The store next door- Part 1

 Just making a random story up my dung hole, enjoy.

                              It was early summer and I have just opened up my shop. Along
                              the road there was another store who has opened up at the 
                              same time mines did. I pulled back this apron I was wearing and 
                              left it on the counter. "I opened you up 10 seconds ago, but allow
                              me to close you up again, I want to wish my neighbor some good 
                              luck" I said this as I flipped the sign to closed. It wasn't a long walk,
                              it only took me 5 minutes to reach his store. On closer inspection,
                              the store was two story long, and it might have been eccentricity
                              but the store was painted all blacks, and depending on the angle
                              you would see different images. . . not pleasant ones neither.
                              I am standing in front of it and right now everything is fine, just
                              a black store with its name called Priceless, but if I shift 3 feets to
                              my right, I can see a saint with a skull attached to where his head 
                              should be. Well I didn't pay it any mind, I just pulled the door open
                              and walked in.

                             

                               Contrary to its outside appearance, the floor was made of polished wood,

                              and the inside of the store was egg white
                              with a scent of pine. The old man at the counter gave me a weary
                              look and as he walked near me with a gesture to shake my hand
                              he said in a jolly tone, "Trying to gauge out the competition huh?"
                              as his laughter echoed through the store. I shook his hand and 
                              laughed along with him, while saying "Yeah you caught me" as I 
                              let go of his hand. There was something weird about his touch,
                              as if my natural instincts flared up and I knew he was the predator
                              while I was his prey. Either way, I explained it to him that I came 
                              not as a business rival, but as a friend. He kept staring at me with
                              his green eyes, soft and relaxing like meadow, as he then walked
                              back to the counter and picked up the rag he was using before.
                             

                              "As you can see, My store is just a General Item shop, 75 years of 
                              my life I had explored countless lands and these are the items that
                              I have seen on my journey" his gaze was looking at the ceiling, as 
                             if his story would be projected there, and then he looked back at me
                              and continued "These items are Priceless to me, and yet because of
                              my old age, I want it to be priceless to somebody else" his stern look
                              turned sad. "I see you also are looking for something when I see your
                              face, how about it? Would you like to check my items exclusively to you?" 
                              his hand gesture was invoking that I should move forward, but what made 
                              me move forward was his greenish eyes, as if the peace in that utopia
                              can come true if I just listen to this man. As I was walking towards the
                              counter, I noticed he had an apparent observation for details as he 
                              found the right box he was looking for and opened it, "Sorry, I still
                              haven't finished inventorying all these items yet, but here you go." he 
                              extended his hand out and released his fisted hand to my open palm
                              and dropped a blue stone.

                              Most people wouldn't have realized that 
                              I was a stone collector and there was this one stone called "Njir"
                             that was said to have been lost by treasure hunters million of years
                             ago. "This is. . . No, it cant be real is it?" the man seemed to have
                             frowned and said softly but with an anger tone "All my items are 
                             real, it is my dignity as a merchant to not sell false hope to my clients."

                             
                              Truly, this stone felt like "Njir" and it did have one distinct feature that
                               was said to have been true about this stone, and that was "You can 
                               hear paradise". If this was true or not, I had to find out, and I guess my
                               joy and curiosity was being shown in my face as that old man grabbed 
                               his rag and continued to wipe the sots on the counter he did not wipe yet.
                               I slowly raised this stone in my ear, and the moment I put it near my ear, I
                               could hear the sound of a gushing waterfall, and the sound of a soothing
                               forest. I could feel myself exploring that forest, touching each of these new
                               and exotic plants that I have never met before, and tasting the water being
                               gushed down as I melt by its flavor: How can water be this good? I wanted 
                               to see more, to listen to more, to live there forever, but the old man took the 
                               stone away from me right in the middle of that fantasy.

