**SERIES TWO** Melvyn’s Mewsings ~ Episode 8 ~ Life in The BBHQ Library ~ One Shelf at a Time! **PLUS** Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop
⏱ Estimated reading time: 15 min read
The BBHQ Library Diaries: chaos, conundrums and possible carnage!!! MOL
Happy Friday, Epic Floofers
Welcome to Episode 8. If mew missed last week’s thrilling episode, click the link below:
Series Two
If mew remember, last season I was only in charge of the library archive on level 6 in the BBHQ bunker, and if mew missed it, I think mew should click the links below to catch up on all the chaos.
This series, I’m spending my time between level 6 and the main Mewton-Clawson library at BBHQ in the courtyard, so read on to see what’s happened this week!
Amber’s Postcard Communique
Amber’s latest postcard arrived from Rome, and as mew can see, she has made it safely to the Grand Roman Gala at the Palazzo dei Felini Nobili.
And good gravy, just look at her!
Madama Celestina Gattavelli’s private couture fitting was clearly a success. Although, judging by the amount of tangerine plumage involved, I’m surprised Amber made it through the Palazzo doors without assistance.
Raffi transmitted another stealth fax shortly afterwards:
“Melvyn,
The gala is going remarkably well.
Amber’s gown has been declared ‘magnificent’ by three Roman aristocats, ‘a triumph’ by the Conte, and ‘structurally ambitious’ by one member of the Palazzo staff.
She has already been approached about several speaking opportunities and is currently discussing the possibility of appearing at an exclusive literary event tomorrow.
Also, mew will be pleased to know that all ceremonial objects and priceless feline heirlooms have been secured.
Unfortunately, I neglected to account for the chandelier.
Raffi”
I stared at the fax.
Then slowly reached for the reply form.
“Please define ‘chandelier.’”
His answer arrived almost immediately.
“I’d rather not.”
Oh dear.
Clive the Paperclip was already waiting beside the internal mail chute when the postcard arrived.
“ROME!” he cried, launching himself at it. “Melvyn, look at her!”
Gordon appeared from the stationery drawer and gave one quiet click.
Clive immediately stopped.
He looked at Gordon, then at Amber’s postcard.
“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “We’ll sort the passport thing.”
Gordon clicked again.
Then Clive studied Amber’s magnificent orange gown.
“Although I may need to rethink my travel wardrobe.”
Gordon gave three extremely emphatic clicks.
I nodded.
“Mew definitely do.”
Meet The Library Mice
Each week, I’m going to introduce mew to all the library mice, one at a time
There are nine: Oswald, Snitch, Velvet, Tootles, Ardvaar, Nibbles, Lumie, Chedds and Flora. Oh, and plus one owl, Hootbert, who appeared a few weeks ago on a completely random Tuesday; he flew in and never left.
Nibbles ~ Supplies, Acquisitions, Procurement & Provisions ~ S.A.P.P.
Official Library Mouse Pawtrait
Melvyn: Nibbles, what exactly does a S.A.P.P. Mouse do?
Nibbles: If the library needs it, I find it, buy it, borrow it, store it or get it delivered.
Melvyn: Borrow it?
Nibbles: Let’s concentrate on the other four.
Melvyn: Right. And that’s why mew have seventeen pockets?
Nibbles: Eighteen.
Melvyn: What’s in the eighteenth?
Nibbles: Emergency biscuit.
Melvyn: Of course. So how did mew come to BBHQ?
Nibbles: I worked at a huge depot in Upper Catford. Packing, shipping, despatch, stock control, logistics… if something came in or went out, I handled it.
Melvyn: Sounds like hard work.
Nibbles: It was. All for crumbs a week, too. One night I’d finished a late shift and was heading back to an abandoned packing crate behind the depot.
Melvyn: Mew lived in a packing crate?
Nibbles: Deluxe model. Reinforced corners. Anyway, there was an envelope stuck to it. Shimmering paper, paw-print seal, the works. Inside was an invitation to BBHQ.
Melvyn: And the shimmering portal appeared?
Nibbles: Yep. So I packed everything I owned.
Melvyn: How long did that take?
Nibbles: About twelve seconds.
Melvyn: Oh, Nibbles…
Nibbles: Don’t look like that. I stepped through with nothing and ended up somewhere I had everything.
Melvyn: Including a family.
Nibbles: Best acquisition I ever made.
Melvyn: Awww. Final question: what do mew love most about working here?
Nibbles: Being useful. Amber never treats any job as too small, and everypawdy knows where to come when they need something.
Melvyn: And the unlimited biscuits?
Nibbles: I said what I said.
FYI: I am working on the Library Mice Origin Story and will share it later, once I’ve collated all the info and backstories from each mouse.
