Shannon. 19, wiry, likes to online shop. “No, that’s ridiculous” she thought. Shannon has been attempting to fill out her dating profile for months. She’s socially awkward and academically ahead of everyone in her class. She wasn’t going to go to college, but it was that or take a low paying, dead end job, even though she did that anyway to take away some of the unseen costs of actually being a college student.
“You’re never gonna meet anyone if you can’t even figure out how to introduce yourself. It’s pretty funny actually”, her sister Angie quipped while scavenging in the cupboards for something to eat. “Yeah, that’s nice” Shannon quipped back staring out the window at the inevitable rain that clouds the neighborhoods every late April in the mid-west.
“You know, I really like how this looks. I wish I didn’t have to order it. I wonder if some place local has this?”. Angie questioned while scrolling through her tablet. Angie stands up and walks over to the window to see what Shannon is staring at. “You know I was just giving you shit” she backpedaled. “I kn-” Shannon stopped speaking mid sentence and both girls look over at the tablet. *PING*.
“Wow, hey, look. They actually have this necklace at the Saint & Sinner shop over off 4th street”, Angie remarked, staring down at the tablet then back up at Shannon with wanting eyes. “No”, Shannon said. “WHY NOT?! You know I have to work. Come on, pleasssseeee. I’ll owe you BIG TIME!”. Shannon looked up at the clock and back out the window. “Sure, I guess, but you know I hate going down over that way”, Shannon asserted, flooded with memories that she’d much rather forget.
Shannon put on her coat and shoes and grabbed her keys to head out the door when she noticed her laptop was still open with the page of the dating site still open. She sighed with exhaustion and closed her laptop. “Maybe later”, she stated, while having every intention of opening it back up later and finishing her profile. “Why can’t I meet anyone?” She thought while getting into her car. Oh, let’s not open that book.
10th street, 11th street, 12th, 13th street….15th street? How could I have missed it, she thought as she turned around to see where she went wrong. She pulled down the street back to 13th and stared from 13th to 15th street, very confused. Looking down towards 15th, she could see a slit dip in the road that resembled another street.
Shannon pulled down the street and sure enough, there was a smaller, not visible from the road if you drive by, dirt road that had a worn down sign at the front of it. “14th street” Shannon said aloud, with an annoyed tone cascading her inner monologue. Shannon parked, killed the ignition, and walked up to the store. “It looks like a ghost town around here” she thought, looking around at the dreary landscape.
She walked into the quaint but creepy little store. “Who would buy any of this stuff” as she looked around the store at the vast array of what seemed like spices, clothes that could have been made in 1850, and what seemed like gadgets that were already broken before someone even bought them. She made her way to what seemingly was a glass case with an array of jewelry.
“Wow” she thought reassuringly. “I was wrong, these pieces are beautiful. Even if I can buy one of these, Angie will owe me for the rest of her life”. Shannon thought to herself.
“CAN I help you?” A plump man with glasses sporting the name tag that read”Watson” said, quite loudly. “Uh, well I..” Shannon trailed off as she caught the glimmer of a necklace that seemingly called her name as it gleams. “Ah. That item is..of rare value”, Watson exclaimed as he caught Shannon’s gaze.
“However, we can make exceptions, can’t we?”. “Feel free to try it on, but beware, this is not the kind of item you want to become addicted to buying”. The shopkeeper warned. “I cannot possibly afford it anyway” Shannon moaned begrudgingly. With a gleam in his eye and slight grin, Shannon noticed but disregarded, he said “We are running a special right now on Jewelry. $50 miss, and it’s yours”.
“Oh, well, alright”. Shannon said, reaching into her pocket. *Ding* the registers sound alarmed as it scraped closed. “This bitch better pay me back” Shannon thought, remember that Angie was now on part-time hours at her restaurant. Shannon drove in the opposite direction of the shop and noticed a color change in her rear-view mirror. She noted that the shop’s light was off.
What kind of shop closes at 3pm? Must not be a very popular shop, she thought. Shannon pulled into the driveway of her parents house and got out of the car. As she turned the key inside of the front door, she thought she heard footsteps on the sidewalk behind her. She whipped around quickly, only to see nothing. A blank street. A dog barking ominously a few streets over only compounding Shannon’s anxiety.
She locked the front door behind her and climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Opening the door, she flung open her laptop, and sat down in front of her computer. The dating website popped up again. “I REALLY don’t feel like dealing with this right now”, she thought. She sat down on the bed and nudged the bag from the Saint & Sinner shop, knocking it down to the floor.
The bag was slightly open and gleaming back at her was Angie’s beautiful necklace. Shannon picked up the bag, slowly pulling the necklace out, she held it up to her neck. Shannon clasped the necklace around her neck. “Wow, this is way too nice for me”, she discouragingly reminded herself. Shannon walked over to her bed and laid down. Looking down at the bag from the gift shop, “I’ll get it in a second” Shannon thought.
A warm feeling flooded Shannon’s mind & body. “I feel great and drained, simultaneously” – she thought out loud. Standing up, she walked passed her mirror to go downstairs and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh my God…”. Shannon’s cheek bones were lifted, her hair was straightened and without the split ends that were hanging from it yesterday, and her skin was perfectly clear.
It was as if someone took all of her features and upgraded them. Perfect skin, I mean, who even has that? Shannon looked down and noticed that she was still wearing Angie’s necklace. She went to go take it off and paused, while looking at herself in the mirror. With an evil grin, Shannon dropped her hands, and opened her laptop.
TO BE CONTINUED.