The library was always quiet.
Too quiet for most children.
But not for Alhen.
At just seven years old, he found comfort in the silence—the soft rustling of pages, the faint scent of old paper, and the golden light slipping through tall windows. While other children ran and laughed outside, Alhen wandered between towering shelves, his small fingers brushing across countless books.
"Alhen," the old librarian called gently, peering over his glasses. "Back again?"
Alhen nodded, clutching a small book to his chest.
"I like it here."
The librarian smiled. "I can see that. Looking for another story?"
Alhen hesitated. "Something… different."
Something he had never seen before.
The librarian chuckled softly and gestured toward a quieter corner.
"Then perhaps you should look where no one else does."
That was how Alhen found it.
A book hidden between others, its cover worn and unfamiliar. No title. No markings. Just something… strange.
His small hands carefully pulled it free.
"Hmm…?" Alhen tilted his head. "What is this?"
He sat down on the wooden floor and slowly opened it.
And then—
His world changed.
The first page showed something vast and endless.
Blue.
Waves stretching beyond the horizon.
Alhen's eyes widened.
"W-What is this…?"
He had never seen anything like it.
The next page—tall green stalks swaying gently.
"Trees…? No… not like ours…"
He turned another page.
A golden sky over endless land. Creatures he had never imagined. Places that felt alive in ways his world was not.
His heart began to race.
"Sir!" Alhen ran to the librarian, holding the book up. "What is this place?!"
The old man looked at the pages, then back at Alhen.
"That…," he said slowly, "is the outside world."
Alhen blinked.
"Outside… world?"
"There are lands far beyond this town," the librarian continued. "Oceans, forests, bamboo groves… places full of wonder."
Alhen looked back at the book, his grip tightening.
"They're real…?"
The librarian smiled softly.
"Yes, Alhen. They are."
That night, Alhen couldn't sleep.
The images stayed in his mind—the endless blue ocean, the whispering bamboo, the glowing horizon.
He stared at the ceiling, whispering to himself—
"One day…"
His small hands clenched into fists.
"I'll go there."
From that day on, the quiet boy who loved books gained something new.
A dream.
Not just to read about the world—
But to see it with his own eyes.