[23rd December]
We sighed in relief when we noticed a hint of warm lighting emanating from a corner in the alley. Turning into the narrow aisle, we were astounded when an old dusty store came into view. A vintage welcome sign was hanging by a thread on the rustic wall.
"Ethel, are we here to buy souvenirs..." Ethan tried to suppress a cough from the dust. He was afraid it would be insulting.
"No,
my grandma owns this place." Ethel pushed opened the frosty glass door and it made a loud creaking noise, followed by the sound of bells. Stepping in on the handmade floor rug, I instantly gazed up at the crystal chandeliers and mosaic lamps dangling overhead.
I looked around the shop in wonder. It was clustered with collectible plates, old cameras, metal oil lanterns, and other trinkets. There were also countless wood cabinets filled with antique jewelry and knickknacks of all sorts. I reviewed the price tag of a bracelet. It was only a few bucks!
"Grandma?" Ethel hollered as he shut the door after us. There was no response and we exchanged worried glances.
"You guys can look around the store. I'll find her." with that, Ethel hurried to the back of the shop.
"Wow," Jay exhaled with a grin on his face as he wandered around the store.
"I've not seen anything like this in so long," he spoke as he had a wave of nostalgia.
"A masquerade mask?" I picked up a white mask and traced my fingers over it.
"It was a family heirloom." an elderly woman's voice informed. I delicately put it down to greet Ethel's grandma. How old was she? She looked like she was only a little over fifty! Ethel's grandma walked over with a graceful posture and face with barely any wrinkles. Heck, she was even wearing a pair of five-inch heels!
"Hello!" I chirped and nudged Ethan to do the same. He just stood and stared at her in awe.
"O-oh! Hello!" he gave her a wave and she smiled.
"If you don't mind me asking," Ethan spoke.
"How old are you?" I gasped loudly and smacked the eldest's arm. "That is impolite!" I hissed at him.
Ethel's grandma only laughed. "Not at all, gentlemen. I will be seventy-four in just a few more weeks." my mouth was opened wide in shock.
Seventy-four!? She looks fifty!
"Why, thank you. I get that a lot," she smiled wider as she turned to me. Did I say that out loud!? I tensely chuckled.
"Guys!" Ethel whispered and beckoned us over from behind a bookshelf.
"Go on and be done with your project! I'll do my usual cleaning around here so call me if you youngsters need anything at all." Ethel's grandma waved her wooden dust brush at us.
Ethan and I exchanged worried glances at the cleaning part. This store was like a castle after all! And it required a lot of walking too. Maybe that was how she remained so young.
"Jay?" I called as we followed Ethel to the back. Jay had wandered off somewhere in the store and was nowhere to be seen.
"I'll go look for him," I told Ethel and Ethan before taking cautious steps to the left of the store. Old dolls and paint-distressed signboards littered this building.
"Jay?" I called again, the faint melody of Louis Armstrong's La Vie En Rose playing on the vintage radio seated on the counter at the front.
"Oh-" I briskly lifted my foot in astonishment to see a cat in my path.
"Sorry," I muttered to the small animal. I thought I was crazy when I saw it gave me a small nod before padding away. I did a double-take on the cat before advancing along the corridor.
"Whoa," I exhaled and graced my fingers over a dusty grandfather clock that was about a head taller than me. It was still working, to my surprise. I swiftly paused to skim through the vintage comic books laid on the wooden table rather messily. Spotting something odd on the floor, I bent down to pick it up. I turned the item around in my hand to examine it.
There was a magnifying glass in the golden heart frame. The little hook on top of it told me that it was a pendant. Slowly, I brought it up to my eyes and looked around the place, squinting one eye. It had the fisheye effect on it and multicolored hues, much like a prism under the sun. My lips turned upwards in wonder as I surveyed the area through the glass.
"RAH!" suddenly, Jay leaped into my view and I almost tossed away the pendant by reflex.
"Hey!" I threatened to kick him as I held the golden jewelry tightly. Jay giggled and quickly came to my side.
"What do you have there?"
"No idea, but it's really cool!" I passed Jay the pendant and he immediately raised it to his eyes. I watched as he turned in his position and goggled around the store.
'Wow," he pulled it away and grinned at me.
"Want to ask Ethel's grandma if it's for sale?" Jay suggested.
"I'm calling dibs if it is." he rolled his eyes.
"I was going to get it for you, anyway."
"Oh," I blushed and shyly accompanied him to the others.
"Oh right-" Jay slowed down to show me something he had placed in the pocket of his coat. The store was so warm, why was he still wearing his winter jacket? I had already taken mine off as soon as I entered the place.
'I found this," he revealed a palm-sized white marble statue. It was like those nude baby angels I had seen on many shirts.
"It's so cute!" I cooed and took a closer look at the winged statue.
I had a flashback of the statue on the train but I shook it off. "It reminds me of you," Jay gave me a boyish grin. I blinked and stared at the figurine.
"It does?" I let out a small laugh.
"I'm going to ask her if this is for sale too." Jay stuffed it back into his pocket and continued walking.
"This place is amazing. I can spend hours in here." I sighed in awe.
"Did you know there's a second floor?" Jay pointed to the flight of stairs to his right. It was hidden behind stacked chairs and tables.
"What?" excitement bubbled up inside me.
