Turning Beetles into Buttons (and other things I learned in school)
an excerpt

My main character is writing NaNo at the same time that I am (and not doing half so well). In his story, the character is writing stories which later come true. In order to see whether it's the journal he's writing in or the writer causing it - a friend writes something... fun...

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Chapter What Final... I think: Insanity Can Be Fun and Amusing

Casper made his way across the library, struggling under the burden of the books he was carrying. He silently cursed having to serve detention, especially with Master Kimberley. The librarian, he was certain, was quite insane.

“How’s it going?” an over-cheerful voice said suddenly. He startled at the unexpected greeting and the books flew everywhere. He whirled towards the person who’d startled him and found Master Kimberley’s strange little helper standing about a foot away. He was looking down at the scattered books with a horrified expression.

Casper took a deep breath and said, “Don’t do that!” He sighed and shook his head. “You scared me near to death.” For the life of him, he couldn’t remember the name of the odd little boy.

The child arched one eyebrow at him and said, “You’d better pick those up.” He placed his arms behind his back and said, “If Master Kimberley sees them on the floor, he’ll give you another detention.”

“This is crazy!” Casper complained, as he knelt and began gathering the books.

“Crazy?” a soft, unfamiliar voice said. “Did you say crazy?” Casper looked up to find three men seated around the room. He was certain they hadn’t been there before. One was seated on the edge of a table, holding a large book in his lap. His long dark hair was gathered in a low ponytail that was swept over one shoulder. The second was standing, leaned back against the bookcase on the far wall, with an annoyed expression on his face. The third, however, was standing right at Casper’s elbow. All three were short – barely even as tall as he was – with dark hair and glasses.

“You shouldn’t have said that?” the second man said, shaking his head. He smirked and said, “You’ll just get him going, you know. He’s near impossible to stop when you get him going.”

“This... this is crazy!” Casper said, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.

“Crazy?” the third man said, almost eagerly. “I was crazy once. They took me away to a padded room. I liked it there.” He stopped and his brows furrowed. “I died there. They buried me. Daisies grew on my grave. One grew up and one grew down. They tickled my nose. They tickled my toes. They drove me crazy.”

Casper blinked and then pulled the book he was holding close to his chest as the man began his tirade again.

“Crazy? I was crazy once.” He said. “They took me away to a padded room. I liked it there.” Again, he stopped and his brows furrowed. “I died there. They buried me. Daisies grew on my grave. One grew up and one grew down. They tickled my nose. They tickled my toes. They drove me crazy.”

“Stop it, Keenan,” the seated man said.

Keenan, however, didn’t stop. Instead, he started again. “Crazy?” he said, “I was crazy once. They took me away to a padded room. I liked it there.” He paused yet again. “I died there. They buried me. Daisies grew on my grave. One grew up and one grew down. They tickled my nose. They tickled my toes. They drove me crazy.”

The seated man looked over at the one leaning against the wall. “Darian,” he said, his voice faintly accented even on the single word, “he’s not stopping.”

“That’s fairly obvious, Finley,” Darian said, rolling his eyes. He pushed away from the wall and added, “You may have to sedate him.

Casper gasped as Keenan grabbed his arm and said, “”Crazy? I was crazy once. They took me away to a padded room. I liked it there.” He stopped and his brows furrowed. “I died there. They buried me. Daisies grew on my grave. One grew up and one grew down. They tickled my nose. They tickled my toes. They drove me crazy.”

As Casper whimpered, the grip on his arm suddenly loosened. Keenan’s eyes fell closed and he slumped forward. Darian caught him and lowered him gently to the ground. Finley was now seated on the floor beside Casper, although he hadn’t seen the man get up from the table.

“Sorry about that,” Finley said, grinning as if this were the more normal thing in the world. “Keenan gets like that when people say that word.”

“You don’t know what insane is until you’ve dealt with Keenan,” Darian added. “You might want to bear that in mind.”

Casper blinked and the three men were gone. He looked around quickly, but they were nowhere to be seen. He stopped when he saw Master Kimberley standing not far away, looking rather cross. “Are you going to pick up those books, Mister Llewellyn?”

“Yes, sir,” he said quickly. He looked around and said, “There was a man here and he was rambling and then... then I blinked and he was just... gone!”

“The room’s not very large, Mister Llewellyn,” he said. Then he sighed and added, “Detention again tomorrow, for making up wild tales. Now pick up those books and re-shelve them, if you please.”

As the librarian turned and walked away, Casper started, “This is c-” He caught himself and glanced around quickly. Then he swallowed and began picking up the books. The last thing he wanted was to spend more time in the strange place.

---
I read over the story that Oliver had written and said, “Yeah, I think it’s an easy bet to say we’d know about this story coming true.” I handed the journal to Keanna and then looked over at our classmates. Most of them were cuing up to head back inside.

“You didn’t want a turn with the trebuchet, then?” Ashley asked, pointing at the siege engine.

“No, thank’e,” I said, standing. Keanna thrust the journal back into my hands and I tucked it into my bag. Then we followed our class back across the grounds and into the building. We arrived, just as the bell was ringing.

“Class dismissed,” Professor Reese called, as the students scattered in every direction.