As soon as she entered the small store, her eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen anything like this before. It was so... cluttered, colorful, and... intense. The retina in Victoria's eyes couldn't handle the sudden assault of wavelengths and the olfactory sensory neurons in her nose were so overwhelmed that she had the intense need to sneeze. What the smells were, she didn't know, all the new stimuli were causing Victoria to have a headache coming on, which she was often prone to, but it was worsened by the new information.
Suddenly, she heard a kind old voice come from behind her, "Hello there dear, can I help you find anything."
"No, this place just caught my attention"
"This place does tend to do that, that's why I love it here. Brings in all the shorts of people" the old woman said, "Oh, excuse my manners, I tend just to start talking. I'm Rosemary,"
"Victoria, please to meet you"
"Oh! That's such a pretty name."
"Thanks, do you own this place?"
"Yes," Rosemary stated, "my wife and I run the shop. Would you like some tea? It's still hot, I just made it."
"Sure, what kind?" Victoria questioned, "Who's your wife, I might know her"
"Cinnamon tea, very strong. Her name is Dorthy. She's not home often, away on one military trip or another so I'm left here running the shop." there was a slight pause, "It's alright though, I like it here. It moves around a lot so it's always fun to see where it takes me,"
"Oh, I see," Victoria said, her mind spinning with questions to ask this peculiar old lady, "I haven't ever seen this shop here before. Did you just move here?"
"Yes dear, now, I must say; this is the most unusual town I have ever been to," Rosemary said while making the tea "Absolutely no color, I don't know how you stand it."
"Yea, it's a bit odd but we like it here. When did you get here? It feels like the place just appeared here."
"Today"
"Today?"
"Yes, moves around a lot, that's why I love it here," she says smiling affectionately at the place
"Is this a traveling shop"
"You could say that"
"We get a couple of them every year. One time we got one that sold rocks, and Mayer shut that down pretty quickly." Victoria said, smiling at the happy memory "Do you know how long you'll stay in town?"
"Depends on where we're needed," Rosemary spoke casually
"I've always wanted to own a tea shop but my mom thinks I should be a doctor or a lawyer."
"I think you should do what you want to do, damn to what people think of you," Rosemary observed while sipping her tea, "sugar?"
"No thank you," Victoria acknowledged "I just... I don't know. I constantly feel like I have to always be perfect."
"Don't worry dear, lots of kids like you feel that way, you're not alone. I know you don't know me that well, but if you need someone, I'm here for you," suggested Rosemary
"Thank you! I'll keep that in mind," Victoria exclaimed
"Anytime"
"Anyway, I need to get going. I was supposed to meet up with my friend..." Victoria looked at her watch, "10 minutes ago"
"Sorry for keeping you" Rosemary stood up, "Come back anytime, you're always welcome here. Maybe you'll meet Dorty next time"
"Yea... yea I think I will," she said while walking out the door
YOU ARE READING
The Green Cloak
FantasyVictoria woke up with a start. The only thing on her mind was 'Oh crap, I'm late! Normally, she got up at eight, got ready, and grabbed a quick breakfast before darting off to the extracurricular she had planned that day. Today, she got up at nine a...
