Vaguely Fjerdian Furniture Store

The First Attempt (Nina Zenik)

Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias all piled into Jesper's 2010 Kia K2 at around 8 AM, bundled up against the mid-January cold, not without complaints from Jesper himself, who had been forced to hand over the keys to Kaz, who insisted on driving. Inej, of course, was in the passenger seat, leaving Nina, who usually sat there when Jesper drove, to sit directly behind her, beside Matthias. Wylan and Jesper sat in the way back, Jesper grumbling over it. 

Kaz pulled out of the parking spot and started down the road to uptown, populated by wealthy people in huge houses. It was on the way to IKEA, and he hoped to find some furniture on the side of the road either cheap or free. Nina doubted they'd find anything, but it was worth a shot.

After roughly ten minutes of dizzying backroad driving shortcuts, the car screeched to a halt as Kaz yelled, "There!"

Nina lurched forward with the car, and Matthias grabbed onto her shoulder. 

"Kaz, we could have used a little warning," Matthias said, looking around the front seat, rubbing Nina's shoulder as she sat back up, grumbling. 

"Too late," Kaz said.

Now, Nina looked outside to see where Kaz had decided to stop. They had been driving through a wealthy area, but the selection of houses with furniture out front seemed limited to this one house- painted dark blue, with victorian roofing and lavish window boxes overflowing with strange, tropical flowers. There was a silk couch sitting out on the perfectly manicured- dead, in the winter - lawn, pale, silk-pillowed blue and old. Certainly up for grabs, just disposed of like that. 

"Nina, Matthias," Kaz said, leaning back to look at them. "pick up the sofa. Jesper, open the trunk so they can put it in."

Nina and Matthias tumbled out of the car while Jesper bumped around in the back, halfway over a seat, fiddling with the latch for the trunk, his behind in the air. When the trunk did open, Jesper fell into the trunk with a jolting thump. "FUCKING GHEZEN!"

Matthias pursed his lips, and Nina laughed. That Jesper.

The two stood on either side of the couch and lifted it, Nina's muscles straining. Sure, it was ugly with a strange, paisley design and a suspiciously stained, shiny fabric, but it was free. And, after all, by the time they had reached it, they had found almost nothing else and were beginning to worry. 

Just as Nina took her first step back, craning her neck to look back at the car while she supported the couch, a massive clatter attracted her attention from the house they were plucking the couch from. 

The sound had come from the door being thrown open by a bony old woman who now stood on the front step, dripping with strange scarves and frills, brandishing a glittery decorative fan of large, technicolor peacock feathers. In various spots around their humming little car, she glared down at the six friends, Nina and Matthias still frozen in hauling the couch to the trunk. Nina was scrambling, in her mind, to understand why this woman looked so damn angry.

"WHAT, AT SEVEN AM, ARE YOU, SCOUNDRELS, DOING ON MY LAWN?" She screeched. 

"Well, see, ma'am, we were just picking up your old couch that was out here for free," Wylan said, stepping out of the car. The others shifted on their feet. 

"MY FURNITURE IS NOT FOR YOU GRIMY DOWNTOWN RASCALS TO DISHONOR WITH YOUR- YOUR," The woman spat, lips twitching.

"If it wasn't for us to take, why was it out on your curb?" Kaz inquired, leaning on his cane.

The woman stuttered. "GET OUT OF THIS SAFE, QUIET, COMMUNITY WITH YOUR STAVE FILTH AND NEVER COME BACK! I WOULD DIE BEFORE HAVING SOME- GOOD-FOR-NOTHING CHILDREN STEALING MY BELONGINGS RIGHT OFF THE LAWN! OUT!"