Once a month my local writing group sets a theme for a piece of writing each member will submit. This month’s topic was “Being Yourself”.
Being Yourself
To everybody else who frequented Boutique Lane, Mr. Peabody seemed like just another ordinary gentleman. He’d commuted this way time and time again, never stopping, but using it only as a thoroughfare to where it was he was going. Even the shopkeepers who noticed Mr. Peabody had concluded he was just a regular man; someone they weren’t too interested in dealings with. Why even Mr. Peabody himself had come to terms with the fact that he was rather on the ordinary side of things.
Express yourself. Treat yourself. Know yourself. Love yourself.
Apart from noticing the peculiar theme amongst the names of the shops on Boutique Lane, Mr. Peabody had never really bothered to look twice at them, as someone as poor as him hadn’t the money to shop boutique anyway. He’d walked past the bay windows of the boutique shopfronts almost every day all the while assuming they were nothing more than fancy names for fancy retail outlets. But what Mr. Peabody didn’t know was that the many similarly named shops on Boutique Lane were in no way ordinary at all. They were actually a front for those of magic, and unbeknownst to anyone, including Mr. Peabody, he had magic in his veins.
One morning as he did most mornings, Mr. Peabody left his tiny apartment on his regular commute, and in no time at all, he’d turned onto Boutique Lane. He’d always adored the other people who commuted here, not because he knew them, but because their outfits and the items they had acquired from within the stores were strange beyond that of imagination. This morning it was no different. Up ahead Mr. Peabody watched a tall ordinarily dressed man enter a store named Express yourself only to appear moments later in the most bizarre futuristically inspired outfit he’d ever seen. Mr. Peabody couldn’t help but chuckle as even he knew this outfit was far from fashion and he couldn’t provide any possible explanation for why the tall man would want to wear such a thing. Across the street, he watched a lady as she stopped in front of the shop called Educate yourself before going in. Oddly, on this day Mr. Peabody was seemingly overcome with curiosity as he took a seat outside a store called Treat yourself while watching and waiting for the lady to reappear.
‘What’ll it be sir?’ A short bald man appeared over Mr. Peabody’s shoulder.
‘Ah…’ Mr. Peabody was surprised. He hadn’t intended on buying anything. ‘Just a cappuccino thanks, white with one sugar,’ replied Mr. Peabody while being sure to keep his eyes on the store across the road. Strangely, within seconds the man re-appeared with Mr. Peabody’s order and placed it on the table in front of him. Mr. Peabody took a sip and instinctively reached for his wallet. But the man was quick to stop him, pointing to a small screen above the doorway of the shop.
Mr. Peabody – Paid.
Mr. Peabody almost spat his coffee out in shock. How could he have paid? And how did the small electronic sign quote his name when he was sure he hadn’t given it?
‘Never seen a balance that big,’ said the short bald man as he turned and walked away.
Mr. Peabody wasn’t sure what the man meant exactly but looking at the sign once more he noticed something strange below his name.
6,534,793 Mag-Cred.
Mr. Peabody was now very curious. What on earth were ‘Mag-Cred’ and how did he get over six million of them?
As he sat and looked around observing once more the strangeness of Boutique Lane and rattling his brain for some kind of explanation of what was going on, the woman appeared from the store across the road. Mr. Peabody noticed she was no longer dressed in the clothes she was wearing before. Instead, she had some kind of oriental-type outfit on and carried a small paper umbrella that extended up and over her head. He also noticed what was on the small screen above the store’s door.
Ms. Durmonhousar – Paid.
20,345 Mag-Cred.
Mr. Peabody sat watching on as Ms. Durmonhousar crossed the street and looked to be heading right for him. He couldn’t help but feel awkward, he wasn’t sure if she had seen him watching or what he was going to say when she approached him. However, much to his relief, she sat at a lone chair and table beside him without saying a word.
‘Cappuccino please, white with one sugar,’ she said when the waiter approached.
Mr. Peabody chuckled aloud and both Ms. Durmonhousar and the waiter had clearly heard him as they turned and looked at him in disgust before the waiter headed off inside.
‘I’m sorry,’ announced Mr. Peabody with a smirk. ‘I just expected you to ask for a green tea,’ he added, and luckily for Mr. Peabody, Ms. Durmonhousar seemed to enjoy his sense of humor once explained.
‘Ā, kono furui koto o kinishinaide kudasai,’ she replied swiftly with a bow of her head. ‘I just spent three months in the Kamakura Period experiencing some of historical Japan,’ she explained with a smirk of her own. Then strangely, her mood quickly changed. ‘Suddenly today you’re good enough to sit and drink with us are you? I’ve seen you wander the street, eyeballing us, but never have you engaged. I’d assumed you weren’t one of us.’
