BAM Writes Stuff

We Used To Go There All The Time As Kids

There’s this little shop just inside the forest. The one along the coastline a little farther upstate. It’s tucked away in there, I know, I’ve seen it. But you can’t aways see it. And when you do see it, you shouldn’t be patient. You should rush right in. Because the stuff this shop sells is worth every penny, and like I said, it’s not always there. 

It’s run by this old couple. They’re kind, wonderful people, but they smell like dirt if you get too close to them. They always have this incense burning. I can’t remember what it’s called, but this incense can mask the smell of anything. It’s like every flower all at once, but only one at a time. Lily and jasmine and orchid, like a rainbow of scents. And I think different to everyone, because my brother Rob said he smelled sweets and pastries when we were there as kids. 

Anyway, it makes you have to put stuff real close up to your nose if you want to get a good whiff. I almost bumped into the old man when he was showing me some old wooden toys. That’s how I know he smells like dirt. It was the same way with their candles. You practically have to stick them up there to smell what they’re made of. All amazing stuff, like ‘the gingerbread cookies your grandma made at Christmas,’ or, ‘the bacon from the café that made you stop in the street that one time.’ And the crazy part is that’s really what they smelled like!

That’s not even the cool stuff though. They have this section of the shop, it’s just a bunch of different colored balls, like the size of tennis balls. They bounced the same, too. And each color made you feel something different. Joy, excitement, awkward, mad, sad, silly, nervous, disappointed, you get the idea. We would take the balls and toss them back and forth like hot potatoes. You’re happy, then you’re sad, then you’re happy, then you’re mad. Like that. It was real fun until Rob started taking the miserable ones and shoving them down the back of my shirt. I always thought they could be great for when you were sad for a little too long, or you couldn’t quite let it out at a funeral or something. 

There was this mirror, and you could think of anything you wanted to be, and the mirror would make you that thing. It must have had some kind of safeguard, because Rob wanted to be a monster from some old movie, but the best it could do was make him a slug. And then it made him a slug! Right there in the middle of the shop, a giant slug. I just wanted wings cause I was afraid to try anything else. And then I had wings. I tried flapping them, but the old lady asked if I didn’t because she didn’t want me ruining the merchandise. So I said I understood and we continued looking. 

There were rain sticks that sparked lightning and instruments where you could see colors radiate of the vibrations. Real cool stuff. But the thing I remember the most was the smell. That strange ever-changing scent of flowers. An incense that could cover up the smell of anything. Good for fighting blind dragons or sneaking through goblin caves. You know, the kind of stuff you used to do as kids. 

I hope I find that place again someday.