"Ethel, can we walk around the store later if we finish early?" I immediately questioned when we approached the two. They were sat on a red velvet table that had golden rims at the corners. It felt like royalty. Ethel hummed in approval and beckoned us to sit down. Not long after, Ethel's grandma brought us a plate of British cookies. My eyes lit up. They looked so delicious!
"So, I was thinking we can place a vote on the topic we like the most on this list." Jay pointed to the paper he recently got out. We nodded and leaned in to scan the sheet. I decided to go with the most obnoxious one.
'Dog food-is it yummy?'
But then I thought we'd have to test it ourselves so I retreated and chose another.
'Unicorns are real!!' surely, we can convince the other students, right?
"Actually, I was thinking if we could write something about this shop," Ethan spoke. I had noticed him staring at the store instead of picking a topic earlier. Jay and Ethel perked up.
"Like...?"
"I'm not sure but there are a lot of potentials," Ethan rubbed his chin and continued to wander his eyes around the place.
"Why don't we look around and write whatever comes to mind?" I suggested. Jay was uncertain.
"I'm not so sure about that. It would take a lot of time too,"
"Why don't we choose a topic from this list that might be related?" Ethel tapped a pen on the paper. We looked at each other. With a sigh, we nodded and went back to the paper.
"Unicorns Are Real is speaking to me." the others snickered. I swore I saw a unicorn statue somewhere in the store.
Promptly getting up, I turned to search the shop. "Where are you going?" Ethan questioned; the others stared at me in confusion.
"I'll be back!"
"I swore I saw it somewhere here," I murmured and thoroughly scanned every nook and cranny, even picking up things to get a better look at it.
I recalled the unicorn figurine to be a rustic bronze color which doesn't really help. Almost everything in this store was a warm color, so was the lighting. I chewed on my lips as I looked around the last place I've gone to so far. Out of the blue, the cat I had met earlier circled me.
I instantly grinned and was about to bend down to pet the cat but it moved away to stand opposite me. I arched a brow. With a swivel of its tail, it began marching away. It was as if the cat was telling me to follow it. So, I did, the unicorn statue at the back of my mind.
"Where are you taking me?" I muttered to the cat; the others' voices were fading away. It got me to wonder how tremendous this store was. The cat spun the corner into a dimly lighted corridor and I gasped when I saw the unicorn figurine I had been looking for on the ground.
"Thank you!" I bent down to pet the cat, it purring in content. I hurried to seize the figurine but I tripped on a marble that suddenly rolled in my direction.
I groaned when I fell on my chest so harsh that I was numb for a couple of seconds. Placing my palms on the floor to get up, I froze when my eyes met with someone else's...
...from under the shelf.
I let out a shrill scream and crawled away with my feet until my back hit the opposite shelf. My blood ran cold as a bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. Was I hallucinating? A shiver went down my spine; my eyes were fixed on the dark void at the bottom of the shelf. The lights started flickering and my breath hitched.
Footsteps started approaching me in a rush. "What happened!?" Jay rushed to my side to pull me up but I was paralyzed in my spot.
"Johnny, what happened?" Ethan asked when he came, Ethel followed behind with furrowed eyebrows.
"Th-"
My heartbeat was so fast I could even hear it loud and clear. I felt like I was in a horror movie. It was hard to think or speak so I just steered a shaky finger at the shelf. "P-person," I managed to say. Jay's eyes widened and he gradually turned to where I was pointing.
He let go of me and tentatively got onto his knees beside me. The three of us watched as Jay deliberately planted both of his hands on the ground and lowered himself.
His breath hitched and he reached out a trembling hand to Ethan. "Phone," he simply stated, his eyes never leaving whatever was at the bottom of the shelf. Even Ethel was starting to think his grandma's store was spooked. Without a word, Ethan passed his phone.
Jay gulped as he fumbled with the phone. He activated the torchlight on the device before shining it on the shelf.
"What the heck-" Jay paused for a second before reaching from under the shelf.
"Jay-!" he lifted himself from the ground and revealed a mask in his hand. I quickly got up to take a closer look. The full-face mask looked disturbingly lifelike, even down to the skin texture of the face. My face scrunched up in repugnance and I backed away slightly. I felt a tad bit ashamed for screeching now.
"It was just a mask?" Ethan carefully looked over Jay's shoulder and let out a shocked gasp. Ethel sighed in relief as he stepped towards us.
"For a second I actually thought my grandma's store was haunted."
"It might as well be," Jay turned the mask to Ethel and the boy let out a scream. We were all surprised by how loud it was that our eyes grew. We stared at Ethel who was clutching his hand onto his chest.
"I'm actually quite convinced this is a real person's face." Jay's nose scrunched up when he grazed his fingers over the eyeballs of the mask. How does one even see with this mask on?
"I heard a scream." Ethel's grandma popped out with a broomstick clutched in her hands. It was quite comical.
"This mask is crazy scary." Jay held up the mask to her. Ethel's grandma sighed before taking hold of it.
"This is said to date back to the '40s." that long ago?
"Was it made with an actual person's face?" Ethan asked, eyebrows furrowed in anticipation.
"...it's possible."
Jay shivered and aggressively wiped his hands on his uniform. Ethan suddenly squealed and bounced from foot to foot.
"We can make this our topic for the project!"
"HELL NO."