Cupid's Handbook

run down store kinda.

Sana

We roamed around the neighborhood for quite sometime. It was a morning of early summer, so the weather was pretty nice. I'm not much of an outdoor person, but I love taking walks around here. This particular part of the town has a sort of aesthetic appeal to it. There were large trees all around, and the houses were not too big or extravagant. The weather stays pretty moderate during summer. Flowering plants are planted around or in the balconies of all houses. And the sun rays peeping through the thick canopy of the trees radiates the feels of a fairyland. There were small stores for daily necessities here and there, but nothing too fancy. We didn't have McDonald's or Burger King around, but I bet the food at AuntSuzie's diner could easily be on par with them. I really wish we never have to move from here. Ever.

We went to AuntSuzie's to have a few snacks. Gosh, that woman is lovely. She is like the grandmother I never had. Anyways, after we had our fill, we set out again. I was thinking something about fairies when Eric rudely interrupted my train of thoughts.

"Oi oi look at that!" He practically screeched in my ears.

I turned over to the direction he was pointing at. At the far end of an alley, there was a heavily run down store, which looked like it could fall any second. There was a wooden sign board hanging over it, but there was nothing written on it. Looked as if on the course of several years, it had all come off. Right under it, was a small door. But the most weird thing was that this store was not here before. I have pretty good memory and I remember that this alley lead to a dead end.

This whole thing looks sketchy but either way, it had a certain vibe about it that was drawing me in. As if it was inviting me to come in. So, I decided to check that place out.

"Eri let's go there."

" What? Are you out of your mind San?! That place looks shady as fuck. There might be gangsters behind that door dealing with drugs."

"Tch. But it's calling me."

"Have you finally gone crazy?"

"Come on Eric. Let's go please. What's the worst that could happen?"

"........"

"Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

"Uh okay. Let's go."

We took a turn towards the alley and after a few steps, we were faced by the ancient wooden door.

I pushed open the door. There was a small long passage like room with a huge desk that took up one fourth of the space. There was an old man sitting at the counter whose head shot up at the sound of the door opening.

It wasn't a shady place where gangsters dealt with drugs as Eric thought.

It was an antique shop.

"Ah welcome to you. What brought you two here?" the old man said politely.

"Good day sir. Followed my gut and it landed me here."

"Ho ho, great great. Go ahead and check out the aisles. Something might interest you and follow you home."

" Will do." Eric replied.

We went forward and looked around. There were lots of different things around. From old marine compasses and other historically familiar stuff to things I've neither seen nor heard about. While looking at an aisle with a bunch of old books, I noticed a thin and tattered book. I took it out.

It had a vibrant red cover, and on the front written with gold was—

The Cupid's Handbook.