6 Development

It was not abnormal for Levi to be at the location; having been surrounded by books in his youth because of his father's profession, it is not surprising that he came to cherish reading. Especially when he came across 'The Screwtape Letters' by C.S. Lewis which created in him a fondness of words and language. He was dazzled by the fact that one can transmit emotions, ideas, thoughts into a person merely by letters, create a world and make the reader feel like its real. When he learned of the existence of that ability, the library became his first home. There was even a time he got reprimanded by his father because he fell asleep inside the library and was almost locked inside. But the love of books was exacerbated when his father gifted him Holy War by John Bunyan. You could say that was the moment he unconsciously decided on becoming a writer. Thus, you see, it is not unusual for him to be waiting outside the library eating breakfast before the employees arrive.

He knew the library like the back of his hand; he knew where the best scenery was, the least amount of noise, and the best seat located. Unlike other libraries, this one seemed to read your mind and knew how to make you forget that you need to go home. The library has six floors, the first floor is more of an open space for people who would like to converse or eat as they are reading; the second floor has hammocks instead of chairs and is quieter than the first floor. The third floor is restricted for silent reading only, the study rooms and private booths were soundproof, and the tables were height adjustable. The fourth floor has a food court, stationery stores, and a pharmacy. The fifth floor has the best panorama where you can see the sun rising and setting. The chairs were massage chairs, of course, you would have to pay and maybe even reserve. That library even had a rewards membership card, some of the ways in which you could earn points were if you tapped at the entrance each time you would go or if you read this amount of books or when they would have events such as treasury hunt or solve the mystery and you deciphered the code. If that didn't prove their boldness and their singularity, on their anniversary they would make the library an escape room. The last floor is a roof garden with benches, a place to breathe from whatever the reason the person went to the library.

After a few hours of reading and eating and writing, he fell asleep. By then the sun was at its highest and the library was at its full capacity. A certain person full of books sat next to his chair and closed his side of the curtains for the sun not to disturb him since his brows kept furrowing. Maybe it was the sound of someone eating chips that woke him up or maybe the decrease of the sunlight that woke him up; whatever it was, his eyes opened, and saw a lady sitting beside him. Since he just woke up his vision was blurry and so he rubbed his eyes, that was when his eyes widened and he sprung out of his chair and said, "V-Violet..."

She raised her eyebrows, smiled, and waved at him.

Seconds passed by without any reaction from him, so she tilted her head and patted his chair to sit down. She drank some tea to swallow the food in her mouth and said, "...you okay? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Uh... I... Uhm....," he scratched the back of his head.

"What's wrong, Levi?"

"I-I just— It's been a month since we last saw each other. So I am a little bit startled," since I thought the God of hosts wanted that day to be the end everything.

"Well, it is true," she looked down at her hands, "I was very happy when I found you sleeping because ever since the mountain rain, there is this question that has been pestering me and I have tried to think of a biblical answer and I have prayed for The Holy Spirit's guidance but..."

He first chuckled and then threw the back of his head and let out a loud, deep laugh.

She looked up, "what's so funny?"

Crossing his arms over his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath, he uttered, "I- ha-ha-ha I'm... ha-ha-ha... sorry... ha... ah..."

She tilted her head and furrowed her brows, "I'm not understanding..."

"I'm laughing at my own foolishness," to think that maybe that was the reason why we didn't meet for a whole month.

He spun her chair to face him, "tell me your question."

"All right, do men become humble by being told to become so, or by knowing they ought to be so?"

Levi first closed his eyes and prayed to the God of heaven and began, "well, let's take for example the life of Joseph. His brothers despised Joseph because of envy and jealousy, right?"

"Hmm, because it was instigated by their father, Jacob, by showing favoritism."

"Correct, and so it was by God's protective hand that Reuben said to not shed blood, though of course, he had a hidden motive for that. So having sold his own brother to be a slave to the Egyptians and having seen their father's detriment of mourning an alive son for many years made their conscience resonate within them. And so when Joseph told them that he was their brother, they were happy but when Israel died, they were terrified that Joseph would retaliate now that his father was dead. That is why Joseph in comforting them told them that while they were recklessly gratifying themselves and sacrificing others for their own pleasure, God was mindful of others, pardoning them, even blessing them. Don't misunderstand that God needs our sins to work out His good intentions, but the discovery that through our evil purposes and injurious deeds God has worked out His beneficent will. It is not meant to make you think more lightly of your sin or highly of yourself but the knowledge that God has prevented your sin from doing the harm it might have done relieves the bitterness and despair which we view in our life. But this only can be said to penitents, that out of your worst sin God can bring a good of permanent kind to yourself or to others only when you have truly repented of your sin and truly wished to have never done it. Therefore, it is by knowing; Joseph telling them you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to save the house of Israel." ¹

"That is how they were able to live peacefully despite the many years they lost of his brother's life."

They continued talking for hours until the both of them were getting sleepy, Levi told her to put her belongings in the value safe under her chair. He pulled a blanket from his messenger bag and a bracelet and gave it to her.

"What is this for?" she asked as she was adjusting it to her wrist size.

"Hide it under your sleeves. It's for safety, if someone were to kidnap you in your sleep or merely approach you five feet away from you, it will alert me."

Her body sat up straight, "alert you? kidnap? Is this place that dangerous? But what an awesome gadget to have, where did you buy it?"

"No, it is not dangerous per se, but one never knows besides you are under my care right now and it is my duty commanded by God to protect," he stated as he reclined her chair, "I'll tell you later where I purchased it but first let's sleep."

Pulling the blanket all the way to her shoulders and smelling the detergent aroma, her eyes became heavy as she felt the warmth of the blanket.

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¹ Dods, M. (1899). The Book of Genesis. United Kingdom: A.C. Armstrong.