The Mystics Welcome.

Thunder cracked across the sky as a young, blonde haired woman let out a tired sigh. Her name was Alice and she had just been to her twelfth job interview which sadly ended in disappointment. When she first started looking for a job, she had been so eager, so enthusiastic, but sadly now, all she felt was hollow, tired and empty.

The pitter patter of the first drops of rain began, bringing a second sigh from Alice. “Figures, a disappointing end to my disappointing day,” She muttered.

Soon the rain began to fall more heavily and the need for shelter triumphed over Alice’s depressed state. Rushing down the street, Alice desperately began looking for a shop, a store, or well, anywhere she could hide out from the rain. Alas, what few places were open on this street were already closed and those that were open wouldn’t allow her in due to her soaked state.

Stopping at the end of the street, Alice resigned herself. There was no shop that would be willing to shelter her and even if there was, what would be the point, she was already soaked to the bone. She may as well just give up and head home, with that thought in mind, she turned to leave, but paused when she heard a loud splash coming from behind her.

There, jumping from puddle to puddle was a positively ancient man, his wet clothes clung to his body demonstrated how thin he was, a wide grin spread on his face as he stopped in front of Alice.

“Why hello there, young lady. Nice time for a walk, isn’t it?” He asked cheerfully. “I was just sitting there in my shop over there,” He gestured to a small store with the title ‘The Mystics Welcome’ hanging over the doorway, “Bored out of my mind, before I saw you jumping from puddle to puddle and though, ‘what an interesting game, why don’t I give it a try!’ Sadly I don’t seem as adept as you, but I am certain with some time and hopefully more rainy days, I will master it.”

“Um, what-“

“Oh goodness gracious, where are my manners. I am Mr. Ainzworth, also known as that crazy kook from down the street. And you,” Mr. Ainzworth paused, his eyes glinting with cheer, “Simply must join me for a cup of tea.”

Alice glanced down at her soaked clothes, “A-are you sure, I’ll probably just track water into your shop and make a mess.”

“Nonsense my girl,” Mr. Ainzworth chuckled, “If anyone will be dirtying that old shop, it would be this bag of bones right here,” He pointed towards himself. “Now, what say you and have a nice cup of tea and dry off, Hmmm?”

“All right,” Alice agreed hesitantly, “I’m Alice, by the way.”

“Alice,” Mr. Ainzworth said. “What a lovely name, can I expect a mad hatter and a talking cat to be joining us?” He asked, chuckling as he led Alice into his small shop.

The shop had a bit of a musty smell to it, as if everything had been packed away and left for more than a few years. Numerous boxes had been stacked upon one another, with the exception of one that had been left open on a small table that sat in the middle of the room.

Walking up to the table, Mr. Ainzworth shuffled through the box, before producing a large fluffy towel, handing it to Alice without much thought.

“Um, thanks,” Alice said awkwardly as she wrapped the towel around her back.

“Think nothing of it,” Mr. Ainzworth said cheerfully. Grabbing two stools from the box, he placed them on the floor, before removing it from the table. “Now, why don’t you make yourself comfortable and I’ll see about getting us that tea.”

Glancing at the now empty box, Alice momentarily thought it odd that it only contained a towel and two chairs, before shrugging and seating herself at the table. The shop had an odd feeling to it, both warm and welcoming. It felt safe and homely.

It wasn’t much longer before Mr Ainzworth arrived from the back room, his clothes completely dry, a tray holding two cups of steaming hot tea in his hands. Placing the tray down on the table, he handed one cup to Alice, before taking one for himself.

Taking the cup, Alice eyed the murky brown liquid suspiciously, before taking a single sip. “Wait, this is-“

“I hope you don’t mind, but I like my tea to be made out of coco, sugar and milk.” Mr. Ainzworth said, smiling to himself as he sipped his own drink.

It was hot chocolate. A small smile spread across Alice’s face. It wasn’t tea, but something better, something just right for a rainy day. “You’re a little weird, huh?” Alice mumbled, before blushing at having said that out loud. “I-I’m So-“

Mr. Ainzworth let out a hearty chuckle at that. “Why, I would hope so. Being ordinary would in no way suit me.” Taking a second sip from his drink, Mr. Ainzworth smiled.

“I’m Sorry,” Alice said louder, her cheeks still red, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Think nothing of it, if anything, I took it as a compliment.” Mr. Ainzworth said reassuringly.

The duo fell into a silence, with the only sound coming from the rain outside and a loud clap of thunder that shook the stores glass windows, making Alice jump in her seat.

“Not fond of the thunder?” Mr. Ainzworth asked.

“Um, not really,” Alice answered truthfully. “And the rain.”

Mr. Ainzworth nodded understandingly. “Rain can seem like an inconvenience at times, but rain also brings with it life and it can be quite refreshing.”

Unsure what to say to that, Alice merely hummed in thought. “I-I guess I could see it that way.”

A second, louder crack of thunder had both Mr. Ainzworth and Alice jumping in their seats.  “Thunder on the other hand,” Mr. Ainzworth chuckled, “I’m not quite sure on thunder myself.”

A silence settled throughout the shop, with the exception of the soft pitter of rain and occasional crack of thunder.

