And on that longest, darkest night, if the stars align and the great planets burn together in the heavens, a visitor will slither down their pallid radiance. At ITs presence, this fragile Earth will tremble, and the library doors will melt away before ITs touch.

IT will leave grooves in the floor as it passes, the stones cracking beneath impossible chemistries. When IT touches a shelf, all the volumes stacked there recoil, their pages curling in mute despair. And when at last IT approaches the counter, the librarian on duty will realise at last that there are some things no amount of training can prepare you for.

"I have come," IT will hiss, in a thousand voices of madness and misery. "I am seeking..." The words will hang in the air for an eternity before it continues: "... a book. I don't remember the title, but it had a black cover..."

(Written for the Great Solstice Conjunction)