plopped down onto her lavish bed , and opened a disastrous situation that she had no clue about.
She began to read the book, and learned that it was about three children named Samantha, Marie, and James. These kids had each been lost. They lived in a dark, dreary town, and were attempting to escape. Lucy had become fascinated with the book, and couldn’t stop herself from reading… Until she fell asleep that is.
Slightly after she had dosed off, ivy began to sprout from the book. The ivy grew bigger and bigger until it had completely consumed Lucy. As the ivy began to disappear back into the book, it took Lucy with it.
Her eyes opened as she felt a tingling sensation in her body. Suddenly, she was falling from a dark sky. She barely had time to think before she fell into a giant bush. Lucy pulled out the leaves that had been caught on her dress and bobby socks. Then the confusion hit her. Where was she? How did she get here? She seemed to be in a slightly altered version of her town. Everything looked the same except that this town was abandoned and had been neglected. Lucy found herself on what seemed to be Main Street. Most buildings had been boarded closed and no one was anywhere to be found.
Suddenly, the street lights began to flicker on and off.
“Wh- Who’s there?” she said while her bottom lip began to quiver. Giggles emerged from behind the lamps.
“Who’s doing this?” she quivered again.
She heard giggles once more, as a young boy sprinted from one street lamp to another.
“Catch me if you can!” hollered the little boy.
“James! Stop that!” shouted a girl with blonde curly hair around Lucy’s age.
Another girl quickly followed her. The younger girl seemed to be around nine. Lucy was completely perplexed, and began running down Main Street.
“Don’t be afraid! You don’t have to run,” called the older girl. Lucy came to a halt as the girl came after her.
“Who are you?” Lucy inquired.
“I’m Samantha, this is Marie, and that futile boy is James.”
Samantha, Marie and James…finally it hit her. This wasn’t a dream. This was the book, and she was inside it. Luc had finally found out where all the children had gone, and now she was one of them. Her heart began to face faster and faster. How was she supposed to get out of this story? She thought back to what Mr. Linden had told her. He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late.
Lucy could barely get the words out of her mouth when she dared to ask “H-h-how do I get out of here?”
“You don’t,” James replied bluntly.
“We’ve been here for decades and have never found a way out.”
“How can you just stay here? There must be a way out!” Lucy yelled furiously.
Her fists were balled and her brow furrowed.
“I’m sorry, but you’re one of us now,” Samantha said sympathetically.
The little girl named Marie whispered something in Samantha’s ear.
“Marie would like to know if we could give you the grand tour?” asked Samantha.
“I already know this town, I’ve grown up here!” Lucy snapped.
Marie grasped the bottom of her dress and motioned for Lucy to follow after James. They passed the town square, which held the market, clothing stores, and everything a quaint town needed.
“Stop! I have an idea!” Lucy called.
She ran up to what she knew as the library, but it looked so much different now. The door was boarded up, and newspapers covered the insides of the windows, so nothing could be seen. She kicked the rotting boards until a hole emerged. There was no hesitation as the children followed her. To bring in some light James tore the newspapers off the windows.
“There must be something in this stupid library!” Lucy said in an enraged tone.
The children searched franticly up and down the aisles for something to help them escape.
“By the way I never caught your name,” Samantha claimed in her naturally cheery voice.
“Lucy Hamilton.”
“That’s a beautiful name. I always thought that if I got out of this loathsome place, that’s what I would name my daughter,” she said as a tear slowly fell down her cheek.
“But Marie and James are my family now.”
“If you don’t mind me asking how long have you been here?” Lucy wondered.
“It has been ten years. I’ve been 14 for ten years. You never age here. I will never know what it’s like to be a mother or to grow old,” she muttered while she wiped the last of her tears.
Lucy never realized how lucky she was, or how much she took for granted. She felt an undeniable amount of sorrow for Samantha, well for all the children that is. She was living an ostentatious lifestyle that most people in her time would have died for.
Suddenly, something caught Lucy’s eye, the same thing that had the day before, the tattered book. When she skimmed through the pages she had found a new character added to the story: her. A note slipped out from in between the pages and into Lucy’s hand. She gently unfolded the fragile paper. The chicken scratch handwriting was barely legible. “Page 250 will get you out,” it read. The children gathered around her as she turned to page 250.
All of a sudden, gold lights began to spring out of the book, and ivy sprouted from the book spine. It shook out of her hand and launched itself on the floor. It bounced, and wouldn’t lay flat without Lucy holding it down. James stuck his hand down onto the book, and it went through the pages.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“This must be the way out!” cried Samantha with Marie attached to her leg.
It made the shelves shake and the books fly out of their homes.
“We will all jump in together,” said Samantha, optimistically.
Lucy let go of the book, but it closed shut, so she pried it open again.
“Someone needs to keep the book open!” cried Lucy.
“Not me!” yelled James as he jumped into the book with Marie right behind him.
“Lucy I’ll hold the book open while you jump in. I’ve been here long enough I suppose I could stay a bit longer.” yelled Samantha over the increasing noises.
“No! I could never let you do that go without me!”
“Thank you Lucy! I’ll never forget you!” she screamed as she jumped into the book.
Once they were gone Lucy realized how lonely one person could actually get. The sun was beginning to set and she needed to find somewhere to sleep. She sulked back to what used to be her home. The front gates were rusted, the fountain was destroyed and the garden was completely dead. Instead of being fit for a queen, her room now resembled more of a dungeon. Her bedding was completely moth eaten, so she tore off the sheets and just laid on the bed. She cried just thinking about all of the things she missed. Her eyes were now puffy and red from all the crying as she finally went to sleep.
Her eyes batted open the next morning, as she yawned. Suddenly, she noticed that her furniture was restored back to its former glory. She rubbed her eyes to make sure this wasn’t a hallucination. The book was right beside her just as she had left it. All the pages were blank except for the first, which read “Remember, not everything is about you.”
She jumped out of bed, and smoothed her floral dress. Lucy raced down the extravagant staircase to find her mother cooking breakfast.
“Lucy, darling come get some breakfast!” called Mrs. Hamilton.
She ran up and threw her arms around her mother.
“I’ll be right back mother I have to return this book”
“Ok sweetie,” said Mrs. Hamilton a bit puzzled about the arbitrary hug.
When she reached the library she noticed the three missing children signs had disappeared. When she opened the door she found Mr. Linden assisting a young child and her mother. “Come back here Lucy!” called the mother as her three year old daughter waddled away. The mother had blonde curly hair that reminded Lucy of a friend she had once known. A smile stretched across Lucy’s face as she waited for Mr. Linden to finish.
“Mr. Linden I really think you should get rid of this book.” She whispered.
“Good job Lucy! You did well,” he said as he took the book from her hands.