“Um, Mr. Ainzworth,” Alice began nervously, “What is it that you do here?”

Mr. Ainzworth hummed thoughtfully into his cup. “Well, I drink my tea here. I also run my business here. On rare occasions, I even sleep here.”

Finishing the last of her hot chocolate, Alice carefully placed the cup back on the table. “What kind of business?”

“Well,” Mr. Ainzworth smiled kindly, “I give my customers things that they need.”

“Things that they need,” Alice muttered to herself, glancing at her cup. “So you run a coffee shop?”

“Why, yes and no,” Mr. Ainzworth nodded enthusiastically. “When I saw you outside, I could tell you would need some tea and a place to wait out the rain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that my next customer will need the same thing.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“That’s quite alright,” Mr. Ainzworth said jovially.

Grabbing the empty box that sat next to them, Mr. Ainzworth sat it back on top of the table. “Everyone needs something different, but they’re all similar in the fact that they need something. It’s my job to supply them with that,” Mr. Ainzworth said. Reaching into the empty box, he pulled out a small potted plant.

Alice’s eyes widened at that. The box had been empty not even five minutes ago, was it possible that she had just not seen the plant.

“Tell me, Alice. What is it that you do?” Mr. Ainzworth asked curiously.

“Oh, Uh, me?” Alice stuttered. “I-I don’t do anything, I haven’t found a job yet,” She admitted tiredly.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find something that’s just right for you soon,” Mr. Ainzworth hummed thoughtfully.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Alice muttered, thinking back to all her failed job interviews.

“Nonsense, I’m sure that anyone would be lucky to have you as their employee,” Mr. Ainzworth said cheerfully. “You just have to find a place that fits you.”

”But what if I don’t find a place that fits me, what if there’s no place for me at all?”

“Then you can make one, what’s important is that you, yourself are happy. You only live once, after all,” Mr. Ainzworth paused for a few seconds. “Unless, of course, you are a cat, then you can live up to nine times.”

Alice let out a snigger at that. Mr. Ainzworth was an odd man, incredibly friendly and optimistic, but odd nonetheless.

Taking one final swig from his mug, Mr. Ainzworth let out a content sigh, before placing his mug back on the tray. “Now that that’s done, I best get back to organizing my store,” Mr. Ainzworth said as he stood with a determined grin on his face.

“Um, I could help you, if you want,” Alice said suddenly, bringing Mr. Ainzworth’s attention towards her.

“Hmmm,” Mr. Ainzworth hummed, a contemplative look briefly crossed his face, before his grin came back in full force. “That would be lovely.”

Standing, Alice briefly felt unsure of herself as she saw the variety of boxes that were stacked in the room. “Um, just tell me what I should do.”

Grabbing one of the smaller boxes, Mr. Ainzworth swiftly placed it on the table, before opening it, revealing several large table cloths. “Why don’t you unpack these so long and I will take our cups to the kitchen.”

Gently unpacking the cloths, Alice noted that none of them were the same colour, some were dark blue, others were light green and one was even bright pink. It didn’t even take a full minute before they were all unpacked.

Hearing that Mr. Ainzworth come back into the room, Alice turned to ask him what else she could help with, but froze when she saw the large wooden desk he had somehow managed to maneuver into the room without alerting her.

“Ho-how did you get that in here?” Alice asked, pointing towards the desk.

“This old thing?” Mr. Ainzworth asked, patting the desk. “I just got it out of some boxes. It wasn’t too difficult, it practically assembled itself.”

“A-alright,” Alice stuttered, not quite believing Mr. Ainzworth.

The next half an hour continued in much the same way, with Alice unpacking a box, only to turn around and find that Mr. Ainzworth had somehow unpacked an entire cupboard and several tables silently. Mr. Ainzworth seemed to have an inhuman ability to assemble his shop, but only when Alice wasn’t looking. Needless to say, Alice tried, several times to see how he did it, but failed each time.

“What are these?” Alice asked curiously as she pulled a set of covered pots from one of the boxes.

“Oh, these are a very interesting kind of plant that I like to call my lively lilies,” Mr. Ainzworth said enthusiastically.”You see, all you have to do is remove the cover and…”

At first, all Alice saw was potting soil, but after a few seconds, a beautiful auburn flower pushed its way to the surface.

“Woah.”

“That’s not even the best part,” Mr. Ainzworth noted. Carrying the flower pot to the table that had the bright pink cloth on it, he placed it down and the flower’s colour changed from auburn to a softer shade of pink.

“I-it changes colour?” Alice asked in awe.

“Yes,” Mr. Ainzworth grinned.

At Mr. Ainzworth’s instruction, Alice helped place a lively lily flower pot on each, table. Each flower softly reflecting the colour of the table cloth they sat upon.

The sounds of thunder was slowly growing fainter as the storm was beginning to pass and Alice found herself, for the first time, wanting the storm to come back so she could stay in Mr. Ainzworth’s shop longer. It wouldn’t be long before the rain stopped entirely and she would have to leave.

“Now, tell me Alice,” Mr. Ainzworth leaned forward, as if he were going to ask something incredibly important. “Would you like another cup of tea?”

“I would love one.”