Miranda's Vacation

Part 1

It was another hot and sunny day at the Cozumel port as the passengers of the latest cruise ship disembarked. A multitude of store owners and workers got ready to attract the new tourists to come to their stores to spend their American money.

Miranda decided not to take an excursion and stay at the port mall to shop and walk the beach at her leisure. Throngs of people passed her as they headed to their particular excursion signs and tour guides. Some were lined up for snorkeling, some fishing, and others were taking tours of shopping and sightseeing. Still others, like her, walked leisurely along the route and browsed through the shops.

She walked past a few stores one called the Drug Store and others with various forms of alcohol and tobaccos as their themes. Then she was drawn to the front of a small trinket store that boasted of having a twenty dollar sale on real silver. Miranda can't resist shiny trinkets and jewelry especially the fake stuff since that fits best with her pocketbook.

After gazing through the window for a few minutes she went in and noticed the store clerk sitting behind the register with his cell phone and pointing it at a magazine he was holding. 'That's goofy,' she thought. 'Why doesn't he just set the magazine down then take the picture?' She turned and walked further into the store and away from the clerk that made her feel like she was being watched.

From behind her, Miranda heard him say, "This is going to be awesome!" as he snapped more pictures and smiled.

'I hate it when store clerks watch you like a hawk and think everyone is out to steal from them. I'm not a thief so stop watching me, grr,' is what she was thinking until she spotted a shelf with books by her favorite author which instantly distracted her from her thoughts. She walked over to the case and unconsciously fiddled with the crystal bracelet she had attached to her bag and continued to browse the titles.