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"Tell the about Zofia and libraries is that she’s always losing library books She says that she hasn’t lost them, and in fact that they aren’t even overdue, really It’s just that even one week inside the faery handbag is a lot longer in library-world time So what is she supposed to do about it? The librarians all hate Zofia She’s banned froht, she got raphies and science books and soette Heyer romance novels My mother was livid when she found out, but it was too late Zofia had already misplaced most of them

It’s really hard to write about somebody as if they’re really dead I still think Zofiaso She’s waiting forto return those library books now

My mother used to co therandmother is a horrible liar"

Zofia would fold up the Scrabble board and shrug at me and Jake "I’m a wonderful liar," she’d say "I’m the best liar in the world Prole word"

But she wouldn’t tell the story of the faery handbag to Jake Only the old Baldeziwurlekistanian folktales and fairytales about the people under the hill She told him about how she and her husbandin haystacks and in barns, and how once, when her husband went off to find food, a far in his chicken coop and tried to rape her But she opened up the faery handbag in the way she showedcame out and ate the far Jake and me how to curse in Baldeziwurleki I also kno to say I love you, but I’ain, except to Jake, when I find him

When I was eight, I believed everything Zofia told le word When I was fifteen, I saw a et on Zofia’s three-speed bicycle and ride down the street His clothes looked funny He was a lot younger than h I’d never seen him before, he was farocery store I waited just past the checkout lanes while he bought peanut butter, Jack Daniels, half a dozen instant cameras, and at least sixty packs of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, three bags of Hershey’s kisses, a handful of Milky Way bars and other stuff from the rack of checkout candy While the checkout clerk was helping hi up all of that chocolate, he looked up and saw ht?"

I turned and ran out of the store He grabbed up the bags and ran after e back I was still running away, and then one of the straps on my flip flops popped out of the sole, the way they do, and that ry so I just stopped I turned around

"Who are you?" I said

But I already knew He looked like he could have been er brother He was really cute I could see why Zofia had fallen in love with him

His name was Rustan Zofia told my parents that he was an expert in Baldeziwurlekistanian folklore ould be staying with her for a few days She brought him over for dinner Jake was there too, and I could tell that Jake knew sooing on

"You mean Baldeziwurlekistan is a real place?"the truth?"

I could see that Rustan was having a hard time with that one He obviously wanted to say that his as a horrible liar, but then where would he be? Then he couldn’t be the person that he was supposed to be

There were probably a lot of things that he wanted to say What he said was, "This is really good pizza"

Rustan took a lot of pictures at dinner The next day I ith hiht back some fil, but those didn’t coot doubles of the pictures froreat picture of Jake, sitting outside on the porch He’s laughing, and he has his hand up to his h I have that picture up on ht a Cadbury Crea for Rustan Then we shook hands and he kissed me once on each cheek "Give one of those kisses to your ht about how the next tie, and he would only be a few days older The next tiht have kids That was too weird

I know Rustan tried to get Zofia to go with hi, but she wouldn’t

"It makes me dizzy in there," she used to tell me "And they don’t have movie theaters And I have to look after your h to look after the handbag, I’ll poke h for a little visit"