The adventures of Evan and Tia.

Memories and Mr Magic.

"Miss you," I whispered.

As usual, Natalie stayed frozen in time.

After a quick shower and change of clothes my mood had improved significantly. I peeked in on Tiana, and she was still fast asleep. Her hair framed her face, and she was curled on her side.

The sun trickled in through the window, and decorated the wooden floor with stripes of golden light. The sky outside was a forget-me-not blue, and my mind buzzed with inspiration. As I waited for the kettle to boil, I drew a little doodle of Tiana. She was grinning widely, her fingers combing through the striped fur of a tiger.

I folded up the drawing, and tucked it in my trouser pocket.

The sun beat down on me as I locked the door behind me. I squinted, wishing I'd grabbed my sunglasses. It had been a great summer so far, weather wise, and Tia had spent many a day playing in the back garden. Her fair skin was easily burnt, but we had been lucky this year. I made sure the sun-cream was slathered on.

It was my turn to open the shop today. Laura was on holidays with her boyfriend and best friend, and Adrian, the other shop assistant, only worked afternoons now. His wife had just had a baby boy.

'Magic's Book Emporium' wasn't a normal looking bookshop. My boss, Kieran Magic (yes, that's actually his name) was rather eccentric. He was an Irish fellow and he loved anything otherworldly: faeries, elves, banshees, etc. He was a big believer in fantasy, and thus the shop was borne.

Pushing open the door, the bell rang. I surveyed the shop. The shop is split into four sections: New Fantasy, Old Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy, and Children's Fantasy. It slightly resembled the layout of Waterstones, but that's where the resemblance ended. Large white bookshelves circled the different sections, apart from the children's section. The shelves in the children's were hand painted (by yours truly), some blue, some green and some pink. Flowers and faeries and elves and kings and queens decorated those shelves.

Tables and squishy armchairs were scattered everywhere, and it was all together welcoming and comfortable. I straightened a Hufflepuff cushion, and approached the desk. Dumping my bag under it, I scanned the empty shop.

Mr Magic usually came in around ten to check on the shop. I liked seeing him. He always dressed in bright clothes, and he was always in a good mood. I had been working with him since I was seventeen years of age, after school and on weekends. When I went to university it became a weekend job, and after I dropped out it became full time. Mr Magic had been a great friend to me through it all.

Tiana loved him as well. She believed that he possessed actual magic powers, like some kind of wizard, and Mr Magic did nothing to dispute that claim.

I smiled to myself.

I grabbed the new boxes from the back room, and brought them up to the shop. We had gotten a new instalment of YA Fantasy books in the last week, and I decided to get started with unpacking them.

Whimsical by Olivia Grayson was placed on a pedestal. It was a new book, only out a few days ago, so it was left to stand proudly with the other new books. The others, more copies of A Song of Fire and Ice, the Six of Crows and Finale were placed in their respective YA shelves.

I opened the shop to the world at 8am, same as usual, and took my seat behind the desk. Silence rained down upon me. I put the radio on, tweaking and changing until I found a suitable station.

"Oi, ginger!" Yelled a familiar voice.

I looked up from my notebook, a grin already growing on my face. "Morning, Fletch."