Greeting, everyone! And Happy Friday! This week’s newsletter is a mixture of Pearl’s hilarity and Pearl’s seriousness and includes 3 chapters. If that seems like a lot, you can always break it up into several reading sessions, but this may actually move faster than imagined as things begin to flip for Pearl and the others as events change in a truly unexpected way!
Several newsletters ago, I shared about how I am now making illustrations specifically designed for my iPhone’s screen size and how that has changed my work in that area. I should also add that it seems to have also changed my writing process. When I first started with the blog My Life with Gracie, I always drew before writing and let the writing come from the illustration. I’m finding that is much better for me now too. In other words, it’s easier for me to draw and then write from what I’ve drawn rather than to draw from what I’ve written. (The latter is the standard illustrator’s manner of working. They read a manuscript and then plan out the illustrations based on what was written.)
Personally, I’d much rather work a drawing of Pearl dressed up as Groucho Marx into a story, than to develop a story from the drawing. A drawing like this gets my brain working overtime with inspiration! I begin to ask, “What caused Pearl to want to do that?” and “Did it work to move her closer to achieving her goal or not?”
While you are contemplating those and other questions, why not download our FREE Gift for yourself and all of our fans!?! The link below will take you to an illustration of Pearl disguised as Groucho Marx that is sized to be used as an iPhone Wallpaper. Then you can take Pearl with you wherever you go, and she will be there to bring you a smile and to brighten your day! (You don’t need a Dropbox account. Just click the button to go there, look for the “Export” button which should be in the bottom right corner, and then select to “Download.”
This is just our way of thanking our fans who have visited our websites and even donated funds towards our big bag of mealworms as a super treat with lots of vitamins and protein!
In planning for this chapter which follows Pearl’s encounter with Professor Accipiter and his Sewer Rat, it seemed logical that Pearl would want to disguise herself. Although a chicken wearing a disguise seems dozens of times more obvious that simply a chicken being a “normal” chicken, Pearl was persistent. Using what was available and brought to her by the songbirds who visit our own backyard, Pearl came up with a disguise for me to draw electronically and then write about! And I must say, even with the disguise, I think she is a beautiful girl!
Since this was only for “just posing in our own backyard,” hopefully it feels as if you are right there with Pearl in Paris on a wonderful adventure that only Pearl could have!
Pearl watched as the Magpie quietly unhooked the catch that kept the door to the bird cage closed.
“Now push on the door, but be very careful not to make any noise that might let your captors know you are free.”
Pearl did exactly as she was told. If felt good to see the Magpie without any cage wire to block her view.
“I know that it is dark now, and you can’t see hardly anything even with the streetlights, so rather than me flying and you walking and following along, we will walk together.”
“Thank you for my freedom,” said Pearl, “but is the Principalis Bibliothecarius going to hurt me?”
The Magpie chuckled softly. “What a sense of humor you have! So here is a riddle for you. Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“I don’t know. Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To go see the Principalis Bibliothecarius.”
“That is so much funnier than the answer that the people tell,” said Pearl. “I have a riddle for you. Why did the farmer cross the road?”
“I don’t know. Why did the farmer cross the road?”
“To feed the chickens!”
“Does that mean you are hungry?” asked the Magpie with concern. “You’ll likely want to get a bite to eat before we leave.”
“No, I was just trying to make you laugh.”
“So, is that important to you? If it is, you may want to think twice before telling any jokes or riddles to the Principalis Bibliothèque.”
“Actually, laughing and telling a joke as a comedian helps me not to be so nervous or scared about things. And I am both of those thing and more right now. That was Professor Accipiter and The Sewer Rat that you rescued me from, and they are not at all friendly. I have heard stories about the terrible things that they do to birds in their Bird Circus.”
“Well, what will make you more comfortable?” asked the Magpie.
“If I was back home, I’d likely feel better wearing a costume to disguise who I truly am.”
“That sounds rather fun,” said the Magpie. “Sort of like being a Secret Agent. Where would you get this costume?”
“The other chickens back home made fun of me when I talked about being a Secret Agent, but I would look for things that most people consider trash to find what I need to make a costume for myself.”
“Well, aren’t we in luck! Here in the alleyway are some trash cans. Let’s see what we can find for you.”
Together, the Magpie and Pearl began to search and pull out anything that looked as if it had potential. The trashcan must have belonged to a novelty company, and with just a few items, Pearl was able to put together a costume that made her resemble another famous comedian, Groucho Marx.
With her new costume disguise to wear, Pearl thought over what the Magpie was telling her about the history of The Living Library as they continued to walk together. The Magpie knew the way by heart and could get to their destination without needing to see, but Pearl missed not being able to see her way clearly in case she ever needed to get back to where she had been, and the Groucho Marx glasses did make it even more difficult than normal.
