Author's Note: I'm normally as soft and cute as a bunny rabbit, but my story is copyright, so if you steal it and pretend it's yours, I will come down on you like the hammer of Thor. Thanks, have a nice day!
CHAPTER ONE
The Letter
“This one is for you.”
“What?” Alice put down her coffee mug and stared at the cream coloured envelope her mother was holding out to her. She didn’t recognize the loopy cursive writing on the front. “Ms. Alice Jane Cunningham.”
Her mother shrugged. “Junk mail?”
“There’s no return address.” Alice slipped her finger under the edge of the flap and tore it open. She pulled out a white slip of paper, catching an unusual fragrance as she did so. Was that cinnamon? The white paper unfolded into a letter written in the same loopy handwriting.
March 9th Thursday, 2013
Dear Alice,
If you are reading this it means I have passed on. I have taken all my worldly possessions with me - don’t let anyone tell you you can’t - save one thing. I leave you my beloved shop at 877 Douglas Street, Victoria BC.
You will find a Ms. Azura Grey there. She will teach you the ins and outs of the business. I have left the shop to YOU and no one else.
Enclosed you will find the deed to the shop and a key.
I hope this letter finds you well or at least healthier then I.
Sincerely,
Great Aunt Ruby Cox
“Mom, is this a joke? Who’s Ruby Cox?”
“Crazy Aunt Ruby? Let me see that.” Her mother seized the letter.
“I have a great aunt I don’t know about?” Alice picked up the envelope. “And she’s crazy? I thought there was supposed to be a…oh!” The envelope suddenly seemed heavier in her hand, and when she tipped it upside down a rusted silver key fell into her palm.
“This is unbelievable” Her mother was still staring at the letter. “I didn’t know she had a shop here in Victoria. She moved to Calgary when you were only seven. We never stayed in touch because she was…well, she was a little nuts.” She scratched her head and continued to stare at the letter. Alice stuck her hand into the envelope again and pulled out another sheet of paper
“Here’s the deed.”
“I can’t believe this.” Her mother flapped the letter toward her face like a fan. “Why would she leave this to you? She hasn’t seen you in years.”
Alice unfolded the deed and looked over the document, not understanding much except that her name was on it and it looked official.
“I don’t know why I’m getting the shop. Doesn’t she have children? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Most of what Ruby Cox did didn’t make any sense. And no, she never had any children. She never married.’
They looked up as Alice’s father entered the kitchen, and Alice jumped up excitedly. “Dad, look at this!”
Her father, his dark hair still wet from the shower, blinked, “What?”
“Do you remember my Aunt Ruby?” Mrs. Cunningham asked.
“The crazy one we lost touch with years ago?”
“I got a letter from her,” Alice chimed in, eager to tell her news. “It says she’s dead.”
“Pardon?” He took the letter from her and looked it over briefly. “She left you a store?”
“Yeah,” Alice said, “Apparently.” She had butterflies in her stomach, more out of nerves then excitement. She didn’t want to let herself feel excited. After all, what if it was some kind of messed up prank? “Do you think this is for real? I mean, it would be amazing if it was.”
“It looks legitimate,” her father examined the deed.
“Can we go see it?” Alice said. “It won’t be open, but maybe we can go look at the store front. It says 877 Douglas Street. That’s not too far from here.”
“I didn’t even know she had a shop” Her father frowned. “What sort of store is it? It just says Threads.”
Her mother looked delighted. “It must be a clothing store!”
Well that was an exciting thought. “Oh I hope so! Let’s go see it. Come on, it will only take a few minutes.”
“Do you see it yet?” Alice stared out the window of her mother’s car, trying to make out the little numbers on each store. She fidgeted in her seat like a third grader, barely able to sit still.
“It must be right down town.”
“I had no idea she had a store at all,” her mother repeated.
“877 - there! Pull over.” Alice unbuckled her seat belt. She swung open the door before the car was even turned off.
