When I finally managed to calm down a little, I found myself standing just in front of one of the easels. On it, there was a painting of a street I didn’t recognise at night, with all of the houses and other buildings having light spewing out of their windows. But, at the centre of it all, there was the silhouette of a single person.
Just a single person painted in all-black right in the middle of what would otherwise be a fairly typical painting.
That person being there made the whole thing a little bit eerie, but at the sa ti, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if I was that person.
Nobody would chase anymore…
I wouldn’t have to hide…
…
But…
No, what are you doing?
I turned away from the painting and looked back to see what Raynelle was doing, but she was simply talking with the old man. But then, in the middle of their conversation, the old man abruptly looked over at , causing to run behind one of the shelves to hide.
On the shelf I hid behind, there were little wooden sculptures. Surprisingly there were no two that were exactly alike; so were of birds, others were of squirrels and other small animals, but right at the end of the shelf, there was sothing that caught my attention.
It was a whole castle that had sohow been carved out of a single log. But the castle looked to be falling apart, with holes covering the walls and entire roofs missing from so of the towers, and one of the towers was completely missing. It was clearly an intentional design with how much attention was put into each little detail, which was especially evident when looking at the broken bricks and how each individual crack had been carved into them.
Standing just in front of the castle walls was a single man, with long flowing hair and his sword raised up to the sky.
Who is that?
…
I turned to face the shelf just behind and saw a glass sculpture of the sa man, though it was much bigger. However, what drew my attention this ti was the man’s coat. It was simple, probably made from leather, with the sleeves rolled up to just above the elbows and the hem ending just above the hips.
…
What would Ovia look like in that?
…
For so reason, it was the only thought on my mind as I looked at the sculpture. The imaginary images just continued to flood my mind. So again, I had to pull myself away from it and move on to the next shelf.
This one was instead covered in small accessories, from embroidered handkerchiefs to surprisingly elaborate earrings.
…
I do want to get a gift for her…
She’s already given so much…
…
But… I don’t have any money…
…
I decided to continue walking through the store until I ended up at so more easels, just like the first; each had an incredible painting displayed on it, except for the last one. Instead, all it had was a faint sketch on an otherwise blank canvas.
As I got closer to the sketch and started to make out the details, my heart imdiately sank. It would have been impossible for not to recognise that view.
…
There was an extravagant boutique, a small bakery, a jeweller, a tailor and many other storefronts that had already been burned into my mind.
…
No! I-I…
“I-I don’t want to go back…” The words just slipped out of my mouth.
For so reason that I couldn’t understand, I instinctively looked over at Raynelle. As soon as I did, her eyes t mine, and she imdiately ca over.
“Hey, what’s going on?” She asked, crouching down in front of before looking up at the sketch I had just seen. She paused for a short mont before clicking her tongue, “If you want to leave, we can, okay?”
“Did sothing happen?” The old man walked up behind Raynelle.
I shook my head.
“That’s good. You gave a little scare. I don’t want to be known as a an old man after all,” He looked up at the sketch I was standing in front of, “Oh, you ended up here. This is what I was working on just before you ca in, so it wasn’t quite ready for you to look at. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed… Although it probably isn’t the sort of thing a child like you should be interested in anyway.”
“What do you an?” Raynelle asked, looking back at the sketch.
“Well, you see, I heard this story about a young child, probably no older than the little one here.” The old man reached out to pat my head, but I pulled away before he could, “Poor thing was stuck out on those streets all alone… I probably shouldn’t go into the rest… it’s not a happy story.”
Raynelle turned her attention to but didn’t say anything.
“The last I heard was that nobody could find that child anymore.” The old man’s expression darkened a little, “It’s hard to say if that’s a good thing or not… but all an old man like can really do is hope for the best.”
We all stayed completely silent for a few seconds, at least until the old man spoke up again, with his smile now having returned.
“That’s enough doom and gloom for one day. Now, did you manage to go and find your favourite thing in this store?”
…
I shook my head.
“Hmm, that makes things a little difficult… for a nice girl like you, I was planning to let you take whatever you picked ho.”
Why?
…
Why do so many people want to give things away?
Especially if you’re a store owner…
Don’t you want money?
Isn’t that the point of running a store?
