I wasn’t quite finished with the story I was telling by the time 2025 ended and so decided to continue it until it reached an ending point. Then I will start a new one. Besides, I kind of want to see where Penelope ends up. And so we have…
Day 184: The lie came to her lips before she even thought about it.
The lie came to her lips before she even thought about it. She found herself surprised as the words came out of her mouth. The man behind the table nodded however. “Lots of mystery bags at good prices. You could use the bag as a mystery item or open it and just use a few pieces or even make up small collections for each person.”
Penelope nodded. “That sounds like a really good idea,” she said. She turned to the path he indicated and walked carefully down the center, pushing the trolley ahead of her. The area he mentioned was easy to spot. Penelope found a jewelry box that had panels opening up with hooks for chains. It was a simple design and would hold the enchanted jewelry she was collecting. She put it into the shopping trolley and then turned to the bags of mystery jewelry.
There were far more than there were when she last visited the shop. She reached for one of the packages wondering if she should just choose a few randomly. The she lifted the package and it felt good in her hand. Before she could think too much, she put the package in the shopping trolley. She reached for a second one but before any conscious thought occurred, she set it to the side and picked up a different package.
Slowly, Penelope went through the piles of paper and plastic wrapped bundles. There was no way to see through the brown paper to tell what was in any of the packages but some she automatically moved to the cart while others she set to the side. All told she had eight small mystery bundles in her cart by the time she was through.
It was a strange experience, but in some ways exhilarating. And as the most expensive of the bundles was only five dollars, it was an experiment that didn’t cost her too much. Having gotten the jewelry box and the bundles that might prove how lucky the charm she was wearing actually was, Penelope decided it was time to make her escape. She turned and started back towards the counter. As she did, Penelope saw a small music box. It was a two inch square and looked scratched and dented as though it might have fallen onto rough pavement and slid several feet. Repeatedly.
It was no prize yet somehow, Penelope found herself adding it to the top of her cart before she headed back to the counter.
“I see you found what you were looking for,” the man said.
“I think so,” Penelope said. “I think I should be able to break the bundles out and create several small collections for the gift exchanges.”
She paid for her items and found herself thrilled with the cart as she piloted it back out of the door and down the street. With her arm in the sling Penelope found the cart amazingly helpful. ‘I would have had to call a cab if I was on my own,’ She told herself.
The luck charm still felt warm against her skin and Penelope wished she had looked at the time before she pressed the charm to activate it.
‘Surely it was more than five minutes,’ she thought. She tried to decide if it had been more than fifteen minutes. She wasn’t sure. She found what she wanted easily, paid in relatively short order and was on her way again. ‘And the charm still feels warm.’
She walked back towards home and realized that after it rested for the requisite seventy two hours she would have to test it again. ‘This time with checking the time,’; she reminded herself. Thinking of a second experiment, Penelope tried to think of something she might need a little bit of luck to get through.
Ten til Midnight 