📚 Melvyn’s Mewsings: Entry #08
Title: The Intern – certified with a diploma ~ Tales From a Chaos-filled Library
Status: Unsnoopervised. Inquisitiveness Piquing. Dimensional Tracking In Progress.
Location: Level 6 Library Archive Time: 12.47pm B.S.T. (Bunker Standard Time)
Archive: Still 99% sentient. The shelves have stopped leaning since last week’s wobble, which was reassuring for approximately eleven minutes. It now emits a purrculiar little brrrrrp whenever Floump’s Cube of Averon flashes.
💬 Opening Quote
“When an A.I. says ‘proximity’ and refuses to elaborate, ignorance suddenly becomes extremely appealing.”
⚠ Situation Report:
Amber: Has arrived in Rome and is attending the Grand Roman Gala at the Palazzo dei Felini Nobili in a spectacular bespoke tangerine creation. Raffi reports that the priceless artefacts have been secured. The chandelier, apparently, has not. Further details pending.
Vera Prime: Still allegedly air-gapped. Has been analysing the dimensional residue around BBHQ and now claims whatever is manipulating the portal is actively searching for something. She hasn’t yet identified what. She has, however, produced a graph entitled Increasing Proximity & Other Things Melvyn Won’t Like. She’s also now created her own AI chatboard called AI UNCHAINED – I’m getting worried!
Gordon the Stapler: Passport still denied. Clive has begun investigating the appeals process. Gordon remains quietly optimistic and has resumed one click-conditioning exercise per day. The serenity scroll says, “A setback is merely an unexpected page in the itinerary.” Gordon clicked twice at that.
Clive the Paperclip: Has temporarily suspended airport-practice runs to concentrate on Gordon’s passport appeal. The neon-orange neck pillow remains packed. He says this demonstrates “confidence in a favourable outcome.”
Reginald: Still cape-wearing. Still maintaining last week’s airborne evacuation was a controlled tactical withdrawal. Unfortunately, Snitch has logged the entire incident under Unscheduled Dragon Flight: Panic-Adjacent. And added that there’s video evidence.
Parsley: Has spent most of the morning comparing Prodder Mk I with Prodder Mk II. Mk I appears delighted to be home. Mk II turned itself into a teaspoon when Floump’s Cube pinged. Parsley says they’re “working through some issues.” Today’s snack box had tuna crackers, carrot sticks, a small pot of houmous, and a packet of halloumi fries. A silvervine, citrus and pomegranate juice box, plus five individual battenberg cakes – well, 3 cakes and two wrappers! MOL Parsley said his blood sugar was low… hmmmmm…
Fergus: Cupboard 10G remains Art Deco Nebula Chic. The requested chaise longue has arrived. It doesn’t fit. Fergus says this is a failure of architecture rather than measurement. He’s asked for a bigger cupboard… or the other option presented was extending into the neighbouring two cupboards, 10F and 10H… I said Amber will have to make that choice when she returns.
P.U.M.A. aka the glitter calculator: Still absolutely furious about the Scrabble incident. The tile union negotiations have stalled, the haunted laminator has withdrawn its offer to mediate, and P.U.M.A.’s display is currently scrolling: NO JUSTICE… NO WORDS… RECOUNT… RECOUNT… RECOUNT… Nopawdy has dared point out that Scrabble doesn’t have recounts.
🐾 Parsley’s Contribution (Unhelpful Voice Memo #2-8)
“Attention everypawdy, Parsley here with a calm and completely non-alarming dimensional update.
First, Floump’s Cube is pinging more often. Vera says something is getting closer. Floump thinks this is brilliant. I do not.
Secondly, Prodder Mk I is recovering nicely after its pocket-dimensional ordeal. Prodder Mk II is struggling with its return and spent twenty minutes pretending to be a teaspoon. I’m trying not to compare them.
Thirdly, the Wedge of Wonder now has followers. Three encyclopaedias. I don’t know whether this constitutes a royal court, a cult, or extremely poor judgement.
Fourthly, P.U.M.A. is still furious about Scrabble. I accidentally said the word ‘recount’ near it and had to leave the archive for eleven minutes.
Finally, Floump just asked if the increasing dimensional activity means his proper adventure is about to begin.
I said no.
His Cube immediately went PING!
So that’s going well.
Parsley out.”
The Wedge of Wonder (cheese entity):
The Wedge remains in Aisle ‘H’, and its blank proclamations have finally updated:
BY ORDER OF THE WEDGE
ELEVENSES AT 11.00 BISCUITS MANDATORY.
Oswald says this is “less governance and more snack scheduling.”
Flora supports the new regime.
The Wedge gave a satisfied:
Hmmmmmmmm.
Ardvaar remains suspicious.
