Miss Replogle
Miss Replogle was a librarian. People were amazed at how well she did her job. She knew just where to find any book, even if it wasn’t in the library. If she couldn’t find it in another library’s collection, she would write it herself.
Miss Replogle was the quintessential librarian. She was what every career librarian aspires to be. She was perfect from the pencil in her bun, always at the ready in case she needed to make a note, to the sensible shoes that helped her to roam the stacks with stealth and deliberate movements.
One day, after 10 years as the stellar librarian, she came to work without the bun and pencil, without the sensible shoes. As a matter of fact, she wore high heels that clicked and clacked across the linoleum.
It made it impossible to catch wayward teens in the stacks. She continued to be diligent at finding books but only if it was while she was on the clock. She no longer wrote books. Her boss was at a loss as to why she had changed so much.
The wayward teens knew. Miss Replogle was in love. As a matter of fact, in just six short months, her boss and the other librarians were cordially invited to St. Peter’s Episcopal church to see Miss Replogle become, in a few short words, Mrs. Bellwether.
True to her new name, she led the pack. The other librarians began to dress like her, convinced they would find their true love if they did. Soon clickety-clack is all that was heard in the library.
As Mrs. Bellwether aged, the sensible shoes returned, but she mostly turned a blind eye to the wayward teens. She knew what it was like to be in love.
She also returned to writing books that hadn’t existed before for the library’s patrons. She took great joy in it, and Mr. Bellwether supported her and even helped research when it was needed. He thought she was the most gifted writer as did the patrons.