Tag Archives: #continuethestory

With her backpack on her shoulder, she pushed open the café door with a sigh of relief. She’d made it! It had been a long arduous journey. Her bare feet were weary after trekking along the beach for days, following her natural instincts to reach her destination. Feeling the tiled floor deliciously cool under her hot feet, she made her way to the only remaining empty table then lowered herself down onto the pine chair.

At the next table, there was a young girl sitting nursing a latte looking as exhausted as she felt. The girl’s clothing was caked in mud and there were twigs and leaves in her tangled ponytail.

Beyond her sat an agitated middle-aged man who was staring down at a map muttering, “This can’t be right “ over and over again.

To her left an old lady sat primly drinking a cup of tea from a bone china cup, complete with matching saucer, her finely wrinkled face awash with relief. At her feet, a small white dog with a blue collar lay curled up asleep.

Over at the table in the corner, a man sat heating his hands on a mug of soup. Beside him were skis and boots, both leaving icy puddles on the tiled floor.

In the opposite corner sat a runner, sweat running down his forehead into his eyes as he drank thirstily from a sports bottle.

They had all made it to the café, no matter what route their journeys had taken them.

Setting her backpack down on the floor, she let out a low groan of relief at the removal of the weight from her slender sunburnt shoulders.

Glancing up, she saw a waitress approaching, her welcoming smile melting away her exhaustion and warming her heart.

“Honey,” she began as she turned to a fresh page in her notepad. “What can I get you?”

“A lemonade would be good, thanks.”

“Anything to eat? You look like it’s been a tough trek to get here.”

Suddenly realising she was ravenous, she said, “Pizza, please. A pepperoni pizza.”

“Coming right up,” promised the waitress, noting the order in her pad. “Oh, where are my manners! Welcome to There. Everyone gets here eventually.”

Taking a deep breath, she put the old-fashioned key in the lock and turned it. She’d half expected it to stick, given the age of both, but the mechanism moved with ease and the of the shop door swung open before her.

What on earth was she supposed to do with the place?

The shop smelled stale and musty and slightly unclean – a bit like its previous owner, her late great-uncle. It had been over twenty years since she had last visited “The Society For The Protection Of Unwanted Objects.”  She’d been shocked to learn that she had inherited the place when her uncle had passed away three months beforehand. Growing up, she’d been passed around the family after the death of her parents, spending most of her childhood with her aunt. The shop had always been a bit of a sanctuary for her, seeing herself as the “unwanted object” in the family. As a child, she’d imagined the shop as a “real life” episode of Bagpuss; as an adult, she was at a loss as to what to make of it.

What did she know about running a shop?

Glancing round, all she could see before her was clutter and junk. A thick layer of dust covered everything in sight. Most of the items on the shelves and in the display cabinets looked as though they’d been there since her last visit.

Leaving the door open, she ventured further inside. A letter addressed to her, in her uncle’s shaking writing, lay amongst the dust bunnies on the glass counter. Leaving it unopened for now, she explored the rest of the shop. Both storerooms were piled high with yet more junk. The small kitchen cum sitting room right at the back of the building looked completely unchanged from her childhood and was desperately in need of a good clean.

“Oh, why, Uncle Samuel?” she sighed as she walked back through to the main shop.

A cough from the doorway startled her.

“Hi. Are you the new owner?” asked a tall guy with long dark hair, pulled back into a ponytail, his bare arms covered in tattoos. “I’m Sam. I’m your neighbour. I own the art gallery next door.”

A ray of sunlight broke through the clouds at that moment. With a cloud of dust motes creating an aura around him, he smiled.

Maybe he was the reason she was here….