The four kooks who staggered in were definitly strange-looking. For one thing, who wears a heavy, hooded cloak in the middle of june?
They clustered around the door for a moment, then one of them croaked "It has to be here! Spread out! Find it! Quickly!"
I wondered if they were larping or something like that as they staggered around the store, picking up stuff, then putting it back. They were definitly acting strangely enough. I mean, who staggers around while coughing fit to hack his lungs off? Or the one that was letting out sickly moans?
Finally, I shrugged and decided to just play along. "And what might you fine gentlemen be after today?" I asked. Heh. College drama club was a long time ago, but I still got it.
One of them swaggered up to the counter. The sword over his back was a nice touch - Almost looked real.
"Cough drops! Do you have cough drops?!" He wheesed.
Strange larp this was, I thought, as I reached for them. "Oh, those, I keep them under the counter, with all the other medical stuff. Stupid kids kept snitching them, hoping to get high. How many do you want?"
"All of them" he croaked, slapping down a hundred.
I shrugged and dropped the box on the counter.
"Keep the change" he muttered, picking up the box.
As they left the store, one of them said, in the tones of a cracked and broken deep-toned bell "Lay off the double-glazed donuts, or I'll be seeing you sooner."
As they walked out the front door, I paused for a moment, a thought hitting me. "Oh, I get it" I groaned. "Nice joke, fellows..."
I looked out the window. Nothing. I looked out the door. No-one in sight and the nearest alley a hundred feet away...
..."Maybe I have been eating too many donuts..."