it goes great with your eyes,” replied Diana reflexively. She snatched the garment away and put it back. “You guys promised you’d be unobtrusive.”
“Sorry,” said Vom. “We didn’t realize it would be so dull.”
“Didn’t you just spend one hundred years locked in a closet?”
Unending Smorgaz hiccupped, and two spawns rolled off his back. They scampered away to wreak whatever havoc they could in their brief life span.
Smorgaz cringed. “Whoops. Sorry.”
She handed them a few dollars. “Go to the food court and buy a soda or something. Just behave, please.”
“We’ll be nearby. Just whistle if you need us for anything.”
“And remember,” she called just before they turned the corner. “Don’t eat anything that doesn’t come on a menu!”
And then they were around the corner and gone.
She leaned against a display and gathered her wits. When the monsters were around they caused all manner of trouble, but she could keep an eye on them. When they were gone she didn’t have to think about it, but it didn’t mean they were behaving. Either situation was both a relief and frustrating.
She spotted Wendall walking by and waved to him. He lowered his head and picked up his pace away from her.
She wondered if she could alter his memory just enough that he wouldn’t freak out when he saw her, but immediately ruled it out. This magic stuff wasn’t a cure-all. It wasn’t perfect, and even if it had been, she’d only been using it for two days. She was no expert.
Wendall’s half-memories of yesterday were important. She was dangerous company, and he would be better off keeping his distance.
Diana hadn’t thought much of Wendall in the time they’d worked together. Now he embodied that ultimate normality that had gone missing from her life. Something she’d taken for granted when it’d been around. Something that actively avoided her now.
She’d fix that by ignoring the weirdness and concentrating on the ordinary. So even though there was a shadowy bloblike entity browsing skis in sporting goods and a snaky thing swimming through the air, she ignored these things and thought about selling coats.
She was going to sell an assload of coats. To prove that she could, and to make up for burning down the store, even if that now technically had never happened. And also because she wanted to do something normal.
A mother with two children in tow stepped into her section. Diana, smiling perhaps a bit too widely, approached.
“Can I help you, miss?”
The woman acknowledged Diana in the vaguest manner, like a mosquito buzzing in her ear.
“I think it’s time the children bought some new jackets.”
The boys were noticeably annoyed by this.
“Mom,” whined one, “we just went jacket shopping last week.”
The woman ignored them and started looking through the racks. Diana, knowing the drill, stepped aside and waited to compliment the woman’s choices. She bought two new coats for the kids and two new coats for herself. It was an auspicious beginning, and Diana took it as a good omen.
No sooner had the family left than another man appeared. This one sneaked up while she was working the register. He was tall with sallow skin and a big, waxed mustache.
“Excuse me, young miss, but I seem to have a great need of a new coat.”
She smiled. “Right this way, sir.”
He bought the first garment she showed him. He paid in cash, then wandered away in a bit of a daze.
Almost immediately two more customers appeared to take his place. They were just as eager to buy, and all Diana had to do was point them toward the racks. A woman with a distant stare set her purchase on the counter.
“Anything else for you, miss?” asked Diana.
The woman’s gaze focused on Diana. “Oh… of course. Yes, something else.”
She grabbed a random coat within reach and put it beside her original purchase.
Diana got the nagging suspicion that normality was about to slip out of her fingers again.
“Do you
“Sorry,” said Vom. “We didn’t realize it would be so dull.”
“Didn’t you just spend one hundred years locked in a closet?”
Unending Smorgaz hiccupped, and two spawns rolled off his back. They scampered away to wreak whatever havoc they could in their brief life span.
Smorgaz cringed. “Whoops. Sorry.”
She handed them a few dollars. “Go to the food court and buy a soda or something. Just behave, please.”
“We’ll be nearby. Just whistle if you need us for anything.”
“And remember,” she called just before they turned the corner. “Don’t eat anything that doesn’t come on a menu!”
And then they were around the corner and gone.
She leaned against a display and gathered her wits. When the monsters were around they caused all manner of trouble, but she could keep an eye on them. When they were gone she didn’t have to think about it, but it didn’t mean they were behaving. Either situation was both a relief and frustrating.
She spotted Wendall walking by and waved to him. He lowered his head and picked up his pace away from her.
She wondered if she could alter his memory just enough that he wouldn’t freak out when he saw her, but immediately ruled it out. This magic stuff wasn’t a cure-all. It wasn’t perfect, and even if it had been, she’d only been using it for two days. She was no expert.
Wendall’s half-memories of yesterday were important. She was dangerous company, and he would be better off keeping his distance.
Diana hadn’t thought much of Wendall in the time they’d worked together. Now he embodied that ultimate normality that had gone missing from her life. Something she’d taken for granted when it’d been around. Something that actively avoided her now.
She’d fix that by ignoring the weirdness and concentrating on the ordinary. So even though there was a shadowy bloblike entity browsing skis in sporting goods and a snaky thing swimming through the air, she ignored these things and thought about selling coats.
She was going to sell an assload of coats. To prove that she could, and to make up for burning down the store, even if that now technically had never happened. And also because she wanted to do something normal.
A mother with two children in tow stepped into her section. Diana, smiling perhaps a bit too widely, approached.
“Can I help you, miss?”
The woman acknowledged Diana in the vaguest manner, like a mosquito buzzing in her ear.
“I think it’s time the children bought some new jackets.”
The boys were noticeably annoyed by this.
“Mom,” whined one, “we just went jacket shopping last week.”
The woman ignored them and started looking through the racks. Diana, knowing the drill, stepped aside and waited to compliment the woman’s choices. She bought two new coats for the kids and two new coats for herself. It was an auspicious beginning, and Diana took it as a good omen.
No sooner had the family left than another man appeared. This one sneaked up while she was working the register. He was tall with sallow skin and a big, waxed mustache.
“Excuse me, young miss, but I seem to have a great need of a new coat.”
She smiled. “Right this way, sir.”
He bought the first garment she showed him. He paid in cash, then wandered away in a bit of a daze.
Almost immediately two more customers appeared to take his place. They were just as eager to buy, and all Diana had to do was point them toward the racks. A woman with a distant stare set her purchase on the counter.
“Anything else for you, miss?” asked Diana.
The woman’s gaze focused on Diana. “Oh… of course. Yes, something else.”
She grabbed a random coat within reach and put it beside her original purchase.
Diana got the nagging suspicion that normality was about to slip out of her fingers again.
“Do you
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