Bookstore Girl

Mrs. Atkinson opened the back door, let Sue in, and then turned off the alarm. It was the day before Christmas.

Sue pulled her name tag out of a small basket by the scanner and pricked herself with the pin. A red spot appeared on her thumb, and Atkinson saw it. She gave Sue a band-aid, which was nice, but then Sue had to fill out an accident report, which took her five minutes.


Later that morning, Atkinson received a call from home. Her husband drove out of the driveway and backed over their cat. Atkinson had to run home for a few minutes, and Sue was in charge. Sue figured this would work out well. Three hours passed, and Sue began to worry that Atkinson would leave her alone the rest of the day. There were no customers, and Sue had straightened the entire store twice already.


“Dear goddess, please save me from this boredom,” Sue prayed, half-jokingly.


There was a loud pop, and two girls stood in front of Sue as if they had been there all along. Sue’s eyes drooped, and a warm happy feeling entered her.


“I will grant your request, young lady, in exchange for a favor, “ the taller one, a serious black-haired young lady said.


Sue didn’t quite understand what was happening, but as she was a retail expert, she had to help her customer, “I’d be happy to help you, Sweetness. What do you need?”


“Excellent. Watch my kid sister, Stroo-I mean, uh, Stacy, until our Mom comes in. Read aloud to her whenever she asks you,”


The elder sister snapped her fingers, and disappeared with the same noise that had heralded their visit.


“Wow. I think some people take pills for this kind of thing, “ Sue said dreamily. Then the funny feeling left her, and she found herself face to face with a girl who kept twirling her hair with index fingers.


“Hi, I’m Stacy. My mom’ll be back in a few hours. Will you read me a story?”
Sue couldn’t quite remember how the girl got here, but the fact that her mother left her did make sense.


Stacy held out her hand, and Sue took it. She took her to the youth section. The girl must’ve been seven or eight. These books would be hard for her to read, but Sue could hope to challenge her a little, and it might result in a good sale. Sue picked one of her favorites, and took it over to the table.


“Once upon a time, a noble knight named Edward wandered the land in search of a quest that would make him famous. He rode a black stallion named Ironhooves, and his armor was made of silver,"
Stacy got a distracted look on her face, and sneezed. Sue heard another loud pop, and there stood a blonde youth complete with black stallion and silver armor.


Sue exchanged a confused stare with Edward, and Stacy shouted, “Pony! Pony!”
The horse flicked his tail and Edward cleared his throat.


“Know you where I can find a quest worthy of my skill?"


Sue looked at the book, and back to Edward. Sue was a scientist at heart, so she was going to figure out the limits of this newfound power of hers.


“I will tell you where you can find such a quest, if you’ll agree to watch Stacy while I go get another story to read to her,"


Edward agreed reluctantly. Sue immediately went along the store and quickly hunted three books: Treasure Island, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the Three Musketeers. She returned to Edward and Stacy, who were riding Ironhooves around the children’s books section.


“Thank you Edward. Now Stacy, would you like to hear a fairy tale, and adventure, or about an ancient hero who outwitted one of the gods?”


“Um, the fairy tale,” Stacy said. She had stopped twirling her hair, and was smiling at Edward as though he were the only person in the room. Suddenly something occurred to her, and she said, “I like ponies.”


“Wonderful Stacy, now let’s see.” Sue ran her fingers down the index, and found what she wanted.

“The house was made entirely of candy. It had gingerbread shutters, shortbread windows and a door made of peppermint,”


There was a large pop, and suddenly the house appeared, filling up a corner of the store. It smelled like a bakery and was the size of a small shed.


“Yay, candy!” Stacy went over to the house, and gorged herself.
“Now Edward, I want you to singlehandedly defeat these three swordsmen. If you can do that, you’ll be the best knight in all the land.”


“Athos, Porthos, and Aramis left Paris in hot pursuit..”


Pop! Three men in 17th century French garb (poofy sleeves, big boots, and wide-brimmed hats complete with feathers) appeared. They began to argue about where they were.


“Edward, you know the rules of the challenge. These men, too, know the etiquette.”


Edward nodded, drew his sword and said, “I challenge you on behalf of the king, “
“All of us?” Aramis asked confidently. Edward realized his predicament and said


“Oh, um, no.. You, the short one,”


“Short!? You knave, en guard!”


Sue put this in motion, but at this point realized someone could get hurt, and more importantly, they might mess up her store. That would make her boss mad. Her boss! Oh no, Mrs. Atkinson could come back at any moment!


“Stacy! Stacy, where are you?”


Stacy sat in the doorway. Amazingly, she managed to finish off a whole window before she sat down. “I don’t feel good, Sue,”


“I’m sorry, Stacy, I shouldn’t have done this. How do we get them back in the books?”


“Sis would know, but she’s not here. She’s the one with the magic.”


“Magic! That’s it!”


Sue ran as fast as she could and threw books left and right until she found the latest take on the Arthurian legend.


“Merlin was a wise magician, and cared greatly for Arthur, “


An elderly man in orange robes stood before Sue.


“Young witch, why have you brought me here?”


“Well, I’ve started something I can’t stop. At this point, lives are at stake.”


Merlin scowled and replied, “Figure it out for yourself. Send me back or I’ll turn you into something most foul,”


Sue couldn’t, and was about to say so, when Stacy started to cry.


“It’s Edward! Look!”


Sue saw that Edward had lost the fight, and had a sword at his throat. His brown eyes showed no fear, but it was clear to Sue that things were about to get bad.
Sue’s brow furrowed, and she said,

“Not in my store.”


She picked up the book that summoned the wizard and flipped to page 403.


“The stone held a sword that shone like a wayward star,”


Sue rushed the stone, and prayed that her heart was pure. Apparently the sword thought so, because it slinked out of the rock as though the rock were made of gelatin.


“Have at thee, saucy rogue!”


Aramis raised his sword to challenge Sue. He smiled contemptuously, but she knew a trick she learned, no surprise, from a book. She pointed her sword at his chest, which he attempted to deflect. Before the blades clashed, she pointed it at his arm instead. When he moved to intercept the blade, she flicked her wrist and forced his blade to the side. If she withdrew long enough to hit him, she might get hit herself, so she punched the French pretty-boy in the solar plexus.


“Le sucer, cochon!”


That’s when his two friend pulled their swords.


“Uh-oh, I didn’t think this far ahead,” Sue said. Her adventure was coming to a close. In retrospect, she preferred this to being bored.
Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and a sweet alto voice said,

“Stacy! How’s my baby?”


“Mama!” Stacy cried.


The musketeers dropped their swords and stared. Sue was relieved, and turned to see a tall Middle Eastern woman kneel down and extend her arms. Stacy ran and leaped into them. Merlin, the musketeers, and Edward, dissolved into pillars of incense that slowly dissipated. The woman faced Sue and said,

“I heard your prayers, child, and have answered them. Come along girls, we're leaving. Goodbye, Sue,”


The girls waved and followed the woman out of the store. Sue picked up a note written on old curled paper.


It read, “Thanks for watching my little kitten,
Bast”


Sue’s boss came back, and Sue acted like nothing had happened. However, she kept smiling for the rest of that day.