Let's face it, the town sucked. It wasn't that Tori hated rural life, she actually enjoyed the quiet and being surrounded by nature. But the town itself kinda sucked. If it weren't for the job offer to do miscellaneous clerical work by the town council, she would've never moved here. The stores were few, the people pretended to be friendly but were super-judgy, especially of a young single woman who lived alone with just her dog for company, didn't seem attracted to the local macho types, and showed no intention of getting married. And worst of all, she had to smile and bear it for the sake of her paycheck.
It sucked.
But hey, at least there was a local library. Or at least probably what passed for a library in this nowheresville town. Surprisingly, it looked relatively modern on the outside. Tori shook her head. She doubted they would have anything decent, but worst come to worst, maybe she could read something classic to pass the time.
Entering the place, it looked surprisingly well-organized, although Tori didn't see any librarians. There were also surprisingly few places to sit and read, given it was a library. It seemed like locals were expected to take out the book rather than spend time inside the library. Which actually suited Tori fine, being ogled by small-town residents was not the best environment for relaxing reading.
The library appeared rather well-stocked, although Tori didn't see any familiar authors at first glance. Wanting something for pure escapism, Tori headed over to the fantasy section. She did like female protagonists, but it usually seemed like most fantasy female protagonists ended up being magicians or witches headed for a steamy romance with a man who would end up rescuing them. Why couldn't fantasy females be strong, independent women that succeeded through their own capabilities? Tori sighed and sorted through the books that seemed semi-promising, although again, she found nothing familiar. Finally narrowing down her choices, Tori took her selected book and returned to the front desk.
Again, there was no one there, but there was a sign with an arrow pointing down which stated, "Please insert book here." Surprised, Tori figured it must be some sort of self-checkout, oddly high-tech for this podunk town. Following the instructions, Tori slid her book into the slot. Before she realized what was happening or even had time to scream, it felt like the floor had opened up beneath her and she was in free-fall.
She was no longer there to see it, but had she been, Tori would have observed the screen above the book slot light up with the title of the book she chose...