Mr. Peabody swallowed his latest sip and wiped his lips. ‘One of us?’ he asked in confusion.
‘Yes us, magic folk,’ said Ms. Durmonhousar. ‘Oh, to be so ignorant, and from someone so obviously rich in magic credits,’ she said as she peered at the screen above the shop door beside them.
Mr. Peabody began to laugh hysterically as he was now sure Ms. Durmonhousar had lost her mind. ‘Magic folk! Rich!’ the words burst from his mouth.
‘You think I’m joking?’ Ms. Durmonhousar asked sternly. ‘Well, I say we test you. While it may be true that anyone could fool the magic accounting systems and use Mag-Cred to buy a coffee, the same is most certainly not true for using magic credit for actual magic.’
Mr. Peabody glanced over her again. She was dressed so ridiculously and making such farfetched claims that he couldn’t help but laugh some more. If it weren’t for the stern look of certainty that painted Ms. Durmonhousar’s face he’d have got up and walked away right there and then. But instead, Mr. Peabody had a strange draw to investigate further. Plus, he’d never been into any of the shops on Boutique Lane before and he didn’t see why he shouldn’t just look, no matter how crazy Ms. Durmonhousar may be. So, when Ms. Durmonhousar stood up and hurriedly walked toward a small shop called Being Yourself that was only one door down, Mr. Peabody followed.
He stopped at the door and pondered the sign for a moment. He wondered what a shop with such a name might sell. Then he heard Ms. Durmonhousar’s voice calling from within.
‘I haven’t got all day!’ she screamed.
As he stepped inside Mr. Peabody noticed that the shop’s items didn’t seem to fit any one theme at all. ‘A costume shop perhaps?’ he questioned aloud.
While searching the room he caught a glimpse of a small woman standing at the desk sorting some garments. She looked up and over at him and then shifted her gaze toward a screen on the opposite wall. Mr. Peabody followed her gaze and was still surprised at what he saw.
Mr. Peabody – Browsing.
6,534,793 Mag-Cred.
Mr. Peabody watched the small lady’s eyes light up like a child’s on Christmas morning before she immediately dropped what she was doing and approached him with a sense of urgency.
‘Hello, Mr. Peabody. What can I do for you today sir? Is there anything I can get for you, anything at all?’
Mr. Peabody was shocked at the lady’s sudden attentiveness. He peered over at Ms. Durmonhousar, not knowing what to do.
‘Oh, Vilancturous!’ scoffed Ms. Durmonhousar as she rolled her eyes and made her way over. ‘Your hunger for magic credits will scare your richest customer away if you’re not careful. Rest your greedy little mind. We will be buying, just go back to your desk and leave us to shop alone.’
Mr. Peabody watched in shock as the small woman bowed her head and returned to her desk. ‘Are we supposed to buy one of these?’ asked Mr. Peabody as he pulled at the outfits on the racks.
‘Oh no these are not for buying Mr. Peabody, they’re from the realm of magic. Left here by wasteful customers with no need for them after their experiences.’
Mr. Peabody was left even more confused, but without further ado, Ms. Durmonhousar grabbed him by the shoulders and directed him toward a small door in the back corner of the shop.
‘This is where you’ll be going,’ she said.
Mr. Peabody stared at the small wooden door before Ms. Durmonhousar reached passed him, grabbing its handle and pulling it open. Apart from a strange mist that crept out of the doorway and into the store, Mr. Peabody could only see the darkness within. ‘And what exactly will I do in there?’ he asked hesitantly.
‘Look closer Mr. Peabody, you’ll find the answer,’ assured Ms. Durmonhousar.
Mr. Peabody crouched down and leant closer while peering in. ‘You know I still can’t…’ Mr. Peabody had begun to speak but before he could finish Ms. Durmonhousar gave him an almighty shove and he went hurtling forward through the doorway and disappeared within.
‘JUST BE YOURSELF!’ yelled Ms. Durmonhousar as she laughed and slammed the door shut behind him. ‘VILANCTUROUS! Lock that door, conceal it, and open up another for new customers,’ she ordered immediately.
Abidingly, the small lady pulled a large ring filled with dangling keys from her waistbelt and locked the door swiftly before covering it with drapes and coat racks which she wheeled in front of it. ‘Ooh, you’ve done well this time Ms. He’s rich!’ approved the small lady. ‘How long will you keep him in there?’
‘Until he’s spent his Mag-Cred of course. All 6.5 million of them!’ hissed Ms. Durmonhousar.
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