The Shadow

Time for work ⌚

     Clara left her house and headed over to her seasonal job. She worked at Jacks Jack O’ Lanterns, an antique store that was open for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Oct 1st - Jan 5th. It had been a place of wonder for her. When she was little, ity bitty age, her Dad took her to Jacks to pick out a present for her Birthday. She found a gold locket and a pair of earrings set, both with vines as detail. It felt right to work there.
     When she arrived, she was greeted by Kyle Vermint, a frequent customer. Everyone believed that he was only there for Clara, and went so often that he knew what every item looked like or what price they were. Perhaps he just really liked the store.
     He was a cute boy, nonetheless. In sixth grade, Kyle and Clara went on a field trip to the local art center. That’s where he found his love for not only the art, but for the lady staring at the amethyst moon carving. They spent quite a lot of time after that moment.
     About three hours later, Clara and the rest of the staff prepared for rush-hour. Or as they liked to call it, teen hour. Because it was the main hangout place for Pearl Berry High school, they had to lock up all glass over $20, bring out the items they had in Clearance, and set up some chairs here and there.
     By the time they were done, the clock struck noon. Kids usually showed up at around 12:05, so Clara and her coworkers waited. And then waited… and waited some more. Nothing. No one. After about twenty minutes of sitting and waiting for someone to come, the employees started getting suspicious. Some of them had been searching for an event on the news that they had missed. Clara turned the T.V. in the break room on. Tom, passed out in the corner, was not bothered by the unusual silence.
     At twelve twenty-eight, Kyle re-entered the shop, greeted Teresa, the cashier, and went looking for Clara. Once he found her, the t.v. signal strengthened, and she flipped through the channels to find PBN, the local news. Teresa and the other two workers searched through the media and found nothing. It wasn’t until Teresa gasped that Kyle and Clara went out of their paralyzed state.