Author's Note: Really quick one-shot kind of thing. I don't know. Sorry for any mistakes.
...
Rows of toys spanned across the aisles, from wooden robots to little teapot trinkets. Castles and flying bunnies and toy soldiers were all propped up on cabinets and tables. It was a unique fantasyland all cozied up in a red brick building with a tin sign reading 'Peckling Palace'.
A woman stood on the tip of her toes - her eyebrow furrowed as sweat perspired down her face, catching the tip of her tongue that jutted out between rosy lips. Calloused fingertips straightened the handcrafted toy robot (numbered 1504) in align with the row of other uniquely colored wooden models.
" Perfect." The toy shop owner smiled in delight.
A bell rung across the room and a door swung open; a woosh of air bounded like a stampede through the aisles, leaving a slight chill on the lone woman who stood amongst her creations.
The blonde smiled and straightened her posture. Her usual attire consisted of her red apron that hung loosely around her neck, sandy corduroy pants, and a wrinkled white button down with the cuffs messily rolled up over her elbows.
The woman glanced at the clock; it was half past six. Only two customers came at this hour.
" Gail!" A little boy ran across the aisle and sprung at her with his arms wide open.
Gail leaned down and caught the little boy and swung him up in the air. Short brown curls bounced as the little boy was flung up in the air, giggling as he was set down.
" Hey kiddo." Gail barely greeted as the boy pulled himself out of her arms and started walking towards the stuffed animal aisle at the far end of her shop. He picked up his feet in glee towards the new additions Gail recently displayed, while dragging along a monkey plush.
Gail cringed every time she saw the poor creature: the monkey plush was torn on the edges, part of the cotton bursting through the seams, and she was sure that the thing string that stitched the eye to its place was ready to fall off and disappear forever. She toyed with the notion of a cyclops monkey for a brief second before laughing out loud.
The sound of clicks crescendoed towards the woman, pulling her out of her toy-making reverie.
" Gail." The familiar voice sounded across from her.
" Chef Stewart." Gail smiled at Holly and gave her a curt nod. The poor toy maker's heart fluttered a little too quickly whenever this woman was nearby. Gail smiled and motioned the mother towards the counter.
The two women stood in silence, watching Theo, the little boy, smile as he discovered the new shark stuffed animals.
" So how come I never see the Mr.?" Gail questioned.
Holly glanced at the toy maker.
" My wife." Holly paused. "She left us 4 years ago. " Holly shrugged and reverted her attention back to Theo, who came running towards her with a shark plush in hand.
" Mom, can you buy this for me?" He begged with a pout that could kill.
Holly's eyes were unrelenting, and the woman was not about to buy yet another stuffed animal for her son.
" It's on me. Take it. " Gail leaned down at eye-level with Theo.
" Gail, you can't always be giving us free toys." Holly looked over at the toy maker.
Gail shrugged. " Theo's a good kid, it's fine."
" Here, I almost forgot to give you these." Holly handed a box to Gail.
The toy maker gave her a questioning look and opened it to see six coconut sprinkled donuts, freshly made, and ready to be devoured.
" My mother thought it was best for the bakery to stop selling these since no one bought them, except for you of course. They're my favorite as well so, it's the least I could do." Holly smiled.
" Mom let's go!" Theo whined and pulled at the end of his mother's sweater.
" Bye Gail!" The little boy said, dragging his mother with him.
" Bye!" Gail waved.
She walked towards the door and flipped the switch off from the neon "open" sign. The tired woman let the soles of her chuck taylor's shuffle the floors.
A familiar brown plush stuck out from one of the cabinets. Gail walked over and picked up the sad-looking toy and recognized it being Theo's stuffed animal. She clutched it in her hand and turned around, heading for the door, but the car already sped off into the distance of the night.
The shop was closed, but Gail had work to do.
…
Gail worked all through the night into the wee hours of the morning when the clouds gathered and began to release snowflakes aplenty.
She stiched, she sewed, and she smiled. By the time her coffee maker finished the first batch of her 8 cups of coffee, she held the new monkey plush in the air. Not a fray, tear, or misplaced buttoned eye. It was as good as new.
...
Snow burrowed on either side of Peckling Palace. It was on the far end of town, located on the busy strip of Toronto, including Holly's bakery across the street and down a block.
The snow fell a bit stronger today, and she could hear the sharp woosh of the wind carry off into her shop every time a new customer entered and exited. The weather was no excuse of course, it was the season of Christmas. It was the busiest time of the year.
Many customers went in and out of her shop all throughout the day - they demanded new orders, specifications on certain toys, and bulk orders of a specific toy. Gail didn't catch a break.
Gail was relieved by 8pm on the dot. But before she could turn off the lights, the front door swung open and a familiar woman stumbled through, clad in a white chef's uniform and a white hat in hand.
" Hey Gail, sorry to bother you this late, but I was wondering if you saw Theo's Monkey Plush?" Holly breathed heavily. " He was crying this morning because he couldn't find it anywhere around the house. I even started crying because it's sentimental. I just-"
" The brown stuffed animal that looked beaten up to bits, with the stuffing spewing out and was about to become a cyclops monkey?"
" Yes" Holly said. "That one."
Gail disappeared behind the curtains to her toy making room for a few seconds before emerging once again with a monkey in hand.
She handed the stuffed animal to Holly, who held a confused expression. " Is that...is that Theo's?"
" All good as new." Gail smiled. "Sentimental, huh?"
" My father gave it to me when I was a little girl. I gave it to Theo when he was a baby, he was attached to it ever since."
" Like mother like son."
Holly laughed, hugging the stuffed animal tightly against her chest.
" What could I do to repay you? Repay you for everything? You've been so good to Theo, he talks about you all the time. You really-"
"Hey, Holly?" Gail interrupted.
" Yes?"
" How about you call me sometime?" Gail scrawled her number on a sticky note and placed it in the woman's palm before she could mutter a response.