The library

When Kim exited the stairs, she found herself surrounded by bookcases that stretched to the ceiling. “A library too? What is this place? Huh, this looks important.” Kim grabbed a book that was resting on a pedestal. It was the longest manuscript she had ever held, but it wasn’t as heavy as its size would lead her to believe. It was quite light. She opened it and placed it in front of her body. Kim looked down at herself. “Yeah, sure, why not? Better than a possesed towel.” The book was certainly long enough to cover all the spots that she wanted to hide, if barely. Not ideal, but it was better than nothing.

The naked woman began exploring the library. The place wasn’t empty. Gnomes and Pixies were littered across it, each with their nose deep inside a book. Everyone was fully dressed in dark robes. She squeezed the book with her fingers. “Great, as if being the only human wasn’t enough. I’m the only one naked. Could I be more out of place? All the more reason to not get caught, Kimmy.”

Kim nervously tiptoed down the halls of books. The stone under her feet was hard. The library was a lot colder than the bath; there was a draft blowing from somewhere. Soft murmurs echoed in the room; they sounded like jackhammers in her ears. Every couple of steps, she stopped, looked around, and then kept walking. If someone were to appear in front of her, there was nowhere to hide. Getting caught in the nude was already embarrassing enough in the human world, but who knows what would happen in such a weird place. Kim shook her head. Her imagination was making it worse than it was. They weren’t her species; they would probably ignore her.

She heard a group on the row next to her own and stopped moving. Someone was throwing books on the floor.

“Headmaster, what’s wrong?”

“These books are useless. I can’t find any reference pictures of humans.”

“But look, this book has a human. On the cover, even!”

“No, dimwit. I need naked humans. How can I finish my treatise on the human civilization if I don’t have a chapter on human anatomy?”

“But sir, aren’t they like us? Except taller, without pointy ears and with smoother skin?”

“And how do you know that? Have you ever seen a human?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then we don’t know for sure. Ergo, we need my treatise. Ergo, keep looking!”

“Shame there are no humans on the bathhouse, huh?”

“Indeed, I would love to examine their body in person. Thoroughly. From head to toe. Taking measurements, weights, everything!”

“Did you hear something?”

“It sounded like a whimper.”

“Anyway, spread out! There must be an example of the human body on this library, and by the Moon and the Stars, we’ll find it.”

“On it, Headmaster.”

Kim heard a lot of footsteps spreading out in all directions. No one came to her hidden row, thankfully, but they were all around her, in all the other adjacent rows. She was effectively trapped until a member of the search party moved on and cleared a path. Her breathing became jagged; she twiddled with her fingers. If they found her, well ...Kim pictured a scene straight out of a secret government lab. Her lying spread-eagle on a table. All the gnomes gawking at her while they measured her body with rulers and that claw thingy they used on TV.

“Calm down…” she whispered to herself, “…as long as I don’t make any noise, they won’t even know I’m here …Ahh!” Kim felt something warm and wet stroke her breasts. “What…?” Whatever it was, it also moved across her stomach. It tickled. It tickled badly. It dragged itself all around her chest, flanks, up her arms, everywhere it could. “Hehehe NO!” Kim moved the book aside to see what was tickling her. To her surprise, it was the book itself. Instead of pages, it had a big mouth with an equally big tongue. To think she gave that cursed tome a taste of her own body. “Eewww. What is wrong with this place? Why can’t they have normal books?”