Antique Store Losses

Date: 6/8/2022

I’m in the backseat of my mom’s car at night. My mom is driving and Alex is in the passenger seat. We stop on the left side of a one-way road. I look at the window to see a butterfly fluttering out from a group of trees and watch as it flies back and forth next to the car. I get the sudden urge to get out of the car to get a closer look before we drive off again. I stand and watch as it circles my head. It flies into the car and flutters around in the back. Its wings are sparkling under the auto door light. I’m at the Hammett’s house to take care of the dogs and cat. Blane, Alex and my mom are all with me. A realtor walks in with a couple of people, and I suddenly remember that they are selling the house (not really). I recognize them as Chase Perry (brother to a set of twins that I used to go to school with) and his mom. I smile politely at them, but I don’t say anything. Seconds after, Skylar and Jett join them (the twins I went to school with). I’m now avoiding eye contact and hoping that they don’t notice or recognize me. I think about how much I hate small talk with people I haven’t talked to in years. I go to the dining room and sit at a round table, which has replaced the rectangular table that is usually there. Blane sits down next me and I ask if he knows any of the Perry siblings, but he tells me that he doesn’t recognize any of them. Alex and my mom come and join us. Alex and I decide we are going to go the store together… We suddenly appear in a very busy antiques store. I wind up separating from her as I look up and down every aisle. I come across a a ceramic bowl that’s made to look like an opened, crinkled bag of pretzels. I look inside and find a few stale pretzels, which I assume must have been left by its previous owner. I contemplate buying it cause I find it to be super unique and cute. I leave the aisle to look for Alex so I can show her and ask for her input on my decision. I find her, but when I take her to the aisle that I thought I was just in, it looks completely different. I check the next aisle to see if I was off by one, but it’s still not it. I continue checking up and down the row of aisles, but it’s nowhere to be found. We walk into one aisle which has shelves full of antique electronics. I look around at all of them and begin to say “Some of these remind me of The Brave Little—“ when my eyes land on a toaster-shaped telephone with a face printed on it, “Oh my gosh! The Brave Little Toaster!” I reach down to grab it, but a group of teenage girls steps in front of me and grabs it first. I stand back and patiently wait while they look at it. The girls seem almost as excited as I am, but I am still hopeful that they’ll set it back down soon. To my dismay, one of the girls places it in her cart, and I instantly feel a pit in my stomach. I think about how much I love that movie and hope that they change their mind before they check out. Meanwhile, I continue my search for the aisle with the pretzel bag bowl. I come across an aisle of kitchen supplies and another full of different types of pretzels, so I assume I must be getting close.