𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝘼𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙚!

ONE - A Silk Fabric

DECEMBER, 1971

It was raining when she went into work that morning.

She loved the rain, it gave her a sense of peace, like everything was the way it should be. She also loved her work, surprisingly. She never thought she'd be able to say such a thing, but she did. She walked into work, the only worker there at the time, and the first thing she did was make her way behind the register and put a record on. Today she would listen to The Velvet Underground & Nico, the record had just been shipped in the day prior.

She went to the back of the store and picked up one of the large boxes of records, copies of things like Sticky Fingers, Who's Next, All Things Must Pass, ect.. Though in the midst of all the recognizable names, there was one she didn't know of. The cover stood out to her immediately, it was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

David Bowie, The Man Who Sold the World

She immediately noticed the man's peculiar appearance, he had curly hair longer than her own. She then quickly took note of his outfit: a beautiful dress, made out of a silk fabric-- It was a gorgeous gold color, accompanied with lovely blue accents. She figured it had to have been specially made, as it looked to fit him quite well. He was laid out on a chaise lounge, a shiny golden bracelet around his wrist and a playing card in his hand.

As the rain pattered against the roof of the small building, she looked at the record in her hand, then glanced at the record she had playing, then back to the one in her hold. She sighed, turning the record around to briefly glance at the track list. Turning it back around, she took the vinyl out of the packaging as she took the other off the player, replacing it with the one in her hands.

As she continued to look through the box, soon after five or so copies of The Man Who Sold the World, she discovered another unfamiliar cover by the same man. Hunky Dory. This one was more recent, released only a few days beforehand. She took a copy out of the box, taking a look at the back of the sleeve, just a photo of him standing in front of a white wall, wearing a blouse and pants she wouldn't be shocked to see her mother in. He really was captivating, in a way.

She stared at the photo a moment longer, scanning over the trackless before wrapping it in paper so it wouldn't get scratched, she'd take it home with her at the end of the day.

Mari then continued to work, refilling shelves full of records, making sure they were in perfect alphabetical order. She was the only person to work at the shop that day, she was thankful as it meant no one could change the music she had playing. Only one or two people came in all day, likely due to the rainy weather. At the end of the day, it stopped raining just long enough for her to successfully walk home. Despite this, she carried a closed umbrella by her side, along with her new record secured in her other hand. She was careful not to drop it on the wet concrete she walked along.

Just another day.

***