The Pages of Yesterday

Leo never liked the school library. It was dusty, silent, and full of books he never wanted to read. But one rainy afternoon, hiding from bullies, he pushed open the heavy library door and stepped into the quiet room.

“Looking for something?” asked the old librarian, Ms. Wren, her voice as soft as the pages around her.

“Just… hiding,” Leo mumbled.

Ms. Wren nodded, then pointed to a small, hidden shelf. “Try that one. It’s full of surprises.”

Leo walked over and saw a single book sitting there. Its cover was dark green with gold letters that read The Pages of Yesterday. Curious, he opened it.

Suddenly, the room spun. The shelves disappeared. The cold air turned warm. When Leo looked up, he was standing in the middle of a sunny street — but it wasn’t his time.

Horse-drawn carts passed by, and people wore old-fashioned clothes. A newspaper boy shouted, “Read all about it! Queen Victoria’s latest speech!”

Leo gasped. “Did I… travel through time?”

He looked down. The book was still in his hands, open to a glowing page. As he flipped to the next page, everything spun again.

Now he was in a battlefield. Cannons boomed in the distance, and soldiers shouted orders. Before he could move, the page turned again on its own. Whoosh!

He landed in a quiet park. This time, it was 1985. Kids played with Walkmans and rode neon bikes. Leo realized that the book was taking him to a different time with every page.

He sat on a bench and thought. “Why is this happening? What does the book want?”

Suddenly, a girl sat next to him. She looked about his age, with short hair and curious eyes. “Are you a traveler too?” she asked.

Leo blinked. “A what?”

“A time traveler. You have the book, don’t you?”

He showed her The Pages of Yesterday. She nodded. “I had it once. But I gave it away when I found my story.”

“My story?”

“The book shows you moments in the past until you find something important — something you need to learn.”

Leo stared at the glowing book. “But I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

She smiled. “You’ll know when the page stops turning.”

Before he could ask more, the page flipped again. Now Leo stood in his own house — but everything looked younger. His mom and dad were in the kitchen, laughing. His mom’s belly was round. She was pregnant… with him.

He watched as they painted a small room, talking about how they wanted to raise him with love and kindness. Leo’s heart filled with warmth. He had always thought his parents were too busy for him now — always working, always tired. But seeing this moment, he knew how much they had cared from the very beginning.

Tears filled his eyes. The page didn’t turn this time. The glow faded.

He was back in the library. The book was closed.

Ms. Wren smiled. “Found what you needed?”

Leo nodded. “Yeah… I think I did.”

He left the library with a new feeling — not just about his family, but about himself. Maybe the past couldn’t be changed, but it could help him understand the present.

And maybe, just maybe, The Pages of Yesterday wasn’t just a book — it was a gift.