              ". . .Huh?" I was back at the store, the old man near me, the stone that
              belonged to him back in his possession. "I. . . I want to know how much 
              a stone like that cost?. . . It must be pretty expensive Mister . . ." what was 
            his name again? I stayed pause with my mouth clenched as he gave a small
             laugh "It is Lartz. We never did exchange our name in between our 
             conversation, may I have yours?" 

                              

             "It is Jeffrey, although everyone calls me frey for short" I said as I thought back
              on all the things we talked about. It wasn't in my nature to skip introductions. 
               Lartz look at the stone and then back at me, then smiled and said "are we 
               talking business then?" as he gave me the stone back and walked back
                to the counter. "A stone like this must cost quite a lot, so if you receive
                installment payments, please allow me to do so until I pay you back fully"
                I said in a pleading voice, I really did not want to lose Njir.

                He gave a small shake as he looked straight into my eyes and said "I
                have stated before that I am already too old to keep these items. I
                 am naught but a humble shopkeeper, so lets talk this out. . . How much
                would you like to give me for that item. Please be reasonable" as he gave
                 a crooked smile.
                My first thought was that if I heard what he said correctly, and my second was 
                that his way of doing business was very peculiar. I only had 175 dollars on me,
                 and if this was going to be a haggle battle, then I had to prepare myself. The 
                 smile he just gave me felt like he was saying, "If you try to cheat your way
                  through me, then I will know" and that kind of had my brain on full alert.
                 An item this valuable should at least cost millions of dollars, but mainly
                  because it is presumed to be a rumour I would have to judge it by 
                 its composition, color, and clarity. I scratched my head for a while as I tried
                  to figure out how much this will cost per ounce, and as I figured everything out
                  my lips trembled at the number in my head. I can either tell him the truth, or lie.

              "F-Five Hundred. . . that's how much I would give you for this item. . . B-Bu-But 

                I don't have the amount on me right now, so if you would please give me a couple
                of days to earn that much, then I would greatly appreciate it. I only have on me 175 
                dollars, so please!" I was about to get on my knees and plead, but Lartz stopped me 
                and shook his head.
               "That is enough. . .I am glad you didn't lie to me about your pricing, I really do not
                 know anything about gems and such, so I am glad that you are an expert on
                 this matter. Tell you what, how about I just sell it to you for 45 dollars? I can see
                 this object will be better off in your hand. To you, this item is priceless" as he said 
                 the word priceless, he gave a soothing smile and clicked some numbers on the
                 register. "Is that a deal?"
                  I was stunned, I couldn't believe what he was saying, this offer just felt too good to 
                 be true, and I wanted to hear an explanation but. . ."Deal." as I took out the money
                 from my wallet and gave him 45 dollars exactly.
                "Nice doing Business with you" he said as he smiled and waved me good bye. 
                You know, I think I may have some other valuable stones, but you may have to 
                come back another day to find it."
               My ears must have perked when he said he had more stones like Njir, 
               and I happily said "sure!" as I walked out of that store. Something about
               that smile at the end and his proposition felt eerily. It's also weird that 
               he could find out about my hobby so easily, I'm pretty sure I don't look the part.
             "Well whatever" I thought, as I put the stone near my ears and continued to 
              listen to that paradise. "Maybe I will just go back home for the day and spend
              my time exploring this beautiful paradise" as I walked past my store and to my 
                 home.
              For some reason, the few people outside was looking at me as if I was insane,
             Like if they couldn't understand why someone had a stone near their ear, or if they 
           could process the fact of the rarity of Njir. . . like if it was a normal gravel on the ground.




After Word: So this is part 1, yes I suck at telling stories :D but I hope ya enjoy it nonetheless. I cant remember the authors name, so a few corrections would be nice but I took inspirations from Stephen Kings book called "Needful Things" its a great book if ya haven't read it. Some similarities are identical to the main villain and protagonist of this story compared that to his but it will be because I like the way he writes :D. Um, the story will probably dive off course from his in the following chapters, although the shopkeeper may stay similar in some kind of way to the main villain. 

Stay tuned for part 2 as the story continues from somebody elses perspective!!!