Are We There Yet? (Juney)

[Juniper Birdsong]

"Almond crust?" Juniper asked curiously. "That sounds... Delicious!" She loved almonds, and foods with crusts, so she hoped that perhaps she would get to try it.

She glanced around as he did, an amused smile crossing her face.

"Yeah, that's all I see too," she giggled. And as easy as it was for Juniper to entertain herself, there was really only one use for the large machines.

When he pointed, her eye followed the direction, before she lit up at the sight of the store. "Oooh," she breathed. "That looks neat."

It really didn't look like much, but hey, it was something!

"Heck yes!" she beamed, grasping his hand gently and, after checking both ways, crossing the street. She didn't waste time going into the shop, her gaze going wide at the assortment of things inside. "Oooh, this is cool," she murmured, bending down to examine a small box of vintage-looking jewelry. "I did get some money for Christmas..."

[Amos Freeman]

Amos smiled at his friend silently; if he had never met her, he wouldn't have believed for one second that anyone could be so permanently, genuinely happy and ready for anything.

She grabbed his hand, and he felt a little nostalgic all of a sudden, like they were twelve again and this was just another adventure. They were much older, now, of course, and wiser. Well, maybe not much wiser -- he couldn't really be confident in their collective measurement.

Maybe he was the only one who had gotten cynical. Juney was still a kid at heart by and large.

"Oh," he said, only for want of something to fill the amazed silence that followed the tinkling of the bell on the door. "Whoa."

It was rather dim and crowded inside the store, which was much bigger than it had appeared from the outside; it seemed to go back for half a mile behind the unassuming width of the exterior. There were so many aisles with so many things that it looked like all the items had just been piled on each other carelessly to save time.

It was kind of wicked awesome.

"Are th-those rugs?" He murmured, squinting towards the back row. There were several plastic-covered rolls of fabric sticking up. Some of them were tall enough to brush the low ceiling. He looked to his right.

There was even a food section. He wasn't sure if he could really find it in his heart to trust that, though. It seemed kind of... dusty.

"Oh, those are awesome," he said, indicating the jewelry she was looking at. "I wonder where all this stuff, I mean, came f-from."

He looked around for a few more seconds before freezing in place. His eyes widened with delight.

There was an office supply section.

"Wiiiiickeeeed," he drew out the word with purpose as he picked up a large pack of black gel pens. It was only $1.50 for ten of them. "Wicked wicked wicked."

He hardly ever wrote on actual paper anymore, but pens had always held a special draw for him. There was something near-magical about a decent pen.

[Juniper Birdsong]

Juniper never really wanted to grow up completely. Everything still amazed her, from the tiniest insect to the most brilliant sunset, and her near childlike innocence kept her eyes open to new wonders every day.

"Whoa is right," she agreed, gazing around the shop. She already knew she would be able to spend hours in here, so spent no time wasting what little time they had before their bus set off once more. "You've never been in here before?" she asked curiously; he had been past here many times, after all.

She looked in the direction he was, letting out an 'ooh' as she caught sight of what he was looking at. "Too bad I don't have room in my dorm for one," she giggled, already imagining stumbling into the dorms with a giant rolled-up rug under her arm.

Looking curiously at the food section, she bit her lip and prodded a stale-looking package for a moment before looking elsewhere.

She nodded at the jewelry again, fingering a necklace with a leaf-shaped pendant on a thin silver chain. "I have no idea," she mused, lifting the piece off of the stand; it was only $6.00. She kept it in her hand as Amos's attention was drawn to the office supplies. "Just from people living in the area or passing through, I suppose!"

Juniper couldn't help but giggle at her friend's excitement, skipping over to look at the pens in question. "You and your pens," she teased. "You should get them. I think I'm gonna get this," she added, holding up the jewelry.

Her eyes roamed the room once again, and lit up as she caught sight of a loose fabric section. She nearly darted over to the area. "Oh my gosh, look at all of this material!" she exclaimed, tugging out different bits and pieces that she could totally used for some project. She could have probably spent all of her money on the stuff, but she stuck with just a dozen or so decent-sized pieces, plus a couple of larger rolls.

"Okay, I better stop," she giggled, her arms nearly full of the stuff.

[Amos Freeman]

"I usually just, like, get off the bus to stretch my legs and th-then... get back on the bus," Amos said sheepishly. To be fair, it was a pretty dumpy looking building. It was kind of easy to miss.

He grinned as she poked the food.

"I'm not quite as hungry now," he quipped, looking over her shoulder before moving on to another section.

He gripped the pack of pens tightly, holding it to his chest like they were made of solid gold.

Was this paradise? he wondered to himself. Vintage clothing? Boxes of random jewelry, books, and gadgets? A pack of ten pens for $1.50?

"We've died and gone to heaven," he confirmed out loud as Juniper danced into the fabric section and began picking up piles of the stuff. "It was a lot quicker and more painless th-than I thought it would be."

"Yeah, we shouldn't carry too much stuff back to the bus," he said, slightly disenchanted. "Plus, I don't want anyone to go th-through our stuff that we left. People are super creepy on buses."

He approached the counter. There was a short, plump, grandmotherly woman sitting behind it reading the daily paper. She smiled at them; Amos handed her two bucks.

"You can keep the quarters for, um, for th-that," Amos told her, pointing to a small charity jar on the counter. It was for some sort of local literacy campaign.

He stepped to the side and waited by the door for Juniper.

[Juniper Birdsong]

"Ahhh," Juniper nodded in understanding. He wasn't like her - she would have checked out the place as soon as she had seen it. Curiosity was hard for her to ignore.

And she would not have been disappointed if she had. This place was awesome!

"Aw," she sighed dramatically,"I didn't want to die yet! But I supposed if we can spend eternity in here.... It might be okay." She shot him a grin and continued to look through the fabric.

Juniper looked at her armful of things, then back to Amos, then back to her arms. "Right. Not too much stuff," she agreed, giggling. "Oh," she stated, having not even thought about people going through their things. Would people really do that? "Okay, I guess we better go then," she chirped. "We can always come back on the way home."

She smiled and waved cheerfully as the shop owner looked their way. After Amos was done paying for his stuff, she counted out how much she owed and, with a little difficulty, pulled out a ten dollar bill and a five. She, too, told the woman to keep the change. "Thanks so much!" she called as they stepped away. "This store is amazing!"

Once they left, it was just a matter of time before the bus was ready to go, and they continued on their way to Amos's home with more items to bring along than they had bargained for.