“Wait for me, young lady!” The car gave a little honk as her mother locked it. “Which one is it?”
“There!”
The dark store front was painted the color of wet cement. The windows were large and trimmed in flat gray, the door was white. But it was the items displayed inside the windows that affected Alice the most.
“Vacuum cleaners?”
She couldn’t help it, her chest felt tight with disappointment. She made a face as her mother began to laugh.
“I inherited a vacuum store?”
“Not the most exciting thing I can think of.”
“What kind of name is Threads?” Alice said. “It’s a stupid name.” It’s the name that made me think it was a clothing store. She knew she was being incredibly ungrateful and tried to squash the sour disappointment. “I shouldn’t complain,” she told herself. “I don’t even remember Aunt Ruby.”
“You could always sell it.”
Alice remembered the letter, how it had stated the shop was left to her and nobody else. “I don’t know,” she walked closer, trying to stare into the dark windows of the shop, “It didn’t sound like Aunt Ruby would have wanted me to sell it.”
“Come on, let’s go home. Maybe it will look better tomorrow.”
Alice followed her mother, looking back over her shoulder. The shop windows were dark grey and still.
That night Alice re-read the letter and the deed, trying to make sense of why an Aunt she couldn’t even remember had left her a vacuum store. She went to bed just before midnight, wondering what it would be like to walk into the shop tomorrow and introduce herself as the new owner. She’d never owned anything more than a junky old car her parents had bought her last month just before graduation. She’d never had a job before either. It wasn’t like they taught you how to own a business in high school. How was she supposed to know how to run a shop? How was she supposed to have employees? She hadn’t even bossed people around when she’d been the team leader during high school projects. She wasn’t a leader, she was a follower.
On that bitter note Alice rolled over and jammed her pillow over her head, as if it would block out the mental onslaught. A million thoughts whizzed around in circles as she drifted off. She dreamed about parades of vacuum cleaners marching out of a drab grey shop on the main street. Then that dream ended, and another one began. This time she was in a beautiful room with dark wood walls and shelves filled with mysterious and exotic artefacts. There was a woman there, her face a vague blur. A faint aroma hung in the air as the woman bent over her, spicy and sweet. A gentle voice murmured instructions. The woman’s voice was far away and Alice couldn’t make out the words clearly. Something pressed into her palm and she looked down at a tiny silver bracelet with charms that tinkled like chimes in the wind.
The dream came with her when she woke up the following morning. Usually Alice couldn’t remember her dreams, but this one was startling in its clarity. She went straight to the little glass jewellery box on top of her dresser and raked through the contents. There it was.
She’d had the silver charm bracelet since she was a child; she’d stopped wearing it years ago. Alice couldn’t even remember where she’d got it from. Now she examined it more closely - a braid of silver strands with charms set in it, tiny charms delicately detailed. A heart, with smaller hearts etched into the front of it, an old fashioned key, a half-moon with a little grinning face, and a ship’s anchor. Curious, Alice slipped it over her wrist and was surprised that it still fit. Shouldn’t it be a lot smaller? She’d worn it years ago.
The mirror above her dresser caught her eye. The Alice in the mirror looked sleepy and confused, her normally pin-straight brown hair was messy, and the baggy t-shirt she’d worn to bed had slipped off one boney shoulder. Large brown eyes stared back at her, bambi eyes in a narrow face. Her lips were thin and pale. A forgettable face if ever there was one. She frowned, disgusted. She was so plain looking. She remembered a school field trip to the duck pond, how the teacher had explained the female ducks were drab in order to disinterest predators. She would disinterest predators alright, and everyone else.
Maybe that’s why her one and only relationship had ended, why Jason had dumped her a week before graduation. He had told her she wasn’t “spontaneous” enough. Was that a nice way of saying she was boring? Alice looked at herself closely. Did she look boring? No, more like worried. After all, this was the day she’d meet that Azura person. The woman would probably take one look at her and think Aunt Ruby was mad to give the shop to a scrawny, doe-eyed nineteen year old straight out of high school. Snap out of it, she told herself, you’ve just been comparing yourself to a Mallard. Geeze.
