The Shopkeeper

Eternal Love

On the corner of Richard Street and Laura Lane there is a shop. This is no ordinary shop, however, as it can only be seen by those who desire for something more than anything else in the world.

I found the shop shortly after my fifth relationship in the past two years fell apart. I was walking my normal route home and when I paused at the corner to look for cars I saw it. A house with a long front porch and a screen door that was standing ajar. Before I realized what I was doing, I had already crossed the street and climbed the stairs to the porch. I stood in front of the open screen door for a moment then entered.

On each wall, floor to ceiling there were shelves covered in various trinkets. There were podiums in the middle area with more objects spread over them. When I approached one podium I saw next to each object a price tag, but there weren't money values on them. Instead, the tags read things like your left pinky finger or 18 toenails. I leaned in to get a closer look at one of the items, a small statue of a cat whose tag read a secret, when I heard a voice behind me.

"Welcome." I whirled around to see a person standing behind me. They towered over me and offered me a hand to shake, which I did.

"I'm sorry to intrude like this," I stuttered. "I'll leave."

"Nonsense," they responded. "Welcome to my shop. I am the Shopkeeper." They led me around the shop, their long silvery braid seeming to float behind them as they walked. They showed me the items in the store and told me stories about how they were acquired. At the other end of the store, we stopped.

"So," the Shopkeeper asked, "did you see anything that caught your eye?" Slowly, I answered.

"Well, there was that necklace."

" Ah, yes, the necklace of charm." The Shopkeeper led me back to where the necklace was. I saw the same necklace I'd seen earlier, a golden chain with a heart-shaped ruby pendant that seemed to shimmer with a magical quality. The price tag read your last baby tooth. "Guaranteed to make anyone you wish become enchanted with you," the Shopkeeper reminded me. "Is this what you wish to buy?"

I hesitated, and the Shopkeeper stepped closer to me, looking directly into my eyes. For the first time I noticed that their eyes had no whites and no irises. They were pitch black.

"What do you truly desire?" they asked, although it seemed to me they already knew the answer and they were just waiting for me to say it.

"I-" I began. "I want someone to truly love me for who I am, not because of some charm. I want someone who will love me unconditionally, and who will stay with me until death do us part. I want to spend the rest of my life with somebody. I don't want to die alone. That is what I truly desire." It felt good to say it out loud, like a weight I didn't realize existed had suddenly been lifted off of my chest, leaving me with a sensation like I was floating. Suddenly, I remembered I wasn't alone. I looked up at the Shopkeeper who smiled at me.

"If that is what you desire then of course it can be arranged, for a price of course," they said gently.

"What price?" I asked, feeling small under the tender gaze of the Shopkeeper. They seemed to think for a moment.

"A kiss should suffice," they said eventually. I nodded, not knowing what else to do, and the Shopkeeper leaned down to my height and gave me a gentle peck on the lips. They pulled back and met my eyes once more.

"It is done. May fortune follow wherever you go, my friend," they said. Then darkness crept over my vision, starting at the edges before growing until all I could see were the Shopkeeper's eyes, and now I saw that they weren't empty and black as I'd seen before, instead they were filled with thousands of specks of light which I could only describe as stars.