(270 words) I place the shell one the checkout table, and a different cashier comes in from the back room, wearing a light teal “Staff” shirt like the other one. “Hello! Did you find everything you need?” His ear-to-ear grin seemed painted on him, and his voice is flooded with forced cheerfulness. When the more human-like cashier sees him, she shoves the box she had previously taken the sweater out of under a table with a long tablecloth on top, shielding it from view. Why would she hide it from him? Just that one bin. That one /magical/ bin. Did she not want him to know about the magic? Was he the only one who didn’t know? Or was the other staff worker the only one who /did/ know? My mind is swirling with questions, each one more confusing than the last, and none of them I have answers to. I’m jolted back to reality as Mr. Smile hands back the shell. I take it, and it seems to hum and vibrate, apparently very pleased to be back in my posession. I pay for the shell, and leave the store. I look back at the neon ‘SHOP OF WONDERS’ sign glowing red above the door, the first “S” flickers twice, then blacks out completely, now leaving the sign as “HOP OF WONDERS”. I shake my head and sigh. I still don’t fully believe what just happened. I look back down at the shell, solid black now, as the sun sets. “Alright, shell, you do the talking, and “guide me” or whatever,” I murmur as I walk the four blocks to my house.
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