Twelve O' Three

Gracie was never the type of girl who found herself admiring the Disney princesses, but she did find herself sympathizing with Bell from “Beauty and the Beast” more than she’d ever admit. Gracie saw how misunderstood Bell was for being the only girl in town who strived to get an education and how powerful her love for books was, and felt as though she could relate to what she was going through since in her own small town of Rogersville Tennessee, she was one of few girls her age with a passion to expand her horizons past getting a day job at Red Dogg on Main. She was captivated by Bell’s ability to become fully immersed in her books. Gracie connected to Bell’s ability to escape her small town, even just for a little while, to the places in which she yearned for.

Gracie Lynn Clark was born and raised in Rogersville, also known as “the Oldest Town in Tennessee”. Her parents Mike and Bessy tried their hardest to raise her as a proper God fearing southern woman, but Gracie just wanted to play street hockey with the boys on her street, and read autobiographies about powerful women in history.

At Cherokee High, her graduating class consisted of a whopping 200 students. Growing up in the oldest town in Tennessee seemed to affect everyone… there was a sense of stagnancy in the air at all times. On average, only 15 graduating students went to the local community college, and 12 of those students were boys.

Gracie was the Belle of Rogersville. When she wasn't studying and doing odd jobs around town, she spent her spare time reading and re-reading the town library’s best books, trying her best to become more than her peers and her parents were. She wanted to go to college so badly she could taste it. Mike and Bessy wanted their daughter to stay at home and get a local job and make a family like all of the other girls in town. They never understood their daughters need to run away, and took it hard when she finally got accepted into the University of South Carolina- Gracies dream school.

The excitement Gracie felt that she got in, matched the same amount of dread that she felt that she got into college. Her family was far from able to afford college, and her small odd jobs around town didn't add up to much. She needed to pull this money out of thin air.

In times of stress, Gracie always somehow found herself taking a bus into the closest city to the Lawson McGhee Library. This time, she didn't know what she was searching for. She felt lost, she felt defeated. The dream was finally coming true but she had no way of obtaining it. It was getting later and later at night, she felt as though she was in a daze; her mind was buzzing and her anxiety was creating a whirlpool of thoughts in her head…

“12:03AM” her phone screen brightly shined at her; she had fallen asleep in the back of the library’s stacks. A massive library like this was scary at night. She was alone, confused, and surrounded by darkness and silence; she needed to get home. She found herself very upset and overwhelmed, holding back tears and feeling lost (both literally and figuratively). She cried out to the nothingness that surrounded her “please, please just help me find a way”.

She turned on her phone's flashlight, depending on the remaining battery she had left, and began her half blinded search to the exit. As she took her first step she was startled when she stepped on a book laying in front of her. She was confused because she did not remember leaving any books out, or even opening one up. The book had a golden buckle that was in the shape of a mandala that reflected the light from her flashlight. It was unlike any book that she had ever picked up; it was a small, pure black, leather bound book that you could imagine being found on an old pirate ship. It was strange, and Gracie was intrigued. At closer examination she could see delicately imprinted words on the cover: “Grimoire, A book of magic”. She felt drawn to the book, but was too eager to get home to spend any more time in the daunting pitch blackness. She slid the book under her arm and left quickly.

She quietly creeped into her small home, and promptly got into bed. She spent hours immersing herself into the strange and seemingly foreign pages of the book. She found herself so curious and engrossed by this “book of magic” and felt somewhat absurd and silly for being so interested in every page, every spell. She rolled her eyes, slammed the book close, tossed it onto the floor, and tried to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before school.

When she woke, she noticed the book no longer on the floor, but instead on the bedside table next to her; she was extremely startled. As soon as she had gotten ready to leave for school, she turned back and reluctantly stuffed the book into her backpack and left.

Once at school Gracie checked her email and realized that the payment deadline was approaching. Glancing at the email, and then to the little black book, and back to the email; Gracie felt desperate. She knew what she had to do. As the final bell of the day rang, Gracie did not go home or to the library, but instead she walked deeply and sheepishly into the gloomy and foggy woods a few miles away from her school. She laid the book on a rock next to her, but was confused still by which spell was the perfect one to try. The wind was particularly strong, and it came in gusts that felt strange on this day. As she opened the book the wind blew the pages open to a spell entitled “the Money Expansion Spell”.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and gave it her all. “Hither Thither I do go, money fountain starts to flow…” She continued the chant until it was finished, and chanted it again… and again. She could feel the atmosphere changing, she could feel a sense of disruption around her. The changes were so intense that she felt as though she could not breathe anymore; she fainted.

Gracie woke in the dead of night with nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate the forest. She was confused and realized the fear she felt waking up in a dark library does not match the feeling of waking up in the nightmarish, creaky woods. She ran home and didn't look back, leaving the book in its place on the rock. When she arrived home she realized it was again 12:03AM and yet she did not feel tired. The rush of adrenaline from the fear mixed with the surge of power felt from the spell book made the thought of sleeping inevitably impossible.

The morning came and she heard a knock at her door. Not having slept through the night she was starting to feel the need for sleep and exhaustion slowing her down from answering the door, she was just going to pretend she didn't hear it and force her parents to see who it is. She heard the knock again shortly thereafter, realizing her parents were not going to answer it; they must have still been asleep. Sluggishly making her way down the stairs she notices the flashing blue and red lights familiarly from a police car. Was she in trouble for stealing the book from the library? She was feeling the disorientation setting in now more than ever. She reluctantly answered the door.

“Gracie Clark? I'm so relieved you're home. I'm officer Dixon. Your parents were concerned about you last night when you never came home and called me to search for you. I told them I could not set up a search unless you were gone for at least 48 hours, so I guess they went out and looked for you themselves. I'm sorry to tell you, my deputy found their truck wrapped around a tree a few hours ago. The freak winds that we had last night must have blown them off the road. I'm sorry for your loss, but I do want to tell you I knew your parents well, and I know they had a good sum of money in their life insurance policy for you. I'll send someone over to help you talk with a lawyer about all of that. Once again Gracie, I'm sorry…

Oh, and we found this little black book inside the truck, we thought you might want it”.