"Prologue"
I couldn't see what color his eyes were at a distance. His eyes were hidden behind the wide frames on his oval face, but I could imagine the glint of amusement in his eyes judging by the way he smiled at me. His smile was not a hello-I'm-happy-to-greet-you-smile. It's actually the kind of smile that gave off a vibe of ah-I've-been-waiting-for-you-all-my-life. Scary. Scarier was the fact that he trumped me at being weirder than weird. He was dressed like a wizard from one of those fancy, fantastical stories from the cinema. I had these mixed feelings about the navy velvet robe he wore over his shoulders. It glittered with silver stars that made me recall droplets of dew on tree bark. The garment was beautiful by itself, but strange on its wearer.
"Trying cosplay?" I bluntly asked as I took a few more steps further into the middle of the store.
"No. I'm making a retro-fashion statement," he said in a deep British accent, lifting the edge of the navy blue material of his robe, so that I could better see that the color of the robe was the same color as his hair, "This old thing was something that has been passed down in my family for many generations."
I pursed my lips to keep from blabbing anything else that might have been offensive or asinine. The silence evoked the man to hop off his stool from behind his counter and approach me. His easy grin never faltered on his face and this caused me to take a quick step back.
"It's okay… I'm only trying to help a customer. The name's Eriol, The Storekeeper," he paused, still grinning from cheek to cheek.
"I've been walking by this store plenty of times. Today I saw the misspelled word on your sign," I explained.
He gave me a funny look. "Which word?"
"Clow or you must mean Clown."
He burst into fits of chuckles. "Cl-Cl-Clown? You actually think that it's supposed to be clown? Oh, you're a riot!" He snapped his buckling knee.
I joined in the laughter because it's just strange to let a guy laugh by himself. I guess Clow must be a surname…
Wiping at a tear he gasped, "Well, before I give props to the comedian who just walked into my shop, may I first ask what brings said comedian to my wonderful world?"
"Well, actually I might be very interested in the poster on your window. I might want to purchase one for my own bedroom. I might also buy a book at your recommendation, Eriol."
"That's a lot of 'might's' in one breath. Do you always sound so unsure about yourself?" He asked, gently.
I straightened my back as straight as a piece of plywood board and threw my shoulders back a bit. "I'm mighty sure of myself today. I'm done clinging to a cheating boyfriend and a job that's as brown and dirty as poop. I told my boss off just a second ago."
Eriol clicked the heels of his shoes together and whistled. "Well, you sound like a mighty young lady taking a hold of her own future. Brush all the bad, you did."
I glanced around me at the shelves of ancient-looking dusty books to distract me from the Yoda-talking guy in front of me. "Right… Do you have any recommendations?"
"A new book by Fitzgibbons just arrived this morning. I can show you the first book in the series and if you like it I'll order another one from his series for you. I like to keep the new books in the backroom. You may take a look around while I retrieve the poster and the book for you."
I did exactly as he said when he disappeared into the room behind him. I browsed the shelves, keeping my nose out of the dust as best I could. After five minutes of looking for nothing in particular, I spotted a plain book on the bottom row of the shelves. There was nothing extraordinary about this ordinary book. After all, the book was the only titleless-spined book in the mix. The spine was red and laced with two gold stripes on either ends of the spine. I pulled the book off the shelf and felt a thrill through my body at seeing that on the red cover of the book was the same gold symbol on the poster.
When I pulled the cover open a warm gust blew into my face eliciting a surprised blink of my eyes. I looked to my left and saw that no one stood at the entry. I looked to my right and I didn't see any sign of Eriol who might have switched on a fan upon returning to the storefront. I looked back at the 2.5 inch by 6 inch hole in the pages of the book and deflated quite visibly. I pealed one page away from another as daintily as possible and stared at the gaping hole. What a waste of a good old book I might have actually read. I took note that the pages weren't numbered either.
"Find anything interesting?" Eriol asked so suddenly I thought I could have jumped out of my skin. "I'm, sorry. Did I startle you?"
I shut the book and walked up to where he perched behind the counter. His eyes followed my every movement. When I finally, reached him, he said, "Why, that's quite the book you've selected."
"Quite," I said, severely. "So what happened to the pages?"
"Never mind that," he said, sliding the book I had just found to the corner of the counter. He proceeded to show me the poster and the book he recommended earlier. I only followed him for a second before my eye wandered back to the book in the corner. "Would you like to pay in cash or credit?"
"Credit… But, Eriol," I drew his attention away from the cash register for a moment, but before I could even open my mouth to speak, he hastily interrupted me.
Huskily, he told me this. "That book wasn't supposed to be on the shelf. It has a mind of its own sometimes if you catch my drift."
"The cover matches the poster, so I want to add it to my collection," I explained, handing him my credit card.
"That book was once a part of a far greater collection."
"In layman's terms, it's not for sale," I sighed in exasperation. "I get it. You don't want to sell it."
Eriol shook his head until I thought his glasses might fling off his face. "No, it's not for sale. However," he stopped for a dramatic effect, "I may give it to you if you're willing to take it."
I frowned. "Okay, what's the catch?"
He guffawed. "You are a riot, aren't you?" He was choking on his own saliva after a minute of unmitigated laughter. That was what made him serious. The part where he almost killed himself laughing because of my spectacular comedic skills I never knew I possessed. "Seriously, Sakura, there's no catch to this offer unless you count my policy the catch. My policy's for you to treat this item and everything linked to it with respect and love."
I blinked in surprise at him. "How did you know my name?"
He blinked his owlish eyes at me. "Why, it's on your credit card."
I mentally slapped myself. Who's out of this world, now, you and I both ask?
I took my yellow plastic bag with the big CLOW emblem on it because that was what I opted to call the symbol on the book, window display, and bag. The storekeeper gave me his haunted smile as I walked out of the store and returned to the world of no wonders.
"Ms. Sakura Kinomoto, you are under a contract." Syaoran's irritating, yet familiar tone echoed from somewhere behind me. "Do you actually think I might let you storm off when you have yet to fulfill the terms of our contract? You are willing to jeopardize your professional future by making a mockery out of my busy office just because of your embarrassing and personal problems?"
How did this man find me that quickly? I turned, so that I was walking backward as I spoke to my ex-boss. I tapped at my noggin. "Working for you for another year would just remind me of this very embarrassing and personal problem of mine, so I'll take my chances today and keep to my word. Who knows, I might land a job at an old, dusty bookstore."
"Sakura." He took a frantic step toward me.
I backed into the street and did not pay any attention to my surroundings. "You're not the only man hiring, Hotshot. You better believe it."
"Hold it. I said stop, Sakura!"
I only remembered the way his hand shot out to catch my retreating arm. The look of fear and vulnerability on his strict visage replayed in my visual memory as the world I knew came crashing down in a flare of white light. I forgot the sounds of the bellowing car horn and the squealing rubber tires coming from my side. I'd be darned lucky today if I woke up with just a bump on my head. I should have paid attention, so I could have lived and finally take proper care of myself.
Hiya all,
I was hounding about updating once I had at least 100 viewers. That happened last week, so I set forth at writing once more. Thank you for your support and I'll await the next 100 viewers with love and hope. Adieu until then, my friends.
MistyWing
