The library creaks and groans and a small shadow appears. The weight of the books and the memories are too much for the shelves. They speak. Story time on Tuesday.

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The reference desk is not for sitting. Or leaning. Or really any kind of contact.

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This week's story time will be a tale old as time to help young children remember to obey their parents. It's Bloody Bones and Rawhead time!

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The library staff met for our annual staff meeting last week, and we got to talking. We talked about books and DVDs and the stain on the library carpet. Then the topic of our old podcast episodes and blogs came up. How can we make them available to people? Then the tech serve guy piped up, and he's like "Guys, for $1 a month our patrons can join the Friends of the Banned Library on Patreon and get access to over a decade of content, including three hundred plus audio files and gods know how many written posts including original never published fiction." I'll be honest, we didn't even know the tech serv guy could talk. Check it out, patreon.com/bannedlibrary

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The children's department asks that you do not bring outside glitter even if it was given to you in the woods by a unicorn.

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The library summer space camp signups will begin this week on Wednesday, May 6! Join us for two weeks of rocket building and spacesuit designing and alien fighting! Zap Zoop Zoom!

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The library lost and found is full once again. If you have left anything in the library within the last week, please describe it in detail to the dumpster behind the library next to the candy van.

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While writing this, it seems a lot of people are unaware of the story of Bloody Bones and Rawhead. Where have you guys been?! My grandma would tell me and my sister that story every night, and we would cry and cry! Anyway, if you want to prep your child ahead of time, here's the general story my grandma told me (spoiler alert):

Once there was a small child named Navel. Navel lived on a farm with his mother and his father and a few dozen pigs. Navel had one favorite pig that he raised from a tiny baby into a big boar named Squarehead. Squarehead would follow Navel around the farm while he did his chores. When Navel was at school, Squarehead would sit under the apple tree or wallow in the mud.

One day, Navel's father came to him. He gave Navel an axe and told the boy, "Gotta kill ole Squarehead. He's been trying to have sex with the other pigs. Might fight with Old Greg, and we ain't having two boars fighting."

Navel understood, so he called Squarehead over. When the pig got close, Navel swung true and with thirteen and a half chops, cut Squarehead's head off his shoulders. Navel's father took the body to the shed and said, "Say yer goodbyes to ole Squarehead, and throw his head on the pyre."

Navel took the pig's head and gazed into its dead eyes. Eyes that had loved him. Eyes that looked human when running toward him. Eyes that now said, "You should kill them all, Navel."

"What did you say, Squarehead?" Navel said.

"Not Squarehead any more, am I my son? Naw, now I'm Rawhead. And you're gonna kill your parents and feed them to the other pigs," Rawhead said.

"No, I'm not. I can't do that," Navel said.

"You can and you will, my son. You can and you will. Because if you don't, your mum is gonna have another baby. And if it's a girl, they'll love her more than you because she'll be pretty. And if it's a boy, they'll cut your head off because you can't have two boars fighting, can you?"

Navel saw the wisdom in the decapitated pig's head's words. That night in the light of the full moon he crept into his parent's bedroom as they slept and did the deed. It only took six chops. Then he took the pieces in his little wagon out to the pig pen where he dumped the parts.

As he was dumping the parts, Rawhead started laughing. Navel sat on the fence and asked him what he was laughing at.

"You, my son. You sad little boy who just killed his parents, crying and not even knowing it. Poor little Navel just made himself an orphan and will never know love," Rawhead said.

Navel wiped his eyes and saw the tears. "I love you, Rawhead."

"You're a bad boy, Navel. And you'll always be a bad boy. But we can help that, me and my friends. We can turn a bad boy into a useful boy," Rawhead said. Then it blew a strong breath.

The breeze from Rawhead's mouth hit him strong as he sat on the fence. Navel waved his arms. Then he lost his balance and fell into the pig sty. Already with the taste of Navel's family on their tongues and minds, the pigs went at him. Navel did not scream while the pigs ate the flesh from his bones. But Rawhead did laugh.

And as the pigs finished their meal, Navel's bones stirred and stood. Unable to speak, the bones danced around in the mud. Then they went over to Rawhead and picked him up, placing the skull inside the pig's head, slotting perfect as if they were made for each other. The Rawhead began to sing:

"Rawhead and Bloody Bones

takes naughty children from their homes,

Takes'em to a dirty den,

And they are never seen again."

And from then on, if a child was naughty, Rawhead and Bloody Bones would hide in the child's closet. And on the full moon, they would put the child in a potato sack and drag them to their farm to meet the pigs.