Today marked a full week of being back home. It was a beautiful day too. The sun was out, birds were chirping, and the faint smell of freshly cut grass wafted in through the window from somewhere down the street. All of it was preventing you from sleeping in.
You grumbled and tried to pull your pillow over your head, but the damage was done. You looked at your clock. 10:30. Probably for the best to get up anyways.
Groggily swinging your legs off the bed, you lurched your way up, steadying yourself on your desk chair. A brief look into the mirror revealed just how bad your bedhead was, and you struggled to push down a cowlick or three. Getting dressed, you slowly closed the door behind you to avoid waking Caitlyn and made your way downstairs.
You cringed inwardly when you saw your mother sitting at the table. She looked up from her cup of tea when she heard you enter the kitchen and nodded toward a piece of the newspaper on the counter. Sighing, you grabbed the classifieds and began the process of toasting a poptart.
“The grocery store might need a new bag handler,” your mom started, “I also heard from Hannah that there might be an opening at the pastry place she works at.”
The nagging was annoying, but you just nodded at her suggestions. Your mom meant well. Things at home were still really tense with Caitlyn and the move, so your mom seemed to be dealing with it by “mom”ing you instead.
“I was actually about to head into town,” you said through a mouthful of poptart, “I’ll keep an eye out for some of these.”
Your mother smiled. “It’ll give you a bit of structure to have a job, love. Oh! And make sure you’re home by six. We’re visiting Hannah for dinner tonight.”
You half heard her as you were already out the door. The summer air outside was a lot less suffocating.
~-~-~
The walk into town wasn’t far - only thirty minutes - and you were quickly in the town square. You’d been exploring for the past few days and had begun to recognize some of the buildings, even though they all looked fairly similar. Two words could describe Mallorysville: quaint and old. The town square especially looked like you had gone back in time and stepped into the 1800s.
Your mom had told you and Caitlyn the reason you had moved here was because you had a family member lived nearby. But between not having met this supposed family member and your trips into town, you were beginning to suspect she hadn’t been entirely truthful. After all, your dad had always loved these types of places - historic, old, and with a story to tell.
Your mind drifted to thoughts about your dad, good and bad, and his mysterious disappearance three years ago. In fact, you were so preoccupied, you didn’t notice you had wandered to a place you didn’t recognize until you realized you were completely alone on the street. Looking up and down the road, you realized you couldn’t really even hear the usual hubbub of chatter or cars or whatever else a town might have. It was eerily quiet. A bit apprehensively, you turned to go back the way you came, but you found you didn’t recognize any landmarks. You were lost.
“Shit,” you muttered under your breath. Best to find someone and ask for directions. Since there was no one on the street, you should probably find a building and ask inside. Craning your neck, you saw a shop up ahead. Oddly, it seemed to be the only building that opened onto this particular street. That did make your choice easier, however.
From the outside, the shop was much like all the other buildings in town - small and old. All of the windows on the front seemed to be covered however, and you couldn’t see inside. The only thing indicating it was even a shop was the sign hanging above it’s door.
Shae’s Antiques
Pushing the door open caused the twinkling of a bell above your head. Inside, the shop seemed a lot larger. There was a main entryway that opened onto a first floor. Farther in the back, you could see stairs up to a second floor with a balcony that allowed you to see back down onto the first floor. From the ceiling, the entire place was lit with a chandelier that almost seemed to contain candles. That would be impossible however because the entire shop was a fire hazard. The whole place was covered with shelves and old looking items - everything from paintings to clothes to jewelry. The windows as you could now see were covered with some sort of black cloth, giving the entire place a slightly cramped feeling. Somewhere between cozy and claustrophobic.
You could make out a few people, presumably customers, milling between the shelves looking at items, but they paid you no mind. One person did, however.
“Hello, welcome to Shae’s Antiques, Jack!”
Behind the counter, right by the door, the shopkeep waved you over. She was on the taller side, with fiery red hair pulled up into a bun. She looked a bit younger than your mom, but dressed strangely, almost like she had the fashion sense of a much older person. Her thick woolen sweater did little to hide the size and shape of her impressive chest, however, and you found your eyes drawn down before you remembered your manners.
“Uh, hi. I’m sorry, have we met?”
She laughed - a light, pleasant sound. “In a sense. I knew your dad back in the day. I have to say, you look a lot like him.”
You stiffened. “Ah. And you are?”
If the woman noticed your slight change in tone, she didn’t react to it. “My name is Cleo Shae. This is my store.” She smiled a bit. “People don’t usually come here unless they have a reason to. Usually, they need a bit of a change in their life that they can’t find anywhere else.”
You cocked your head a bit. “Well, I’m actually here to get directions, so I- “
Cleo cut you off with a sweep of her hand. “You’ll find your way home once you’ve found what you’re looking for. And don’t worry! First thing you get here is free!”
That got your ears to pick up a bit. Free? From the look of some of this stuff, it definitely had to be worth something. “What’s the catch?”
Cleo laughed again. “No catch! Most people just can’t keep away once they’ve tried one of my items. Lots of repeat business.”
Well. You didn’t have the directions you were looking for, but you certainly could pass some time here. Who knows? You might even find something valuable. What to do first?
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