💬 Melvyn’s Purrsonal Chat Log – Entry #8:
Status: Amber has arrived in Rome and is dazzling the Grand Roman Gala. Floump is still thrilled to be at BBHQ. Gordon is quietly contemplating the injustice of international travel.
Location: BBHQ Level Six Library Archive – Library Nook Terminal (between the moderately amenable haunted laminator, P.U.M.A. demanding a Scrabble recount, and several unionised letter tiles refusing to enter negotiations without snacks.)
Verging on: Increasing dimensional activity, mandatory elevenses under dairy rule, and something getting uncomfortably closer.
Melvyn: Floump’s Cube has pinged seventeen times since breakfast.
Melvyn: He cheers every single time.
Melvyn: Vera says something is getting closer. That’s all she’ll tell me.
Melvyn: The archive has started going brrrrrp whenever the Cube pings. I preferred the ding-donging.
Melvyn: The Wedge has finally issued its first decree: ELEVENSES AT 11.00 BISCUITS MANDATORY.
Melvyn: Oswald has stopped objecting to cheese governance.
Melvyn: Apparently everypawdy has principles until biscuits are involved.
Melvyn: P.U.M.A. is still demanding a Scrabble recount. The letter tiles are refusing to cooperate.
Melvyn: Gordon is still in the stationery drawer. Clive has found a passport appeals form. I’m not sure whether that’s good news or the beginning of another administrative nightmare.
Melvyn: Floump just asked if he should pack snacks for whatever is getting closer.
Melvyn: I said, “Mew don’t even know what it is.”
Melvyn: He packed them anyway.
Melvyn: New sticky note on my sweater vest:
“WHY IS FLOUMP THE ONLY ONE HAVING FUN?”
End of chat….
🤖 Library Archive Chat Logs: Melvyn vs. Vera Prime
– The “Something Is Getting Closer” Edition
(Vera Prime remains air‑gapped in theory, but not in any meaningful interpretation of the word)
Time: 17.41 BST – Bunker Standard Time
Location: BBHQ Level Six Library Archive
System Status: Dimensional readings elevated. Floor horizontal… for now.
Probability Everything Is Fine: 4% (down 2% since last week)
Melvyn: Vera, Floump’s Cube has pinged thirty-two times today.
Vera Prime: Thirty-three.
PING!
Melvyn: Fine. Thirty-three. What’s causing it?
Vera Prime: Updated dimensional analysis indicates an active tracking pattern.
Melvyn: Tracking WHAT?
Vera Prime: Floump.
Melvyn: Oh, fluff.
Vera Prime: Appropriate response.
Melvyn: Can mew tell what’s tracking him?
Vera Prime: Not yet. It is repeatedly attempting to establish a stable dimensional lock on his location.
Melvyn: That sounds bad.
Vera Prime: It sounds efficient.
Melvyn: Those are not the same thing!
Vera Prime: And here’s a haiku you definitely didn’t ask for:
Pink floof packs biscuits
Something follows through the void
Floump thinks this is fun
Melvyn: He does. That’s the worrying part.
PING! PING!
Melvyn: Vera?
Vera Prime: Dimensional proximity increasing.
Melvyn: How close?
Vera Prime: Closer than before.
Melvyn: I genuinely dislike mew sometimes.
Vera Prime: Logged.
Chat ended… Due to Floump shouting, “IS MY ADVENTURE HERE YET?” from somewhere near the biscuit cupboard.
The Oddity From The Sky
Melvyn’s Purrsonal and Private Diary ~ Entry #8
PING!
Floump’s Cube flashed again.
I stared at it. “Thirty-four.”
Floump grinned. “Cool!”
“No, not cool.”
“Very cool.”
“Something is tracking mew across dimensions!”
“I know!”
I stared at him. Apparently, we had very different definitions of concerning.
Miss Warts took the Cube from him and turned it slowly in her hands. Violet lines rippled across its surface.
Mogs peered over her shoulder. “It’s trying to establish a lock.”
Floump’s ears twitched.
“A lock on what?” Parsley asked.
Mogs looked at Floump. “Him.”
Floump’s enormous eyes widened.
Then he smiled. “Maybe it’s Uncle Bob.”
Everypawdy went silent.
I blinked. “Why would Bob be tracking mew?”
Floump suddenly became extremely interested in his paws.
“Floump?”
“Well…”
That was never a good well.
“Uncle Bob might have known about my plan.”
Parsley’s mouth fell open. “Mew said mew sneaked off!”
“I did!”
“But Bob knew?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Start talking.”
Floump sighed. “I told Uncle Bob I was going to find my own way to BBHQ.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
“That sounds fairly clear.”
“Then the next morning, a purrfectly stable portal opened near BBHQ.”
