Part Three: Wondering

I was right. This was the book, the very same book, that I had read before. The title, the cover, the characters, the author, the setting, the magic system - all was the same. So why hadn't the employee found it on the computer? Why hadn't I found it in my trawls on the internet?

Well, I suppose things can exist even if they aren't on the internet, even in these days. And sometimes there were mistakes with inventory.

But...

Something seemed wrong.

I tuned the book over in my hands, inspecting the pages and the cover. It all seemed normal, but something was missing... ah ha! The back cover had no bar code! It must be some sort of preview copy... a preview copy that didn't say it was a preview copy? I checked the covers and the first few pages - nope, no indication that it was a preview copy.

Then what was it?

Feeling oddly guilty, I took the book to a chair instead of a register. I was afraid they'd take the book away from me if I tried to buy it, and I had to read the ending. I flipped through, trying to find my place. It had been in the middle of chapter seven somewhere. Or at least I thought it had been. Seven seemed familiar, but I didn't remember reading the scenes it contained. And there was a character I didn't remember at all. Curious, I skimmed backwards, trying to find where this new character had come from

It wasn't until chapter three that she was introduced, but I knew I had read further than that. How had I missed an entire character, specially one that was in every other scene or so? What had this supporting lead come from?

I turned to the front of the book and read the first paragraph, holding my breath. It was how I'd remembered. As was the next paragraph, and the next... I relaxed as I read, feeling better now that I recognized everything. Until I hit chapter three where that new character was introduced. What was that?

I wandered back to the fantasy shelves and put the book back. Right now I was too confused to worry about never knowing the ending.

Part One: Existing
Part Two: Frustrated
Part Four: Writer
Part Five: Names