The door does not lead to a city but to what, at first glance, seems like an immense library that contains not just books but various objects as well.

“This is Qasim,” Paheli says, nodding at the boy. “He is one of the librarians here at the…” She pauses and looks at the boy. “Perhaps you ought to introduce this place.”

Qasim smiles at us. His gaze encompasses all of us without judgment or rancor. There are other patrons in the library, but none of them look toward us or display any curiosity at our entrance.

We are standing beside the door to the Between, which, unlike any other door we have encountered, seems fixed in place, on a small platform from which a staircase descends to lower levels. The middle of the library is an atrium, and around it are many levels that are enclosed by railings. We are standing on the highest level.

The boy moves toward the railing and gestures to the space beyond him. “Welcome to the Library of the Lost and the Silenced. We do not curate works of literature, carefully crafted and revised, but the lives of people clumsily lived and easily ended. The stories of the silenced occupy positions of honor here at the library. Follow me.”

He leads us down one level to a section labeled OUT OF TIME and gestures to a large collection of objects housed in glass cubes. “I am not just a librarian but also a collector of stories contained in the object a person most values. That object holds that person’s life story after they move on.” Perhaps he notices the skepticism on our faces because his lips quirk. “What, do you not think an object can be read?” He takes out a scuffed leather shoe from a glass cube and brings it carefully to a viewing table nearby. He sets the shoe down and gestures us closer.