After eating our lunch at a nearby restaurant, we continued our mystery hunt.
"What's with this ridiculous mystery again?" I complained as I rub my hair.
"Why do you have to complain again? Geez. Besides, this snack shop is not far from here." Arya commented as she takes a glance at my bored face.
"Yeah yeah. Let's just hurry up and finish this adventure of yours. I'm getting sleepy." We just finished eating so I felt kind of sleepy. And this mystery wasn't helping to keep me awake. Indeed, mentioning a fairy had its appeal to it. But eating a snack to summon a fairy? Come on. Whoever thought of this mystery probably had some serious problem.
"What's with that attitude? You really can't be honest with yourself."
"Wha-"
"Anyway, let's go. Time is precious after all."
Though most people preferred buying snacks at the convenient store, old snack bars were still in the business. This was especially true in the village where I and Arya live. One of these snack bars, and probably the biggest of the most popular, was the one where we were headed to.
After arriving at our destination, we quietly entered the said shop. The moment we opened the door, we were welcomed by an unmistakably sweet sugary scent. What came after was even more surprising. Inside was something that not even the convenient store can hope to be compared with. Countless different snacks and candies were stacked in shelves taller than us. I even saw snacks that were not even sold at the convenient store. Toys of different sizes and shapes were hanged on the wall, surrounding the whole shop. It felt like we were kids in a large house made up of sweets and toys. Right beside the entrance was a wooden table where an old lady, sitting on a reclining chair, counts the money she has earned.
"Ah, the smell of sugar. Hey, grandma. How's the business going?" Arya greeted the old lady with her ever so cheerful smile.
"Well, it is fine." The old lady softly replied without shifting her gaze from the money she was counting.
"We are going to go and find some snack, okay grandma?" Arya said respectfully.
"Sure. You, you can check around."
I made a small bow before I and Arya started roaming around.
"Hey, you just called her grandma. Is she you-" Before I could finish my question, Arya immediately interrupted.
"Obviously not. Kids here usually call her that so I decided to do as well."
"Ah, I thought she was really your Grandmother."
"What are you saying? Are you stupid?" said Arya teasingly.
"Stu- Who the heck are you calling stupid?"
"Shh. Reve, you really do love to complain. Just help me find that Potato Max."
"It doesn't really sit well when it's coming from you." I murmured as we continue to search for the said snack. I mean, she just called me stupid. Considering it was coming from her, I can't accept that. But before I can even voice out my complain, Arya was already on a different shelf searching for potato max.
As Arya was trying to reach a box placed at the top of a shelf far taller than her, she lost her footing and bumped the shelf behind her causing a large box from the latter shelf to fall down directly towards her. Arya closed her eyes, preparing to be hit by that heavy looking box. Seeing that, I immediately ran to her and extended my arms to catch the box. Arya kept her eyes closed as if she was prepared to be hit by something heavy. After waiting for a while, she slowly opened her eyes.
"Reve?" Arya said in disbelief.
"Really, you should be careful." I said as I return the box back to the shelf where it fell from. Contrary to its appearance, it seems like the box was only filled with chips so it was relatively light. It's still a good thing I was able to catch it. Even if it was light, it would still hurt and it may even scratch Arya. I didn't want that to happen.
"Thank you." Arya said meekly.
"Sure. Anyways, let's continue our search."
After that small exchange, both of us decided to search for "Potato Max" quietly. We searched for it in every nook and cranny of the shop. But to our surprise, we couldn't find even a single piece of it. With no other choice, both of us went to the front desk and decided to ask the owner.
"Grandma, do you still have that Potato Max snack here?" Arya asked politely.
"Ah, that snack really was popular. It was one of the shop's best sellers." The old lady said as she let out a soft laugh as if she was remembering a distant memory. "But, unfortunately, we no longer sell those here."
"What? Then how are we going to confirm this mystery?" Arya muttered in dismay.
Well, that was disappointing. I may not really care much about this mysteries but knowing that we wouldn't be able to clear this one does indeed leave a bad after taste. Aside from that, seeing Arya disappointed was a bit uncomfortable.
"Mystery? What are you talking about?" The old lady asked softly.
"Well, Arya has this mystery list that says that if we get to eat all the Potato Max, a fairy will appear." I explained to the now puzzled old lady, hoping that she may know something about it.
"Ah. That was really popular back in the days." The old lady said.
"What do you mean by that, erm, grandma?" I asked as I hesitantly call the old lady 'grandma'. I mean, it was a bit embarrassing to call that old lady grandma. But since Arya called her that, then might as well.
"Well, how long was it? Probably about 10 years ago. You see, we really had this very popular snack called Potato Max. And well, few of that snacks comes with a fairy sticker." The old lady cheerfully said. "I remember that time when a lot of children would buy all the Potato Max we had for that day."
"Ah, so that's what it is." Arya said as she nods.
"I remember back then, there was this group of three children who made a ruckus because they finally found a fairy sticker." The old lady laughed softly.
After a few more conversations, we left the store.
"I can finally go home." I declared with a sense of relief as I stretched my arms up. Having to look for that snack really did tire me out. I just wanted to go home and sleep.
"What do you mean go home?"
"Huh?"
"It's just 5pm, we still have another mystery to solve!"