“Here things are a little different than where you come from. Chickens and Farmers get along very well here. In fact, it was the Farmers not far from Paris who first helped to give The Living Library a place to gather and then a permanent home.”
“That sounds incredibly curious. Can you tell me more? There is a great deal about The Living Library that those of us who have travel here don’t know. There are probably things that even our own travelers from of The Living Library don’t know.”
“Having a Home for The Living Library is a tradition that goes back many centuries when the people out in the country joined together to build a prayer chapel for themselves and their farm animals. It was not a fancy building. They just used the materials that they had, but it kept the chickens warm when the cold winds blew and the snow fell.
“The country people were delighted to hear the chickens singing in their chapel and soon songbirds joined them in their songs. The people brought a candelabra into the chapel, and soon the songbirds would perch on it to sing their songs while a chicken led them in their singing.”
“So farmers are actually people who did more than just feed the chickens?” asked Pearl. “How did everything move from the country to here in the big city of Paris?”
“That is indeed a rather long and detailed story, so I will give you the condensed version as best I can, but would you get rid of that old cigar? Even when not lit, it still smells disgusting!”
“With so many people moving to the growing city of Paris, some of them wanted to bring along their chickens and the songbirds that they enjoyed so much. They liked their simpler country ways.
“The Principalis Bibliothèque at the time was a rather stern chicken who went to Paris to scout out a new location for The Living Library and marveled at Notre-Dame Cathedral. There would certainly be plenty of room inside for people and for chickens and songbirds, but it felt like occupying someone else’s nest in a way.
“Instead, she spoke to the people and together they decided to purchase some land in Paris and then design a beautiful building that would accommodate people, chickens, and songbirds. Being together under one roof would bring everyone together and all would benefit. The songbirds enjoyed helping the people learn, and the people enjoyed hearing the songbirds sing their ancient songs.
“The building itself was carefully designed according to the desired specifications of the Principalis Bibliothèque. The main element was to be a bell tower within a bell tower. No one has been able to figure why it was planned and built that way, only that it had to be for a special reason.
Pearl tilted her head and whispered what was on her mind in case there were any spies hiding in the shadows along the way. “In our own backyard, we figured something out before coming here. I think it was a way of hiding the secret that the ancient birds discovered long ago. Sounds—particularly the sounds found in a palindrome—are useful in defeating The Absence of Love.”
“Well here we are at our destination. You can share that theory with the Principalis Bibliothèque, but first, let’s get inside and get you situated.”
As Pearl followed the Magpie, she reminded herself that this was a secret place, the kind where a disguised secret agent like herself would hide, and this made her even more excited as if this place was built for her.
“When you see a room that looks appealing to you, let me know, and we will make it yours,” said the Magpie. “Then, I will call for the songbirds to bring you some of the best pieces of straw from their own nests so you can have a nest for yourself.”
As they went down the long hallway past one reading room after another, Pearl was able to get a quick glance inside each one as they passed. High above on the capitals at the top of each column along the hallway were songbirds who watched as they went.
Pearl stopped at one of the reading rooms, it was filled with books piled on the floor, not placed on the book shelves. Something about it’s messiness and disorder spoke to Pearl. “I’d like to use this room,” she said.
“You have chosen well. This room gets very good sunlight in the cold months and excellent ventilation in the hot months.”
“But I didn’t go by any of that. I just went by how it seemed to fit my personality of being messy.”
“Nevertheless, you have chosen well,” said the Magpie, and then she made a call to the songbirds out in the corridor.
With a flurry of wings, they came into Pearls room, and each was carrying several pieces of the very best straw from their own nests. Together, they began building Pearl’s nest and made sure that it was not too big or not to small, and finally Pearl tried it out and found it was just right for her.
Hopefully the illustration above will be historically accurate. (Trusting you, David Perlemutter, to let us know!) We don’t want to mislead any modern-day tourists in Paris who might be looking for “That Library for Songbirds and Chickens.”
Early the next morning, the Magpie came to Pearl and announced, “The Principalis Bibliothèque will see you now on the roof. The desire is to show you the city the way the first Parisian Principalis Bibliothèque saw it and how the swifts see it now. The swifts are vital to The Living Library, and here in France, swifts are called martinets, a quite musical word. You will likely be working with them quite a bit.”
This last statement sounded odd to Pearl, but maybe in France, swifts have a different job than those back home. Maybe here, they helped put together shows for entertainers like herself. Pearl had no idea how right she was.
“Kindest greetings!” said The Principalis Bibliothèque and then bowed to Pearl.
Pearl was a bit surprised by this gesture. From what she had heard, the Pages of The Living Library back home were expected to bow to the one who was their superior.