Alice showered and got ready slowly, deciding to dress professionally, then she observed herself in the mirror again. She was wearing a white blouse, black pants and a pair of white pumps she had stolen from her mother’s closet. Her hair hung straight and limp but at least it was clean. The picture she made might be good enough to fool someone else, but when Alice looked at her face all she saw was a scared high school kid.
“I’m graduated now,” she told her reflection firmly. “I’m grown up.” Yeah right, the fact that she’d just used the term “grown up” disproved that.
Her parents looked up as she descended the stairs into the kitchen and her mother beamed in approval. “Wow, you look like a real businesswoman.”
“Thanks.” Alice sat down and grabbed the cereal. Her father swallowed a mouthful of toast. “You look very nice, Alice.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“You think you’ll do vacuums full time?”
Alice wrinkled her nose and put a spoon full of cereal into her mouth to delay her answer. She hadn’t exactly grown up dreaming of being a vacuum cleaner sales man, or rather, sales woman. She hadn’t dreamed of anything, actually. She remembered when the teacher in grade five had asked the students what they wanted to be when they “grew up”. The other children had clamoured excitedly about being doctors, fire fighters and vets. Ten year old Alice had shrugged. How was she supposed to know? She was only ten. Now that she was nineteen she still felt like that. How was she supposed to know?
“I’m not sure yet,” she finally mumbled as she finished her breakfast, “I need to check it out.”
She put her empty bowl on the counter. “Okay, here goes. I’ll call you in a few hours.” She headed for the door, breathing deeply to stifle the case of nerves she felt coming on. When she was nervous her stomach got upset, sometimes resulting in embarrassing side effects.
“Keep us updated.” her mother gave her a cheeky grin. “I’m sure the vacuum business will be very exciting.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”
The shop looked just as dull in the daylight. The only difference was that she could see inside now that it was light out. Alice peeked in the window. The only word to describe it was…boring. Vacuum after vacuum lined the stark white walls like an army of stiff little soldiers awaiting command. Off to the left she could see a few racks of vacuum paraphernalia. At the back was a sturdy oak desk with a cash register. A woman sat there. She had short silver hair with a few leftover black streaks and a pair of small spectacles perched on her nose. And she was staring straight at Alice. Oh crap. Embarrassed to be caught peeking in the window like a curious child, she straightened up abruptly, hoping the woman couldn’t see her face flushing from there.
She entered the store. “Ms. Gray?”
The steel-haired woman looked her up and down. “Yes, you must be Alice.”
“I guess Great Aunt Ruby…told you about me?” She didn’t want to admit to this stern looking woman that she couldn’t even remember her Great Aunt.
“She told me that one of her young nieces would be inheriting the shop when she went.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, um…are you the manager?” Alice tried not to squirm. “The letter didn’t explain much.”
“You are the owner and manager; I am your only employee.” Azura Grey smiled reassuringly at her. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I know you must have a lot of them.”
Alice wound a strand of hair around her finger, clearing her throat nervously. “Um, the letter wasn’t very specific. How…I mean, what happened….” she trailed off helplessly.
“How did Ruby die?”
Alice twisted the strand harder, looking down at her feet as she nodded.
Azura’s mouth quirked into a little half smile. “Nobody is really sure. She was on vacation in Hawaii when it happened. The letter I received said it was a “tragic surfing accident”.”
“Surfing? Wasn’t she…older?”
“Very old. I suppose that’s why there was an accident.”
Alice smiled, and then quickly schooled her face into a frown. “That’s….tragic.”
“It’s rather funny actually,” Azura said. “When I first received the letter I had a bit of a laugh. It was something she'd be very proud of. She liked a dramatic exit.”
“I think I would have liked Great Aunt Ruby. Mom said she was crazy. Oh...” Alice clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified. “I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry. Ruby was absolutely crackers. She’d be the first one to tell you that.”
