The Left or Right
Shop
By Dane Miller
Charlie Brown: “We only live once Snoopy.”
Snoopy: “Wrong, we only die once. We live every day!”
Peanuts meme
Prologue:
We all
have the thoughts of what would happen if I did something different. If I had
the courage to kiss my dream girl, go to college for my dream job, took the
left turn and not that right. Our lives
are filled with so many decisions and moments, some minuscule and some epic
ones. The funny thing is no matter the
impact you think they currently have, all of those choices have built your life
into what it is today. Some choices keep
many people up at night contemplating their present, and sometimes their future
based on the decision they made in the past.
These are the types of people for whom this shop was created for. The day dreamers, the constantly asking what
iffer’s of the world, or just those we might question if they should of went
left in their life, vs taking the easy road and going right.
My name is not important, the
reason being it always changes. I am
never actually the same person twice. I
am whoever the shop or the shopper needs me to be. Some days it might be an old Chinese man
named Wang who hobbles around on an old wooden cane, very similar to the one in
the movie Gremlins. Others time I might
take the form of one would say a fairy godmother complete with big poofy dress,
wings, and of course the magic wand. I
have taken so many different forms over the years I have honestly stopped
looking in the mirror, because nothing every surprised me anymore. I take that back, the one time when the
customer came in and asked why was there a duck running the shop, I had to
look. And sure as can be, a talking,
strike that, a SWEARING duck was staring back at me.
The
important characters rotate throughout this book, because it’s a book about
their experiences. Their left and right
choices that they have made through their life.
The only constant character in this
story is the shop, the Left or Right shop.
I’m not sure how it works, or honestly how I got to managing such a
place. The shop doesn’t remain in
business in one spot for long, in fact it almost just appears out of thin air,
in the most random of places. I can only
liken it the Needful Things shop out of that Stephen King book that Charles
said when he came in. I myself have
never read the book, or seen the movie which I heard was made later, but Gwen
said it was good. If you are thinking to
yourself who are Charles and Gwen, don’t worry they are not important to this
story. I am going to tell you the tales
of 8 different customers and their experiences after visiting this quant
establishment.
I am
not a wizard, warlock, witch, and not even a genie. I am just like you a person. A person who has been chosen to man a
fanstatstical shop one full of dreams and wonders. Enough about me, on to the shop. The shop always looks the same no matter
where it appears, the only thing changing really is the minor updates it makes
to itself to look like it can be barely operational. The store front has a window that says “The
Left or Right Shop”, accented by two arrows below it. There is always at least one cobweb in the
window, no matter how many times I think I have cleaned it. The shelfs are filled with nothing of
importance, a jar here, a random title less book there, and a broken rocking
chair in the corner. Sometimes it might
be a rocking horse if the customer is focusing on their childhood when they
walk through the doors. And in the front
of the store sits me in whatever form I have taken shape that day manning a run
down, push button cash register that you only see in old movies, or in run down
pawn shops.
The
image of the shop is not important though such as I am not important. What is important is the magic that the shop
creates, and the customers that walk through that door. That alone helps shape
their trip into the shop. I say trip
because the only way to describe what happens after setting foot into the shop,
is a journey. Here Is a breakdown of a
general customer visit. They walk in to
the door, and hear the classic bell ring above the door. They look around the shop and see what their
soul needs to see. A wedding dress
falling apart hanging up in the occasional closet if they are seeking love, a
broken down rocking horse with a missing ear if they are thinking about their
childhood, or even a faded pictures framed just right in barely held together
picture frames as they concentrate on loved ones who have passed. They walk up
to the counter in curiosity, usually asking the same question. WHAT THE HELL is
this place and where did it come from!?
I smile a smile, some might say sinister, I myself would call it
innocent, and say as if it’s the most normal thing I have ever said, “This my
friend is the Left or Right Shop. We are
here because of people. People who stay
up at night contemplating their choices, their decisions. If they made the right one going right or if
they should of went left.” It’s at this
time that the customers jaw has hit the floor in disbelief and I continue.
I call
them by name, which usually makes them ask if they are some hidden prank camera
show. I assure them always no you are
not. I ask them if they have a thought
on their mind. If they are brave enough
they spill their guts, because what does it matter if a strange old man who
runs a strange old shop knows that you are up at night wondering if you should
kissed your high school sweetheart ten years ago. It’s not like he knows anyone you know, who
is he actually going to tell. That’s
when I ask you a simple question. Would
you like to change that moment in your life?
You think to yourself for a second pondering what would happen
differently because of it, and curiosity gets the best of you, and you say
yes. You are not sure why you have just
spilled your deepest darkest secrets but being here feels safe, and you are not
wrong.