“Dear one, tell me your story. I already know of how you have enchanted everyone at Le Moulin Rouge, particularly Monsieur Henri. What interests me most is how you came to this place and time.”
“My friend Emily is a Living Treasure, and so is my friend Gracie. Emily drew a picture of a French garden gate, and as Gracie danced while Emily put on the last details, the drawing began to shimmer and a gateway opened. Part of our group was able to just through, but something went wrong when I jumped through. After that no one else could come through.
I’ve been dancing and letting Monsieur Henri draw me in return for art supplies. My friend, the Laughing Gull, takes them all to the place where we are staying where Emily has a garret studio for her drawing supplies. She needs to draw a gate to let the others through to join us. We are all going to put on a ballet in Le Palais Garnier.”
“That does seem like a great deal of work,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque.
“It is, but it’s something that we have all agreed to do together. You see, Gracie dances ballet, and she and Nate have made promises to each other about her dancing on the grandest stage in all of Paris. Even though we are from another place and time, we still believe in keeping our promises. It’s just what chickens do.”
“I am very glad that there is something which has not changed in your place and time.”
“But there are some things that have changed,” said Pearl. “We don’t have chickens as part of The Living Library. The songbirds do help us and give us information, but they don’t trust us to figure things out for ourselves. With them, it’s all about the facts.”
“Tell me, Pearl, what do you think it should all be about?”
“I think it should all be a little about the facts and an lot about the feelings. If I have to choose between the two, I go with feelings.”
“You have many feelings in your heart for your friend, Monsieur Henri, and you have even more feelings for the boy called Nate.”
“I do. Sometimes when we are at home and he is outside with us, I glance at him, and he looks like a much younger boy, but I never knew him when he was little like that.”
After Pearl said this, she seemed embarrassed, and waited to be laughed at or called silly, but the light dancing in eyes of The Principalis Bibliothèque told her differently.
“Then you have a gift more valuable than those of Gracie or Emily. You have the ability to see people as The Great Gardener sees them—with his lovingkindness and in their brokenness. That is our goal in The Living Library. Until all people have learned to see each other this way, there will be no peace on this world, only the evil things brought by The Absence of Love.
“Come and stand where I am standing. This is the same spot where the First Principalis Bibliothèque stood while deciding to move the main branch of The Living Library to this spot and to build this amazing home for us.”
Even though she is a chicken, Pearl felt a shiver of goose bumps as past, present, and future lined up.
“Pearl, you are going to help mend your Nate, your Farmer who feeds the chickens. I can see that for you and for him. He will be the first of many. It’s the sort of work a Principalis Bibliothèque does. We are here to mend the world. It is why The Living Library does what it does every day. It’s not about the facts. It is about the feelings.
“Look out across this city called The City of Light. There is darkness coming. The one that the Magpie rescued you from is bringing The Kingdom of Darkness here, and once The Absence of Love has begun to rule, there will be no end to the misery of the people and animals who live here.
“Pearl, I want you to train to be my replacement when I retire. You are to be the next Principalis Bibliothèque of Paris.”
“But why me?”
“Come, and I will show you another gift I believe that you have been given.”
Since it seemed that The Principalis Bibliothèque could see visions of the future and knew how Pearl would help Nate to mend, Pearl expected to be shown a vision of The Kingdom of Darkness descending over the city. Instead The Principalis Bibliothèque took Pearl back down into the Home of the Living Library and into the Great Hall.
Yes, there’s more to happen, but we will need to stop at this point and pick the action up again next week. Here is a quotation Pearl adopted from Groucho Marx based on her experiences with her new friends in the Home of the Living Library:
Outside of a chicken, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside a chicken, it’s too dark to read.
Until Next Time
If you have any comments—good or bad—please share them on Substack or you can also reach me directly at John.Spiers@yahoo.com. We are looking forward to sharing with your exactly what happens next with Pearl and The Principalis Bibliothecarius when she is presented with a rather unexpected offer with an exchange of promises to make the offer even more irresistible.
Our Best Advice for the Days Ahead: Find something entertaining to read, even if it is not one of our books!
Don’t forget to download your gift from all of us! (If you need a different size, just let us know, and we will adjust it for your dimensions!)
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl, Blanche, Emily, and Amelia
Thank you for the shoutout. The drawings are excellent and I think accurate. You might want to look at photos of the current French Bibliotheque Nationale to be sure you have the right dimensions to depict the next Principalis on and within it.
Note: For the early part of his career, Groucho Marx's "moustache" (at least on stage and on camera) was just a line of black greasepaint on his lip. He did sport a real one in the days when he hosted "You Bet Your Life" on TV in the 1950s and afterwards, but Pearl's one is more impressive.