“They really keep people out?” Millie could not see the logic.
“Yep.” Brendan smirked. People’s reactions were priceless. Not quite the tour’s highlight, but almost.
“But why?” came the expected follow-up.
“Because they don’t want anyone inside their store.” He answered.
There were two main reactions: sputtering disbelief or shake-the-head-at-the-morons. He predicted Millie as the former, and as always, he was right.
“So they’re traders who don’t want to trade?!”
Wrinkles made tracks in her makeup. She probably shouldn’t try. Then again, perhaps she would look worse without it.
“Yep!” he glanced at his watch. “Now, to our haunted library…”
For Rochelle’s FridayFictioneers
Na'ama Yehuda 
I liked the idea of traders who don’t want to trade. I wondered why
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Ah, though who knows if they REALLY don’t want to trade or only do ‘by appointment’ kinds of trade … 😉
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Intriguing story.
Ronda
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Thanks, Ronda. I wonder if the traders are in kahoots with the tour guide … 😉
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Not sure I’m up for this tour. I’ll skip it and stick to regular traders and public libraries! 🙂
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Yeah, though, you never know what kind of adventures you’ll be missing … 😉
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Very mysterious! I tend to think the shop has something going behind the scenes for the non-tourists (see Iain’s story.)
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Ah! Perhaps! I’ll be reading others’ (and Iain’s) tomorrow! 🙂
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🙂
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I love the way you tell the story so plainly, allowing the eccentric shop-keepers space to show us how odd they are. And I liked your comment on Millie’s make up too.
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🙂 Thanks, Penny!
I have a feeling the tour guide isn’t all that kind to the people he takes around … and perhaps he is a little bored, or … just the local’s slightly dismissive view of gullible tourists who find something marvelous in what is to the townspeople, a normal eccentricity … 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Perhaps there’s a floating crap game in the back room and jerking tourists’ chains provides the guide with cheap entertainment. 😉 It could happen, right?
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yep, t’could happen.
Me think it probably do happen. 😉
(and he ain’t so nice a tour guide, besides)
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I don’t like Brendan – no matter what is going on at the Trader’s who don’t trade (legally, probably!) Nothing worse than a snarky tour guide!
However, this write, is wonderful.
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Yep. Me no like him much, either. I be leaving a one star review on Yelp and mention his attitude … 😉
And, thank you!! 🙂
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That’s for sure!! 😉
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😀
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it looks like the store is just a front for some tother kind of business. 🙂
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Perhaps … eh? And maybe their sign is just a joke that Brendan exploits …
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I see here a case of misunderstanding. Perhaps the beginning of an urban myth. How easily we assign explanations to things we don’t understand
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True! And … sometimes these can be exploited … especially if there is a steady stream of gullible audiences …
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There is no shortage of the gullible
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Alas, true, that.
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Mmm, I know
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🙂
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Great character study and observations!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Spooky little town, isn’t it? Not sure I’d want to make the next stop, either.
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Sure sounds like an ‘at the very least eccentric’ little town, yeah … and the people ain’t too friendly, either. Perhaps change vacation plans? 😉
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Funny story, Na’ama. Now you got me thinking about all the signs that say “Wet Paint” that we must touch to see if they are lying to us. 🙂
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Exactly !!!! 🙂
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Shops that don’t encourage trade and haunted libraries? I don’t think I’ll be going there!
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Good. Let’s get Brendan-the-not-nice out of service … 😉
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Is it a haunted library without any ghosts? Or books? 🙂
That shop reminds me of the one in the sitcom “Black Books”. That guy really didn’t want any customers either.
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Ah, I don’t know! I never dared go in. … 😉
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Oh, I like where this story is going…haunted library. Yes, please 😊 Nicely done.
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Ah, to me, it would depend WHO it is haunted BY … 😉
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So true😳
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🙂
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An interesting tour around the town – I would add humour by telling the group that the trader is dyslexic and always put the last letter first in all his words.
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Ah, perhaps, eh?
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Maybe they don’t want to trade because they’re up to something else. And, then a haunted library. Intriguing! =)
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Maybe, eh? 🙂 Thanks, Brenda!
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It would be interesting to see if they’re still in business this time next year. Intriguing.
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Yeah, Sandra … though I think they’d been in business for a LONG time … 😉
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What a waste of time!!! Although, when I have been on tours, being taken into a shop kinda’ spells, “You better buy something.”
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LOL, Alicia, Yes, that’s true, and it always feels a bit exploitative … So, perhaps it is better to just view non-trading traders and haunted libraries … 🙂
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I think traders not wanting to trade is more common than we think.
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Ha! Totally! Truth, that!
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I like the glimpses into Brendan’s thought processes. Great piece.
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Thank you! 🙂 He’s not a very likable person, perhaps, but … hey, he’s a person … 😉
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