This wasn’t his regular library, but he needed to keep up his reading. He was looking at the blurb on the back cover of a book, when a group of customer’s came in together. At least he thought they were customers at first, but they seemed to be together. This was despite the fact that their dress was so individual; each being radically different from all the others. The six men wandered into the central open area. He watched them as they settled around a table, then looked across to the front enquiry counter and raised his eyebrows. The man behind made a similar face and cautiously beckoned him over.
“Strange looking mob. Who are they?”
“Debating Club.”
“Wow! That’s interesting.” He looked back at them. “What do they debate?”
The librarian’s face fell. “Religion.”
“Oh! So, they’d be from different religions then?”
“They certainly are.” He produced a clip board. “Of course, I shouldn’t give out their names, but let me see… yes, they represent Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Atheism.”
“Well, I think that’s marvellous!”
“You do, do you?”
“I guess so; people of different belief systems coming together like this. There should be more of it.”
“Ha!”
“What, you don’t think so?”
The librarian grimaced and shook his head. He moved closer. “They’re on notice.”
“On notice?”
“Yep.”
“Really?”
The librarian spoke softer. “Yep. Last month it got ugly.”
“It did?”
“Caused a lot of damage. Had to call the police.”
“Oh!”
“They’ve been given one last chance.”
“Right,” said the man, looking over at the group and seeing that they had started their discussion. A hand came down on the table with a loud slap.
“It’s started,” said the librarian.
“You know, I don’t think it ever stopped,” said the man… and left quietly.