Allie looked frantically for the woman on the teeming sidewalk. The woman had dropped an item that seemed very significant on her way out of the library. Allie strained to make herself heard to the woman on the swarming sidewalk.

“Excuse me! Ma’am! Excuse me! You dropped something back there!” Allie held it up like the Statue of Liberty. She ran a couple of feet in hopes of catching up to the woman, who seemed to be retired, though she seemed to have disappeared. The woman had a light green cardigan, darker green dress, and hair that was as white as fresh fallen snow. Her shoes were as green as the grass that covered the square to the left of the library, into which Allie returned in despair. As she sat at the front desk, she put the bundle of mystery into a drawer and locked it with a key. She decided to wait until tomorrow to decide the verdict as to what to do with Mystery, what Allie decided to call the package-of-something-important.

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully with only a few visitors, seemingly tourists, coming to visit Blackcrystal. She checked the drawer before she headed out to make sure Mystery was still there. It was. That’s good, Allie thought to herself and locked the drawer once again. On her way home from work, she watched the sun set behind the steal giants and iron ogres that Blackcrystal was made of. She looked at the wands of light lining the streets, the graffiti decorating the insides of parking garages like ancient tapestry.

The idea that the woman had something more to her was embossed in Allie’s brain. “She just walked in, checked out the library’s shelves some and then left. She didn’t check out a book, buy a bookmark or anything. She dropped it on the table in the middle of the main hall and nobody stopped to pick it up and return it. Except me,” Allie said to herself that night as she was going to sleep. I will just have to think of what to do tomorrow….

The next morning, Allie talked to her coworker, Ginny , about what had happened the previous day. Ginny had been sick and had missed all the action.

“I saw this elderly lady drop this package,” Allie showed her brown paper wrapped Mystery. “She didn’t even stop when she dropped it! I went after her and I ended up outside, but she seemed to have vanished!”

“I don’t think you should worry or stress about this. It’s someone else’s problem. Just wait about a week and see if she…” Ginny faltered. She looked to where Allie was staring.

An elderly lady had just walked into the library doors and was carrying a package. She had on a light grey cardigan with a black dress on. Her shoes were just as black as her dress, and she had hair as white as fresh fallen snow.

“That’s her…” Allie trailed off. She got up and started to approach the lady, however a large wave of people walked in and Allie lost her. Again. Allie rushed to the door and looked outside to see if she had gone outside. As expected, Allie couldn’t see any sign of the woman. On her way back to her desk, Allie noticed something on the table in the middle of the floor. It was another package, brown paper wrapped, of the same size and shape as the first one, and just as heavy.

“Look at what I found!” Allie exclaimed to Marissa as she stepped back behind the marble front desk. She held out the package and Ginny took it from her, turning it over in her hands.

“Do you think we should open both of them?” Allie wondered.

“No. I think we should wait until the end of the week. Today is Wednesday, so we have until Saturday to see if the lady shows up again.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”
*
*
*
Thursday came. Another piece (her color scheme was red today). Friday came. Another piece (her color scheme was blue today). Saturday came. Another piece (her color scheme was orange today). However, Allie had picked up on the pattern that the woman was following and waited for her in the center of the library with Mystery 1, Mystery 2, Mystery 3, and she was waiting for Mystery 4. The lady came in at noon as she had for the past four days, and walked around the library until she stopped in the center of the main hall, where Allie was waiting for her just off center. As soon as the lady stopped in the center, Allie rushed and grabbed the lady’s arm. Boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom. Allie’s heart was racing. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears.
“Excuse me,” Allie wanted to make sure she was heard and that the elderly lady could hear her. “You have been dropping these packages since Wednesday, and I have wanted to give these back to you since then, but you keep slipping away before I could give them back.”
The lady placed the last package.
“You don’t understand do you?” The lady frowned. “These packages hold a purpose I thought you would understand. Though since you didn’t open them I don’t think you have a clue as to what this is about. So why don’t you take this one home with you, open all of them starting with the one you picked up on Wednesday, and try to get the meaning of all of this.” As she said ‘all’, she made a sweeping gesture with her hand, encompassing the whole library and town.
“What is your name?” Allie asked.
“My name is Clara Luster,” Clara Luster replied and turned on her heel and marched out.
Allie stumbled back to her seat at the desk and relayed the conversation to Ginny. Both of them sat in shock for a while, absorbing the latest development like sponges in water. They decided to carpool and pick up a pizza on the way to Allie’s house. There they would be able to open the packages together, and therefore solving the message Clara Luster was trying to send. The rest of the day went by monotonously; the suspension was mounting for the both of them. They closed the library hurriedly in order to have enough time to pick up pizza and solve the message of the Mysteries.
*
*
*

They sat door on the floor and spread the four packages in front of them in chronological order. Allie picked up the first one and tore at the brown paper. Inside was a beautiful glass piece. It was multicolored and shimmered like the stars in the night sky. It had very color imaginable. The shape of the piece of glass was and H and an L combined. Ginny opened the second package and found inside a piece of deep navy blue glass. It had specks of many colors in the glass that seemed to float. This one was in the shape of an E and an O fused together. Both of the pieces so far were of medium size, though pretty thick. The third package that Allie opened was a beautiful green color. It was just transparent enough to see Allie’s feet through it. This one had specks of golden light in it, and was in the shape of another L and a V. Ginny took the fourth package in her hands and tore at the brown paper like a child on Christmas opening gifts. This last piece of glass was a blood red color with silver sparkles in it. It was just dark enough for small amounts of light to get through but light enough to see through it. This was in the shape of a P and an E joined together.

“I see the words ‘help’ and ‘love’ when I look at it,” Ginny speculated as they spread the masterpieces on the floor in front of them.

“I see the word ‘hole’, said Allie said pointing to the letters. “though I don’t see what the message was that Clara wanted to show us…”

“I think we should see what she has to tell us tomorrow.

The next day , at noon sharp, Clara walked into the main hall of the library and went straight to the front desk where Allie and Ginny were waiting patiently. All four pieces of gorgeous glass were sitting on top of the desk in order.

“Did you all find the messages? Did you know that I was the one who made all of them?” Clara asked them.

“We found the words ‘help’, ‘hole’ and ‘love’,” replied Allie promptly, “however we didn’t get the figurative meaning if there was one. We also didn’t know that you were the one who made them! That’s really cool!”

“Yes, those were the three words that you could find when you start with the first crystal to the fourth in order. However, did you try other possibilities?” Clara inquired. “The figurative message was that this town has always looked at things many different ways of doing things before coming to a conclusion. The founders of this town thought long term and decided to build sturdy structures of brick and wood to withstand time. The people over time have thought of the best and most efficient ways of getting around saving energy many different ways.”

“Ohhhhhh!” Ginny and Allie exclaimed in realization.

“Now you see why I said that it is the reason this whole town is here, and I think you will find this theme evident in many towns and cities. They all are built on a passion for what they love.”

And with those final words, Clara walked out of the library for the last time.
*
*
*

A couple of weeks later , they got a letter from Clara. It said that she was spreading the message to other towns and cities, and she hoped Allie and Ginny would remember her.

“We will,” Allie murmured. She and Ginny never forgot Clara Luster, the woman who had inspired them to better their community by making a public garden and a soup kitchen for the homeless individuals and families. They also made the library a better, more kid-friendly place to be. They put up posters and flyers announcing many different events at the library such as puppet shows and story time. Now every Wednesday, the library was crowded with parents and their children to attend these events. Every time they see someone smile, Allie and Ginny can’t help but think of Clara and her four pieces of beautiful, hand-blown glass.