Ruby’s eyes were transfixed on the words of the last copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The pages felt like gold beneath her once white gloved fingers. The curtains were drawn and a single candle lit the bare room. Places in the furniture bulged where books were hidden. Encyclopedias were neatly bundled and stacked in cupboards and novels were packed under the bed. A former librarian badge sat on the mantlepiece.
Ever since the year 2060, books had been banned and libraries closed. Firefighters no longer extinguished fires, they burned books and the homes that hid them. The library Ruby worked for was forced to close and Ruby was left jobless. The literary world was at stake.

The once placid paradise was now a poverty-stricken world. Smoke filled the air and homes with books burst into flames. Ruby had painstakingly managed to hide her secret stash of books for this long.
Suddenly, the stomping sound of heavy boots on the stairwell startled her. Her heart thumped like an out of control drum. As she rushed to her room to hide away the book she was holding, she stumbled on the threadbare carpet.

Golden locks of hair fell on to her pale, terrified face. The book was wrenched from her grip. It came to rest at the black ash covered boots. She was out numbered but she wasn’t going down without a fight. She picked up the only ornament in the room. The cold metal of the heavy vase soothed her pulsing hand. She turned to the firemen with determination and courage in her eyes.