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William Lindsey
United States
Marion
Indiana
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Hello, my name is Margaret. I am currently a novice living in the Abbey of Our Lady of the Woods. I am in training to be a nun. I work really hard, and I haven’t really connected with the five other novices living here. The Abbess and Prioress here push us pretty hard during the day; we spend much of our day studying scripture and reading commentaries written hundreds of years ago. Let me tell you, these are not fun to read! So when I heard that there was a copy of Harry Potter locked away in the library, I was immediately intrigued. It would be amazing to be able to read something just for fun! I planned for weeks to find myself a key to the library, and I was finally fortunate when the Abbess dropped her copy while we were meditating in the Outer Gardens. I quickly hid the key in the tree there, and decided that I would come back later that night when the Abbess and Prioress were sleeping. Then I would sneak into the library, grab the book, and sneak back to my cell. No problem, right?
That night, I nervously waited until the light in the hallway was put out. The Abbess made one final walk down the hallway, turned out the light, and went into her cell. So I quietly opened my door and snuck into the hallway. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the other five novices were already in the hallway! Apparently they all had similar plans for the night. Bernadette and Celeste told me later that they left their rooms every night! Sometimes, I can be really naive.
Anyways, we all ran away from the hallway. I ran into the chapel on my way to the tree in the outer garden. Theresa ran alongside me; she had hidden something in the storage room near the chapel. Somebody must have made some noise, because suddenly both the Abbess and the Prioress came out of their rooms! The Prioress started up towards the pharmacy (whew!) and the Abbess was coming to the chapel! I had to get out of there quickly. So I ran to the tree where I had hidden the library key, and I hurriedly pulled myself into the lower branches. It was not a moment too soon, because I saw Theresa run around the corner of the chapel and quickly press herself into the wall there. A moment later, the Abbess rounded the corner and saw Theresa standing there. She lectured Theresa for a minute on responsibility and following rules, and then told her to go back to her room. I held my breath in my tree, hoping that the Abbess wouldn’t hear my trembling. I’ve never broken the rules before, and I was tempted to run back to my room after the Abbess was out of sight. I took a few breaths to steady myself, and then decided to continue onto the library. I might as well grab the book before going back to my room.
The Abbess disappeared into the chapel, so I let myself down from the tree and I started running towards the cloister. I decided to go through the cloister and the adjoining scriptorium to the library. I didn’t hear or see anybody else as I ran through the dimly-lit cloister. The scriptorium was also dark and deserted. I stopped briefly by my desk to see if the nuns had left comments on my latest report. Unfortunately, they hadn’t yet.
I then used the key and went into the library, and Theresa was already there! I was trying to be as quiet as I could, but Theresa was singing to herself. The Abbess must have heard, because we heard the footsteps running outside in the hallway, and the door burst open! The Abbess was shocked to see me. “Margaret! What are you doing out of bed? This is the type of behavior I would expect from Theresa, but I never expected to find you here! Please explain yourself!” I couldn’t form words, I was so scared. I tried to mumble something about studying more, but I don’t think it was coherent. She said: “It’s okay, Margaret. I’m not going to punish you. Just go back to your room, and get some sleep.”
So Theresa and I started to head back to our rooms. Theresa winked at me, and darted off in the wrong direction. I decided then and there that I was already out, and the Abbess was probably not in the library anymore, so I should go back, grab the book, and get back to my room. So I snuck very quietly back into the library. Guess what?! Bernadette was in there already! It was a busy night in the library, apparently. I grabbed the book, but as Bernadette was grabbing Pride and Prejudice off the shelf, she dropped it. Immediately, the Abbess came back through the door and found both of us standing there. Her face fell as she saw me. “You know this means I’ll have to punish you, Margaret.” “Yes,” I replied meekly. I walked back to my room dejectedly, all thoughts of ever reading Harry Potter gone.
The next day, I had to spend the entire day in the kitchen washing dishes. That night, Bernadette knocked softly on my door. “We’re all heading to the garden. You wanna come?” “Sure!” I replied. I had a tough time the night before, but I had finally bonded with my fellow novices. What a good night!
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