Azura’s hand suddenly grabbed at her shoulder, pinching Alice’s skin through the thin materiel of the blouse. Alice jumped, and tears stung the back of her eyes. What was that for? She blinked furiously, completely shocked.
“Sorry, dear. There was a bit of lint on your left shoulder,” Azura said sweetly.
Alice bit her lip. Maybe Azura was the crazy one. She didn’t look crazy though. Maybe she just really hates me. Alice realised she was twisting her hair again, pulling on it so hard it hurt. She shoved her hand into her pocket instead.
Azura was staring at her expectantly. “Don’t worry, it’s gone. Now, you have questions?”
Just for a second the lights overhead seemed to flicker and dim. Or was it her eyes? Alice blinked as the shop started to go blurry around the edges.
“Are you alright, dear?”
Again she was aware of the woman’s fierce scrutiny. “I’m sorry, it’s nothing. My vision just went a little funny. What were you saying?”
“Questions.”
“Yes. I don’t understand why she left the shop to me.”
Azura laughed. “Ruby had her reasons. I’m sure we’ll understand them in time.”
“I have no idea how to run a store,” Alice murmured, and then wished she hadn’t admitted that.
“It’s okay,” Azura said, “That’s what I’m here for, to show you the ropes.”
The lights flickered again. This time the rows of vacuums faded out and Alice stared as the ceiling of the shop seemed to melt at the corners. Everything grew darker. Her breath was becoming short, and she clutched the counter, afraid she might faint. When she glanced at Azura she seemed to be studying her with interest, and she knew her vision was doing funny things because she could swear the woman was grinning. Alice’s palms were sweaty on the countertop; she could hear her own heart thundering in her ears. She had only fainted once, in grade eleven P.E. It had been one of the most embarrassing experiences she’d ever had and she didn’t want to repeat it. It would be horrible to pass out in front of a total stranger. Azura said something, but her voice sounded a million miles away. Alice’s vision faded and grew darker, and she heard herself babbling.
“I just need a minute. Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She shut her eyes and pushed the heels of her hands into her them, willing her sight back to normal.
When Alice opened her eyes, everything was different.
Gone were the orderly rows of vacuum cleaners. In their places were wooden shelves filled with jumbles of baskets and boxes overflowing with colourful trinkets. A display of winter hats by the door had a sign that proclaimed, “Head Warming Hats” in golden letters. Another display boasted “Love Potions and Bedazzling Elixirs”. The shop was lit by several beautiful hanging lamps instead of florescent tube lights, giving the dark wood interior a subtle glow, and the entire place seemed to be bigger. There was a second section of the shop through an arched doorway, over which was painted in silver letters, “IsnerElen Gorga Eshniel”
The words didn’t make sense. The entire place didn’t make sense. Alice could see a fireplace through the arched doorway, a grey cat basking in the warmth of the flames. She breathed in deeply, smelling fire wood and the faint scent of spices. Turning to her right, she found herself staring at a stand of hand drawn maps, a bin full of pencils and erasers, and a shelf of leather bound books with golden writing on the spines. And the air was full of glowing threads, like coloured strands of yarn floating in the air, and looping around everything in sight. They draped down from the ceiling like neon party streamers and wrapped around every shelf and ceiling post. What on earth are those? Alice walked closer to a post that was wrapped entirely in glowing threads of blue and orange. Whatever those things were, they were beautiful, the shining light alluring. She found herself reaching out to touch them, and pulled back with a gasp.
What am I thinking? What the hell are these things? She looked around, wondering if she’d gone off the deep end. The big oak desk still looked the same. That was one thing. The other thing was that Azura Grey was still standing there, staring at her.
“You can see it now, can’t you?”
“I can see…” Alice mumbled, rubbing at her eyes, “…What?”
“Welcome to Threads. You didn’t really think it was a vacuum store, did you?”