A Lemur In The Library: Part Five

A LEMUR IN THE LIBRARY
Part Five
by Lauri Fortino

Lemur

“Let’s hope it likes bananas,” said the librarian, as she retrieved the one she was saving for lunch.
She broke it into a half dozen pieces.
“Ready?” she asked the page.
He nodded.
They placed five chunks of the banana in a trail leading from the periodical section, where the lemur was lounging on a bed of shredded magazines and newspapers, to the storage closet.
The librarian tossed the sixth into the middle of the closet.
Then she and the page hid inside a nearby meeting room and waited.
Within minutes, the lemur detected the sweet aroma of ripe banana.
It scrambled down from the magazine rack, bits of torn paper flying everywhere, and followed the scent to the first chunk, which it swallowed in one bite.
It didn’t take long for the lemur to find and devour all five pieces.
Then it stood in front of the open closet, nose twitching.
“Almost there,” whispered the librarian.
The page gripped the net tightly.
Suddenly, the lemur took off toward the captivating glow of the public computers, all of which had been hastily abandoned midsession by library patrons.
“It’s smart,” said the page.
“Too smart,” said the librarian.
TO BE CONTINUED