I shook my head. "Perhaps you should become a butterfly," I teased.
"Oh, just appease me, okay. Do you have a library card?" she asked.
I shook my head 'no'. She rolled her eyes. She pulled a card out from her backpack. It was her library card. "If any asks, just say you're my friend. If that doesn't work, you have a ring," she giggled.
I smiled at her comment, but I wasn't sure that was the best solution. I took the card from her and looked at it. It had a color picture of her face. She had a wonderful smile and was wearing glasses.
"Glasses?" I asked.
"I wear contacts now. Now come on, check me out," she begged.
I rolled my eyes this time. "One of these days, we're going to have to figure out how to keep aware after the transformation, if it's possible. But for now, Amanda, I wish you to become an exact copy of the book you hold in your hands," I declared to her.
Perhaps I could have been more specific as I watched her skin, clothing, and the butterfly book take on the silvery sheen it had when she became a pair of pumps. The clothing and book flowed into her, and she dwindled and collapsed into a liquid mass on the floor. The liquid assumed a rectangular shape and became 2" thick like the book she had held. It solidified, becoming an exact copy of the book she had held.
I picked up the book from the floor and examined the cover and flipped the book open. It had very colorful pictures of butterflies, cocoons, caterpillars, and text on their various stages of life, reproduction, and enemies. The text was very detailed. I spent 15 minutes flipping through the book. The outside of the book even had a little wear and tear. As best as I could tell, this book was an exact replicate of the original. There was no hint of Amanda anywhere.
I worked my way out of the book stacks to the checkout desk. The librarian looked a little confused when I handed her Amanda's card. "I know her, don't I?" she asked.
"She's my girlfriend and she asked me to get the book. I left my card at home," I replied.
"You should use your own card. That's our rules, but I'll let you use it this time," she concluded. She took Amanda and held her to the bar code reader and stamped a due date on the piece of paper inside. The librarian handed the book back to me. My pulse slowed a little bit and I put Amanda in my backpack. I left the library and down the steps to the street.