- The Little Prince -

“You know ... my flower... I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naive! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against the world...”

...

And now six years have already gone by... I have never yet told this story. The companions who met me on my return were well content to see me alive. I was sad, but I told them: “I am tired.

Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say not entirely. But I know that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak. It was not such a heavy body... and at night I love to listen to the stars. It is like five hundred million little bells...

He turned to the next page but found out that the remaining pages were torn. The young boy, probably around eleven to twelve years of age, who was reading an old ragged copy of The Little Prince huffed in annoyance. He was almost done reading the book that his English literature teacher assigned him. After his classes that day, he rushed and made a short trip to the school’s library to search for the book and read it. Now, how will he finish his book report if he wasn’t able to read the last pages of the book?

Even if it’s only one page missing, he has a lot of questions in his mind. What happened to the little prince? It seemed like the story will end in the narrator’s point of view. He wants to know if the little prince found its way back to his rose.

He closed the book and placed it carefully on the table thinking of solutions when an idea came into his mind. He stood and walked towards the old librarian sitting near the counter. Perhaps he stored some other copies of the book in the storage or maybe he read the book.

“Umm, excuse me sir. Can I ask something?”

The old librarian who was busy typing something on his typewriter paused for a while and stared at the student. He took off his eyeglasses and the young boy got a full view of the old librarian’s face for the first time. It wasn’t his habit to go to the library so he is not really familiar to the man.

“You’re already asking a question,” he flatly answered before going back to what he was doing few seconds ago.

The boy got slightly intimidated by the ‘rude’ reply. The librarian must be in a bad mood or maybe he doesn’t like being disturbed while he is busy. But he needs to inquire about the book so he gulped and tried again.

“I just want to ask if there are still any good copies of The Little Prince. I mean, I only found one in the bookshelves and it was missing the last page of the story,” he explained briefly.

“Why do you need it?” the librarian stared at him again.

“It’s for my book report. I really need to read and know the story of it,”

“That’s the only copy we have here.”

The boy frowned. He can’t bother his parents to buy him a copy of that book. They are too busy enough to even ask him about his studies. He was usually left alone in their house while his parents manage their family business.

“Then perhaps you could tell me what happened in the end?”

The librarian stopped typing again and crossed his arms. “What makes you think that I have read that book?”

He bit his lip, “You’re always here. Isn’t it boring sitting all day long? I thought you read some books here to kill the boredom,”

“I don’t read silly children’s stories like that,”

“But it’s not an ordinary children’s story. It is sometimes mentioned in world literature classes like ours. It is one of the classics!”

“Well then perhaps you should know the ending not me.”

“B-but I’m not fond of reading books like this... I’d rather solve math problems than reading this. So I really have no idea in stuffs like this.” He held on the librarian’s arm pleading, “Please sir, help me with my book report.”

“You don’t need to read the last page...”

“But why?”

“What you have read was the end,”

“But that’s not possible! How could they end it there? What about the little prince? Did he get back to his rose?”

“No one knows and the pilot didn’t mention it in the story,”

“But this is nonsense! How could the story end like that!” the boy insisted. He didn’t realize that he had been too engrossed to the story. He wasn’t satisfied with what they say as the ‘ending’ of the story of the little prince.

“Listen kid, this is just a silly children’s story. You don’t have to take anything seriously. The little prince is just a fiction,” he emphasized the last word, staring directly to the boy’s eyes. But the latter didn’t back down to his argument.

“Everybody deserves a happy ending. Fiction or real, someone has to be happy before it ends,”

“Life doesn’t always work like that. You’re still young, you don’t understand life the way adults do,”

“B-but,”

“The little prince isn’t real,”

“I-i,” he was cut off again by the librarian, this time he looked really pissed.

“I repeat, the little prince is not real. Don’t stress yourself too much on the way it ended. Just do your report kid,” he said in warning voice daring him to answer back. But the boy stared at the librarian’s eyes, he noticed something... it’s as if he is holding back himself from telling something important.

He wanted to ask more but since the librarian seemed to be mad at him for being nosy, he decided to keep the questions to himself. He didn’t want to experience his first detention due to this silly book. He bowed to the old librarian and went back to his seat.

He flipped on to the first page of the old ragged book and stared at the illustration of the little prince.

Did you really find your rose?

“Why you didn’t borrow the book Kyuhyun?” the boy’s childhood friend asked while they were on the way home that night. They’ve known each other since diaper years and although the other is older by months, Kyuhyun is much taller.

“It’s useless. I have already read it....except for the last page,” he said kicking a pebble on the road.