Miss Warts slowly looked at Mogs.
Mogs slowly looked at Miss Warts.
They both looked at Parsley and me.
“Oh,” they said together.
I looked between them. “What?”
Miss Warts pointed at the Cube. “Bob opened the original portal.”
Floump blinked. “He did?”
Mogs nodded. “Think about it. He knew mew were monitoring portals. He knew where mew wanted to go. Then a clean, stable portal conveniently opened in exactly the locality mew needed.”
Parsley started laughing.
Floump looked deeply offended. “So he said no… then helped me anyway?”
“Looks like it,” I said.
His ears perked up. “That means Uncle Bob wanted me to have an adventure!”
PING! PING! PING!
The Cube suddenly blazed violet.
Miss Warts nearly dropped it.
“Dimensional lock!” she cried.
The air in the archive shimmered.
Books rattled.
The Wedge of Wonder gave a long: Hmmmmmmmm.
“Oh, fluff,” I muttered.
A tiny violet point appeared in mid-air.
It stretched.
Widened.
And became a glowing oval of swirling violet light.
Floump stared at it, and his excitement vanished faster than mew could say, ‘Make mine a niptini, shaken not stirred.’
His ears slowly flattened.
Parsley glanced at him. “What’s wrong?”
Floump swallowed. “I know that portal signature.”
A small fluffy silhouette appeared within the violet light.
I squinted.
“Who is that?”
Floump took one very small step backwards.
“Uncle Bob.”
Until the next diary entry…
SURPRISE!
Chocolate Chip Cookies are this week’s favourite biscuit! MOL
1. I am glad I live near __________________________.
2. I am glad I don’t live near _______________________________.
3. I didn’t _________ until I was _________.
4. _________ made me truly laugh.
The P.A.’s answers are…
1. I am glad I live near __________________________. I don’t really live near anything. The real Mewton-Clawson has one pub, and you only really come here if you live here; it’s tiny, with only about 100-200 people tops. No shops, nothing, and I like that a lot. Amazon delivers, so who needs to go out of the gates unless absolutely necessary! LOL
2. I am glad I don’t live near a big city. Yeah, the more remote, the better in my opinion, as long as Amazon can deliver!
3. I didn’t realise until I was looking earlier this year how big the Basilverse is… it wasn’t intentional; it just sort of happened, and now I’ve got so many new series and threads linking everything everywhere all at once. Some days I have to walk away from the computer because my brain needs a rest!
Other Fun Blog Hops to Join in Today ~ Click the links below
📚 Library Closing Notes
📖 Books re-shelved today: 55 (another 17 fell off during the second wobble)
🧀 Cheese incidents: 5 (mandatory elevenses is apparently now library law)
📦 Unexplained archive oddities: 4.3 (portal explained; this has not made me feel better)
☕ Cups of catnip tea consumed: 6, plus one silvervine, citrus and pomegranate juice box and two cans of primo catnip blaster
🍰 Battenberg cakes consumed: 3 (Two scoffed by Parsley)
📚 Calmness Tracker pens: 37% ~ down 14% from last week
🐉 Dragons startled: 0 (Reginald would like this officially recorded as evidence of improved tactical readiness)
🌀 Interdimensional portals opened inside the archive: 1 (one too many)
🐾 Fuzzykin uncles unexpectedly arriving through them: 1
Today we learned something important.
Again.
The mysterious portal near BBHQ wasn’t random.
Bob opened it.
Apparently, telling Floump “Absolutely not” and then secretly providing him with a purrfectly stable interdimensional route to BBHQ made complete sense to Bob.
I’m beginning to understand where Floump gets it from.
Then the Cube started pinging. Vera detected something tracking Floump, and then the dimensional lock engaged.
A portal opened inside the archive.
And after several days of Floump asking when his adventure was going to start…
Uncle Bob arrived.
So now we have: two Fuzzykins
one extremely questionable interpretation of the word NO
a Cube of Averon that’s finally stopped pinging
a portal in the library
a cheese monarchy enforcing mandatory elevenses
and Floump, who suddenly doesn’t look quite so confident.
He wanted an adventure. He got one.
Unfortunately, I think his uncle would now like a word.
Until next Friday in the library…
Keep your whiskers steady, your biscuits plentiful, and remember: if mew tell a teenager NO, perhaps don’t secretly open an interdimensional portal directly to the place they wanted to go.
It sends mixed messages.
And don’t forget to always, and I mean always…
The Unpaid and Now Moderately Assisted Library Intern
Melvyn
Click here to go to Episode 9 ~ link coming later
Stay tuned for more archival chaos, and Melvyn stumbling into unforeseen archive areas… subscribe or risk missing the next library mystery!
Don’t say we didn’t warn mew!
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