…
I was about to decline the man’s offer, but before I could, Raynelle stood up and said, “I’m sorry, but she’s not the best when it cos to accepting gifts.”
“Is that so?…” He paused for a second, “But when did I say it was a gift?”
What do you an?
What else would it be?
“No, no, I’m running a business here. What I’m giving you is a bribe,” He leaned forward, “It’s to make you want to co back and buy even more from later.”
…
That… makes sense…
…
And… I did want to get a gift for Ovia…
…
After so careful deliberation, I nodded.
If I just don’t co back here,…
Then there’s no problem.
…
H-he’s the one who decided to take that risk.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” The old man pointed back over his shoulder, “Get back in there and pick sothing out.”
I imdiately ran back amongst all the shelves to try and pick sothing out.
I know he said I could pick anything…
But…
…
I shouldn’t pick anything expensive…
Just to be safe.
The shelf that seed to be the best choice was the one filled with small accessories that I only briefly looked at, so that’s where I went first.
My eyes were imdiately drawn to the section filled with jewellery, but I quickly moved on from that as I knew it would be too expensive for the man to just give away. The next section had the embroidered handkerchiefs I had noticed before, as well as a few different ascots, but nothing jumped out to . Apart from the few with animals or plants on them, the rest of them just had various crests and symbols on them that I didn’t recognise.
It needs to be sothing that would make her think of .
Just like Umbra makes think of her…
The last section of the shelf was filled with what could only be called odds and ends. Nothing special; there were a few simple bracelets, a wooden paperweight shaped like a boat, and a few quills dyed in various colours, but nothing was quite right.
At least, that’s what I thought until I looked right at the back of the shelf, hidden behind all the other things on display. There was a simple hair clip; the only thing that was even a little special about it was its colour; it was pure white, just like my hair and tail.
I didn’t even have to think about it. I picked up the hair clip and headed back to the old man.
“Have you decided already?” He asked , “You can take so more ti if you need it.”
I responded by simply holding out the hair clip.
“Hmm, let’s see what you’ve found,” He picked up the hair clip and looked it over, “Hmm… I didn’t realise I had left one of these out.”
What is that supposed to an?
Did I choose the wrong thing?
Did I make a mistake?
“You see, this hair clip hasn’t been finished, or really even started, yet. It’s just a blank hair clip I must have forgotten about at so point.”
But…
It’s what I want to give her…
I…
“But who am I to question you? I said you could pick anything, and that’s exactly what you did,” He walked over to one of the shelves with art supplies on it, “But even then, this is supposed to be a bribe, so I really should try and put my best foot forward.”
He grabbed a set of coloured pencils, a few paints and so other things I didn’t recognise before wrapping them up in so paper and bringing them over to .
“Since I’ve been told you’re pretty good at drawing, this might actually be more fun for you to do yourself,” He said, handing the package he had put together, “And I think it makes for a good bribe, don’t you think?”
“…” I looked down at the package for a while, trying to decide if accepting it was really the correct choice.
He’s giving a lot…
But it’s a bribe… It’s supposed to be a lot.
…
He is the one who added the extra things… not …
So… it’s fine… right?
…
I tucked the package under my cloak, where Umbra could just slightly poke their head out and take the package into my shadow without being seen.
“Thanks for all this,” Raynelle lifted up, “Though I must admit, I don’t really understand what you did. Even just this morning she was humming and hawing about accepting a gift from .”
“Well, when you run a shop for long enough, you get better at this sort of thing,” He laughed to himself.
“Well, then I might have to co back and get so advice.”
“Ahh…. It’ll cost you.”
This ti, Raynelle was the one who was laughing, “I guess you really do know what you’re doing.”
The two of them continued talking for a while after that, but I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I was busy thinking about all the different things I could put on that hair clip, although I ultimately wasn’t able to decide on anything.
“Again, Thank you for doing this,” Raynelle said.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” The old man turned to , “If anything, I think I’ve got a good idea for my next painting.”
“Then we’ll leave you to it, right Kierra?”
I buried my head in her shoulder so I didn’t have to say anything.
“I’ll just take that as a yes. I don’t want to leave Ava alone for too long after all,” She looked back up at the old man, “Bye for now, though I’ll definitely be back soon.”
As we made our way out of the store, all that could be heard was a hearty chuckle from the old man.
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