Let's Look at Maps!

[тíğёя]

Alexander Anderson sat on an overstuffed recliner in a secluded corner of the Gleason Public Library. An open book lay on his lap, with a piece of tracing paper covering a map on one of the pages. He was carefully tracing over the lines on the map, which was labeled "Europe, 1914". The job seemed tedious, but he was perfectly suited for the task. Paying attention to detail was second nature for Alex, who made his living in watch repair. Occasionally, he would life his pencil and flip it to erase a stray line, but these errors did not seem to vex him.

One would wonder why a twenty-three-year-old man would spend his spare time copying maps in a library. Obviously, Alex's hobbies differed from those of a typical person his age. Rather than going out drinking with his friends on weekends, he would stay home and watch television with his cats. He was not a college student and had no reason to be studying history; he simply enjoyed it. Being antisocial was just another excuse for him to go out and read about the wars and conquests of the previous millennium.

[Annika~]

[OOC: Aaah... how do I start...]
It was late August, and several teenagers had been procrastinating on summer reading until the last weeks before school started, so naturally it was the busiest time at the library. Among the small crowd, Gianna Moretti meandered throughout the section of classic literature, hoping that there was at least one copy left of O. Henry's greatest works.
Luckily, there was one battered copy left on the shelf, which had been shoved back on the cluttered shelf, out of order.
She pulled it out, noticing that the cover had been folded in half due to the carelessness of some worker in the library, and coffee had been spilled onto the pages. It would have to do.

She decided to take a moment to walk around through the library, to find an audiobook she could listen to during a dull moment at school, a habit that she was trying to end, but did anyway. It was one of the loose ends in her life--among many--that she purposely left hanging out because she couldn't help it. If she managed to end the habit, then her life would be perfect. But of course it can't be, because that wouldn't be any fun. she reminded herself, taking out a collection of short stories on CD.

While she was trying to find the counter to check out her books, she noticed someone sitting in the corner. She discreetly turned around to look at him, and identified him as her next-door-neighboor. Right, the guy with like, ten cats. she thought. I didn't know he was into history.

[тíğёя]

Alex finished tracing the islands of Greece and took two colored pencils--one scarlet; one lime green--and began to color the allied nations with the green. He heard footsteps off in the distance, but chose to ignore them. After all, there was nobody who really wanted to talk to him...and nobody with whom he wished to converse. The young man instead reabsorbed himself in his work. The coloring, although less tedious than the tracing, required an equally steady hand, lest he accidentally mark Switzerland anything other than neutral. However, Alex had learned a trick to coloring in elementary art class. If he outlined each country first, he could quickly add the desired hue to the inside without having to be too careful. He left a lighter area in the center so he would be able to write the nation's name. Luckily, most of the countries in Europe before World War I were large enough for him to squeeze his untidy handwriting within their borders.

[Annika~]

Gianna finished checking out her books, and proceeded to walk out of the library. Since her home was so close to it, she wouldn't have to take a bus--besides, there wasn't much public transportation available in Carlisle, besides taxis, which were too expensive. She quickly stuck her books into her bag over her shoulder, and began to make her down the sidewalk home.

As she was walking, she started to wander and stop occasionally. It was a humid, warm afternoon, slowly turning to evening. She loved moments like this--it all seemed so calm, and meaningless. She had been panicking about school starting once again--her sophomore year in high school--but now she knew that everything would be okay, no matter what.

She stopped to lean against a lamppost, taking in the view of the trees and flowers that had been neatly planted along the yards of people's houses.