“Wow, then you can help me read mine if you’re done! I haven’t started with it yet,” Eunhyuk said.

Ignoring what his friend said. He continued walking and thinking of a plan in his head. “I’m not satisfied with the ending. It’s not what I expected it to be.”

“What was your book report again?”

“It’s the little prince,” he answered. “Did you read it?”

“I remember our kindergarten teacher mentioning it before... I don’t actually remember much but the little prince arrived on Earth after he left his rose in his planet, am I right?”

“Woah, I didn’t know you have a bookish side!” Kyuhyun exclaimed.

“Always the tone of surprise huh?” Eunhyuk rolled his eyes. “Of course I have to be brainy to be your best friend. It’s just that my interest in sports is stronger now,” he hung his arms around Kyuhyun’s shoulder and playfully pets his head like a puppy.

“So tell me about your worries on the book. Why do you sound so disappointed?”

“Have you ever read a good book but only to be disappointed by the cliffhanger ending? It’s absurd! I didn’t waste my precious time for that. I need answers to my questions!”

“Sometimes you really take things seriously Kyu. I’m older than you but you think like an adult already. Fiction is fiction. The author decided to end it like that and we as readers need to respect it.”

“I-I don’t know why I’m feeling like this... but I think something is wrong with the story,” he insisted.

“Quit imagining things Kyu,” Eunhyuk said. They’ve reached the alley where they would separate. “Go home safely. See you tomorrow okay?” he waved his hand goodbye.

“See you tomorrow,” Kyuhyun replied back.

That night, Kyuhyun arrived again in an empty house. His parents were away for a business trip and he was left alone under the care of Jaeshin, their house helper. However, she doesn’t stay at home all the time. She goes home at night since her house is near. She left a note on the fridge for Kyuhyun to see. I’ve prepared your dinner tonight and your breakfast tomorrow morning. Just reheat it in the microwave.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the fridge and followed their house helper’s instructions. He ate his dinner alone, brushed his teeth and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. He’d changed into his pajamas and got ready for bed.

The quietness of the house should have calmed him to sleep but his mind is bothered by something. He was thinking of something he had overheard from the library a while ago.

When the old librarian refused to cooperate and help him with his project, he left the library to avoid wasting his time. However, when he was few blocks away from the library he thought of borrowing the old book instead. Maybe he could ask someone to help him with his book report if he shows the book to someone. He went back but stopped himself from entering the library when he heard some voices whispering.

“Why you didn’t help the boy? He looked so interested about your story...” a female voice said.

“I don’t care about that damn book anymore,” he recognized the voice as the old librarian.

“That boy was right sunbae, didn’t you wonder what happened to your friend? Did you ever wonder if he got back to his planet? You wrote that story and gave a hanging ending like that.”

“I did not expect that many people will get interested at that silly book. I just wrote it out of boredom. I left it like that believing that they will see it as another fictional story for children.”

“But sunbae, it is real. You told me yourself years ago when I first got accepted to work here. Why did you give up looking for answers? Wh--?”

“I gave up because this is really the end...”

“Believe me, if I ask people around looking for answers do you think they will listen to me? For them, the little prince is not real. I myself had difficulty in believing too... I think I will go crazy if I think about him always.”

“I thought I’ve escaped this situation when I grow old but it seems like it will haunt me forever. I should have thrown away those copies of that book I kept in my house.”

Kyuhyun heard some footsteps coming so instead of entering the door he took a step backward and run away before he was caught eavesdropping. He ran along the hallway until he saw his friend Eunhyuk along the way and went home with him.

What he heard confused his mind. There must be something that the old librarian wasn’t telling him. The curiosity in him won over his rationality as he got out of his bed and looked for his warmest jacket. He took his keys and left the house in the middle of the night.

The stars and the crescent moon shine brightly above him as he walk his way to the old librarian’s apartment. He knew where the old man lived because his homeroom adviser mentioned before that they were neighbours.

After a few minutes Kyuhyun arrived at the house at the end of the alley. He climbed up the small fence instead of ringing the doorbell. He will find a way of going inside the house without the owner’s consent. He went to the backyard to find any passageway where he can pass by.  Vegetables and non-flowering plants were grown at the small backyard. Kyuhyun also noticed a worn out hot-air balloon lying on the grassy ground. He walked past the messy yard and noticed a tree house made at one of the trees. The tree where it sits by was surrounded by miniature figures of various aircrafts.

The mysterious aura of the tree house led him to climb it, perhaps hoping to find any answers to his questions. The wood creaked no matter how light his footsteps were so he just prayed that the owner wouldn’t hear him from downstairs. The old tree house were filled with dusty books that