a fictional setting (what it says on the tin)

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this massive stone library is soothingly silent now that it's empty, but even when people tread the bright white marble floors here, the only things to be heard are footsteps and the slow turning of pages. it has shelves more than ten feet tall. its ceiling is vaulted and its wide vertical windows allow the sun to stream into it and rest on the ground. the temperature is often mild and the air is a bit stale, as the windows are seldom opened. each shelf is categorized by genre. hundreds - if not thousands - of books are housed here; fantasy, science fiction, horror, drama, mystery, thriller, biography, reference, and more, all tightly tucked away, huddled together like a family during midwinter. some are new, with shiny, glossy pages, taught binding that makes them difficult to open, and crisp dust jackets. some are old, with torn, thin, folded browning pages with underlines and notes in the margins, and bound in a way that, when opened, they simply lie as flat as a tired businessman falling into bed at the wee hours of the day. but to the library's keeper, each one is worthy of all the love in the world.