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One of the many things upon the teetering stacks of many other things that Heaven had never told Muriel about regarding earth were the smells. Mainly the smells of these so-called books. There must have been some sort of miracled enchantment within the pages of the materiel objects because once Muriel unfurled the aged worn-out paper within their grasp and inhaled that old musty scent… it became hard to stop.
Muriel even began to feel a bit light headed after some time of repeating the action. What had begun as something that provided a sense of comfort and ease turned into quite the dizzying experience.
After regaining their footing, Muriel stood in front of one of the various shelves in the bookshop and found themselves overwhelmed. Heaven was not much for maximalism, and this shop was the definition of it. The shelves towered all around Muriel like great looming forces, and the deep and dark colors of the shop were a stark contrast to the bright, blinding ones that shrouded Heaven’s holy shining offices.
While this new place made Muriel feel a certain level of security that they could not quite describe as ever having felt before, its foreign state was also a bit disconcerting. Then again, when one spent thousands of years in the same office setting with the same uneventful job and tasks, that was likely to be the case.
Now that the initial shock and awe of coming down to earth for the very first time had come and gone like an angelic feather in the wind, it was time for the true processing to commence.
It did not help matters that Muriel was now utterly alone with little to no direction of what to do next regarding the running of such a place as a bookshop.
The Metatron hadn’t been very clear at all on the technicalities when he had instructed them to take charge of it in Aziraphale’s absence. Muriel wasn’t even confident if the Metatron knew what the bookshop was really meant for either.
If he had, he couldn’t have known as much as Aziraphale did. The now newly appointed archangel had been running it and living in it for a little over two hundred years! But Aziraphale was gone now. For possibly quite a long time.
Muriel would have liked to have sat and continued reading and smelling more books, but that had already gone on for some time and, wooziness aside, they were beginning to feel that creeping sense of obligation to be busy as they had been in Heaven.
There really was no one around that barked orders about what to do any more, and there came a freeing yet uneasy sense that arrived beside such a liberation. No Michael, no Uriel, no Gabriel. No angels at all of any feather or any rank. Nothing but humans for as far as Muriel could see all along down Wickber Street and beyond.
As the day pressed on, people passed by the shop in droves, and eventually one or two trickled in to browse the displays.
Muriel had watched them intently, wondering if they were to take notes, ask questions, or just let them be. Judging by the sharp toned words of one human in particular after Muriel attempted to persistently question them, they assumed the very latter and resolved to stick to their corner with their own personal stack of books. “The Crow Road” sat atop them. The one that the demon Crowley had given to Muriel the last day they had seen him, or any of the other angels and demons for that matter. Muriel plucked the book into their grasp and cracked it open.
It wasn’t long before a human approached Muriel with the question of taking home a certain book that they had selected off one of the nearby shelves.
Not fully comprehending what the human was asking when referring to the term ‘purchase’, Muriel had ended up giving away the book for absolutely nothing in return. In seeing how delighted it made them, Muriel had assumed they had done the correct thing and gleefully began offering more free books to any individual that so much as set foot into the shop.
By the end of the day, crowds of people had stopped by, hearing of free books at the old bookshop on the corner that had previously been run by a rather testy and possessive bookseller.
That night, when humans stopped coming and the shop closed, Muriel felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment and even found themselves humming that cheerful tune the angel Gabriel had been singing during his stay at the shop.
The next day proved to be far busier than the last. Muriel gave away so many books that they had lost count! Though they had made sure to keep their favorites in the back so they could remember not to give away those in particular.
The atmosphere buzzed with joyous chatter and energy. People were beaming at Muriel and thanking them. “This is so generous of you!” One had said as she walked out the door with an armful of five books.
Muriel had finally gotten it! This shop running job was much easier than previously thought. And Muriel had figured it out all on their own without any sort of direction whatsoever. What would Heaven think?!
At a slower portion of the day, just as evening began to creep up again, the bookshop bell rang out and Muriel turned with a glowing smile to greet the newcomer. Then the tall and lanky figure took off their dark sunglasses to reveal snakey, yellow eyes.
Muriel blinked. “Mr. Crowley?” They said, setting down a book they had been holding. “Well, hello again! Was wondering if you would be coming back here anytime soon. You know I’ve wanted to thank you for the book you gave me. I’ve been quite enjoying it!”
“What are you doing?” The demon’s words were quick and sharp. His typical irritated tone was mostly unchanged since their last meeting, but his eyes looked different. Weaker.
Muriel’s smile dropped instantly.
“Why, I’m running the shop while Mr. Aziraphale is away - being the new archangel and all! Thought you knew that. That’s okay. I tend to forget some things as well.” They replied with a nervous chuckle.
Crowley’s eyes narrowed and he scanned the shop suspiciously. “Have you really been… giving away books?” He asked.
Muriel blinked, glanced at the increasingly emptying shelves and bit their lip. “Um… yes? Is that not what you’re supposed to do? As a bookshop owner?”
“No!” Crowley blurted. “I mean… yes, but not for free! That’s a library. And there’s a whole transaction of sorts for that as well… according to Aziraphale, anyway. You can’t just hand out books to people like its free candy on Halloween. Especially not these books!”
“Oh?” Muriel’s heart sank. They had been so certain that they had been doing the correct thing. Humans had been smiling. Happy! Everything had been going so well. It made no sense. Earth made no sense.
Muriel looked at the shelves the customers had been clearing. There was a wrongness and almost sadness about the vacantness of them.
Muriel turned to the demon, feeling as if they might burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Nobody told me… what should I do?” They asked, voice wavering.
Crowley turned a stern gaze to Muriel. The weariness was still there. Then his eyes changed a bit to something sadder. It almost looked like he had been transported somewhere else. Another time. He softened. “That’s a good question.” He said eventually, his voice lower and more distant than before. His pointy shoulders drooped and he sauntered towards the nearest shelf.
After staring for a beat, Crowley plucked a battered little paperback from the top. “Well, you could start by rearranging this shelf to look less… like this.” He gestured loosely to the emptiness of the lower half of the shelf. “Then we’ll have a talk about how… Mr. Aziraphale used to run things.” He offered the book to Muriel. “Good?”
Muriel felt a grin begin to form on their face again. They sniffled and nodded, taking the book from Crowley. “Jolly good!” They whipped the pages in front of their face and inhaled strongly through their nostrils. That sense of calm and comfort swept over them once again.
Crowley raised an eyebrow and seemed to force down a… chuckle?
“Bibliosmia.” He eventually said before going back to collect more books.
“Pardon?” Asked Muriel.
“That’s what Aziraphale called it. The smell of books.” Said the demon without shifting focus from his new task.
“Oh,” Muriel murmured, new awe engulfing them. “My, what a marvelous word!”
“Lots of words you’re gonna learn if you stick ‘round down here long enough.” Crowley responded. “And hey, if you have any questions about ‘em… or anything else... don’t be afraid to ask.”