The First Glitch

Quietlings and Contraband Books

I had a therapy session today that got canceled because the child who was supposed to come caught a cold.

So suddenly I had time.

Which is always dangerous.

I started sketching these little creatures instead, using an app that my special person created only for me. I didn’t know exactly what they were yet, just something soft, a bit strange, somewhere between tired and comforted. I think I’ll name them Quietlings.

And then I made the mistake of opening a website with old books. The kind that cost less than a cup of coffee. And I ordered twenty. Because apparently my self-control also took the day off.

The truth is, I love rereading the same books over and over again. Not just once or twice, endlessly. Some stories feel like places I return to when I need to breathe.

And old books… the smell of them is almost a drug to me. I open one and something in my nervous system just settles.

The problem is… I’ve lost most of my books over the years. I kept lending them to people and never asking for them back. I always thought: if someone needs a book, they probably need it more than I do.

However, I am officially forbidden from buying more books because we have no space left in the house. So my partner in crime did something very sweet and very inconvenient: this precious soul searched for digital versions of the books I lost.

Which means that this person believes I am no longer buying physical books.

I am now considering keeping the new ones at my office and smuggling one home per week like contraband.

But I’m fairly sure “someone” will notice when I’m suddenly reading suspiciously unfamiliar books and I’ll end up sleeping on the couch FOR A WEEK.

So at the moment I’m making an adjustable A4 book cover with velcro to hide what I’m reading.

Therapy teaches many coping strategies.

Apparently this is mine.

Also I think this is how my Quietlings are born.