Chronicles of Carnezia (Book 1): Dragons of Dracona

Chapter 2: Brooms and Bother

Chapter 2: Brooms and Bother

            Waking up the next morning, I got ready the same as every day and then headed downstairs for some breakfast. I poured out some cereal and, with some milk, settled down on one of our sofas to eat it up pretty quickly. By the time I had gone into the kitchen to put my bowl in the sink, and then grabbed my jacket in the hallway, mum came downstairs and asked where I was off to.

            ‘I’m just off to that little shop on the corner,’ I simply answered. ‘I won’t be too long.’

            She did look a little confused and looked at her watch. ‘Isn’t it a bit early for a Sunday? I would have thought they would have been closed today.’

            I zipped up my jacket and padded my pocket to make sure I had my purse. ‘Yeh but they said they would be open today and there’s something that is amazing that I only saw yesterday. It’s brilliant.’

            She smiled but shook her head all the same. ‘I will never understand where this obsession with your ornaments comes from.’ But then she dropped her head as though a sudden memory cropped up as she said those words. ‘Well, have fun and show me when you get back. Some of them are very fascinating.’

            And so I went on my way out the door and down the few streets to my little shop... yet the scene was not as I expected when I rounded the corner.

            There were two cars, police cars in fact; there lights flashing and parked each side of the shop. There was blue and white police tape set up around the premises and I stopped next to one of the tapes. As I stood there, totally bewildered and confused yet at the same time angry that something had happened to my beloved trinket shop. Exactly what had happened to it, I couldn’t tell until I shook my head and looked at the front.

            ‘Excuse me, Miss,’ spoke a sombre looking policeman from the broken window on the other side of the shop to me.

            I tried to turn my shock to curiosity but I was unsuccessful, though that didn’t matter. ‘Er, yes, officer?’

            ‘May I ask why you are here?’ he asked, with pen and notepad in hand.

            Peering behind him, still looking at the shop knowing I now wouldn’t be able to take anything out of it for a good while, Mr. Harrison came out with a broom and started sweeping up the broken glass that was covering the pavement. ‘Mr. Harrison, what happened?’ I called out, totally ignoring the policeman’s question.

            Mr. Harrison looked up and gave me a very sad look mixed with distraught. ‘Let the policeman explain,’ was all he said to me.

            Then I turned back to the officer stood in front of me, the flapping scene tape between us. ‘Miss, would you mind answering my question?’

            I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets and answered. ‘Er, yes. Well, I was just coming over to pick up something up from the shop. Oh, and to pay for it,’ I hastily added on the end not sure if I should have.

            He scribbled down what I had said. ‘And do you know what it was you were going to purchase?’ he asked.

            Ah damn, I thought to myself, I hate this. ‘Yeh, it was a purple dragon statue thing,’ I explained briefly.

            ‘Mmhmm, and how do you know of it?’ His question seemed very odd.

            ‘Well, I came to the shop yesterday and wasn’t sure if I was going to buy it or not so Mr. Harrison said I could come back today if I wanted it. So here I am...’ My casualness came out, which I’m guessing was a good thing because I know I hadn’t done anything wrong.