I went to school the next day, and it was a normal day. I turned my back to Affects and Aspects. But everything was different. I knew now. I couldn’t return to my normal days.
Calling…
“Hi!”
“Hi.”
“So…”
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“Yah, I am. Do you want to do something?”
“Track an Affect?”
“Oh you’re no fun. Let’s go to the Crossroads at 10.”
“What?”
“Okay, see you there! And dress fun!”
Call ended: 1:32.
I stared at my phone. What’s the Crossroads?
I woke up the next morning and walked toward my closet. I wore another white dress shirt, another pair of black jeans, and the same grey hooded jacket. Dress fun? I wore a striped red and blue tie. That’s fun. I grabbed my toque and left.
I had to take three buses to get to the Crossroads. When I arrived, I found myself staring at a large gargantuan mall. The website had said it was large, but this was ridiculous. Four stories of pure commercial vampirism that spanned across four corners of an intersection. Numerous walkways connected the buildings on differing levels – making it easier for you to access another store where your money would disappear. And the noise.
“Hey!”
I turned around. There she stood, looking like she always did.
“You’re not in fun dress!”
“I’m wearing a fun tie.”
“That’s not a fun tie! That’s still formal and serious. And what’s with everything else? You always wear that toque.”
“It’s my favorite toque.”
“Have you thought of getting a different one?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
I shook my head.
“Fine, let’s get you a tie though.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the Northwest building. We entered the Hendrick’s Department Store and moved toward the Men’s department. One of the saleswoman there turned to look at us, and in a glance, she had already sized us. She walked over toward us – her high heels clicking and clacking across the marbleized floor.
“How can I help you?” she said with blatant disdain.
“You can’t,” Grace smiled in reply. “We’ll look on our own.”
And we pushed past the saleswoman. A muted curse parted from her lips and reached only her ears and mine. Same to you. We arrived at the tie selection, which composed of an entire wall, a two-tiered table in front of the wall, and three racks hung full of ties. Grace began to search through that sea of ties.
“I think a pink tie would look good on you.”
“Pass.”
“How about this one?” She held up a checkered black and white tie.
“No.”
“Maybe skulls?”
“Do they even sell skulls here?”
“Not here but at Hot Top-“
“No. And skulls aren’t fun.”
“Says who?”
“Me.”
She laughed.
“Well then, how about this one?”
She held up a plain red tie.
“How is this one any more fun?”
“Let me patch it.”
“No skulls.”
“No skulls.”
“Okay.”
So we walked over to the cashier, but someone had misplaced a Teddy Bear in the men’s department. Grace picked it up and held it.
“It’s so cute!” she screamed.
“Aren’t you too old to have stuffed animals?”
She pouted and put it down. She dashed toward the cashier’s. Before I could reach her, she had already paid for it.
“You didn’t have to buy me this. I could’ve-“
“Most people say thank you when they’re presented a gift.”
“I didn’t want a gift.”
She wrung her mouth. “No, you just want to be a shadow, pretending that you don’t care about anyone and that no one cares about you. Maybe you don’t want a gift, but have you ever thought that I wanted to get you something?”
Grace threw the tie at me and ran off.
I held the tie in my hand. I ran after her. I couldn’t find her, so I closed my eyes and put my phone against my ear. The noise of the shopping center filled my mind, and I searched through the waves of images to find her. I found her on the floor below. How big is this place? I ran forward and looked over a railing. I found her running in the food court.
I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer. She sent me to voicemail. I looked over the rails at her as I ran down an escalator. Then, I saw something slink from a chair’s shadow. It flowed toward a table where a family sat. I saw it split down the middle, forming a dark two-dimensional maw, and swallow the family’s shadow. All four, father, mother, children, collapsed onto the table. I could hear their hearts suddenly stop. Grace turned around and looked at them.
Don’t do it.
She ran toward them. And she collapsed too.
Text and Images © Jonathan Lee
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