Free Project ELE by Rebecca Gober, Courtney Nuckels

few weeks you will commit our shelter's map to your memory as this will help you complete your assignments much faster." Alec turns around and grabs something from a table behind him. He holds it up. "Each of you will receive one of these. This is a holder for your tablet which can be worn on your hip like this." He straps the black holder around his waist and then sets his tablet face out, into it. I try and stifle a laugh; it looks like a fanny-pack. "Since you will often be carrying items, this will allow you to have your hands free to complete your task. You will also receive a pair of earphones so you can get audio directions to your destinations. You will not have time, or free hands, to continually look down at your tablet map." Alec hands us each a holder and a set of white earphones. I don't know if I imagined it or not, but he gives me a short smile when he hands me mine. "Alright. Unless you have any questions, you may disperse and begin your assignments."
    Nobody asks any questions. I strap the holder around my waist, taking notice of my awesome sense of style lately and then look at my tablet to find my first assignment.
    There’s a note on the top of the list to pick up supplies in Mr. Volmer’s office to take to the library. I find a map posted on the wall showing office locations. I pin it to my memory where his office is along with the names correlating with the other offices in this space. Mr. Volmer is located at the far end of the Administration ‘building.’ I put the tablet in my ‘fanny-pack’ and kick it into high gear. There’s no telling how long this day will be or how many errands I’ll be running.
    After an exhausting amount of twists and turns I finally end up at the corner office. There’s a nameplate on the door with Mr. Volmer’s name on it and underneath it says, “Historian.” Hmm, I think to myself. I wonder why this facility needs a historian. I knock softly on the door and wait ‘till I hear a deep voice telling me to come in. I try and open the door but it stops after only a few feet. I attempt pulling back and opening it again only to be stopped short. “Umm, Mr. Volmer?” I ask.
    “Yes, yes, come in,” he says.
    “Well, that’s the problem sir. I can’t seem to get the door open.” It seems like Captain obvious came for a visit now. I hear some shuffling behind the door and what sounds to be crates of boxes being moved. The door opens a few inches more and a frazzled head sticks out. I’m assuming this is Mr. Volmer. He has white frizzy hair that sticks up in the places he isn’t bald. He's sporting a serious case of male patterned baldness. His bottle cap glasses that cover most of his face magnify his eyes in a creepy mad professor sort of way.
    “Yes, yes what can I do for you young lady,” he asks while sizing me up.
    “Uh, yeah, my name is Willow and it says here that you have something that needs to be delivered to the library?”
    “Ah, yes! Hold on just a minute.” He disappears behind the door and I hear more shuffling followed by sounds of several different book avalanches. Seconds later the door opens a little bit and I’m being given a large stack of books. “Here you go,” he says as he nearly slams the door in my face.
    “Um, thanks,” I say to the door.
    There are about ten books or so in the stack and they all have heavy brown leather covers. I shift their weight in my arms so they’re more easily carried and set off through the labyrinth of offices.
    It seems like forever since I've been to a real library. Obviously being holed up in the house for a few years made it hard for me to go to my favorite place. There's something about the smell of books that speaks to me. I still read a lot on my e-reader back at home but there's something about holding the paper in your hands. I take a second to enjoy the sight then I drop off the books to a librarian who barely glances up at me from her book to acknowledge the delivery. She signs off on my