He never stopped reading. Even when the toast was burning, or when the kettle boiled. He would sit reading the cereal packet when he was a child, and still did it as an adult.
When the letter came he read it. Then ripped it in half and put it in the bin.
Off to work, silence, cataloguing, putting books back in place. Following the system of the books, the shelves. A to Z, Abracadabra to Zebra.
Enjoyment, organisation, learning. It was fun to him. He’d been there years. He had skills. He knew where the book was that someone would ask for. He knew what he was doing…..
End of day. Home again. He picked up the letter out of the bin..
“Redundancy notice. Head Librarian”.
He looked at the books on the walls of his house. He began to rearrange them.
