The Finer Arts

* Scene: V * A Good Day for Treats

Narrator:

Nova needed some fresh air so she decided to go to the park with the dogs. It was late in the afternoon and the sun beat down. A handful of familiar neighbors acknowledge Nova and her canines. She put a happy face on, waved back, then continued down the path. It wasn't until someone she'd never seen before sat in the shade on a park bench. Ruffled, curly, hickory colored hair framed a face so focused and charming. Glasses sat on the bridge of his nose as he read. Nova didn't realize how creepy she looked until the dogs jumped forward causing her to lose balance.

Nova:

The dogs must have caught wind of a damn squirrel. I spit out some dirt then sit up, trying to reign them in. "Go run girls," I grab a stick and throw it as hard as I could. With no hesitation they went after it. Now that I don't have them to worry about I brush mud off my clothes and elbows. "Are you alright? That seemed pretty intense." I look up to see him standing nearby. He has such a friendly face when he's not so focused. I realized I was doing it again, just staring at him with my mouth agape. "Oh yeah, It was nothing. Thanks for checking on me."

My chest tightens as he walks closer to me with sophistication and presence. He stops a few feet away and my heart is in my stomach. In his eyes I could see shades of dark walnut blend into gold thin ribbons; Grand roots for a canopy of emerald greens circling his pupils. "I'm happy to hear you're okay. Well, I hope your day gets better. I'll be on my way now." He gives me a nod goodbye, but I'm not ready to leave his presence. "Are you new around here? I come to this park pretty often and haven't seen you before." The strange man stopped and turned around, smiling softly. "Yeah, you got that right. I just moved in from the north. My name is Solomon Vox, you can call me Sol if you'd like."

The gravel in his deep baritone voice hypnotized me, but I managed to nod. "It must be relaxing to go from such a bustling city to growing suburbs like this, huh? " I was grasping at straws, I wasn't ready for him to take his attention off me. "You know it, I can go to a park and breathe freely now. " We both chuckled at his comment before he changed the subject. "Who do I have the pleasure of running into?" We made eye contact and the flood gates opened; before I knew it my panties were soaked. "Nova, It's nice to meet you." I respond, trying desperately not to overdose on his cologne. "The pleasure is mine, Nova. Please have a wonderful day. Maybe we can bump into each other sometime and you can show me around?" I nodded, my face burning as I watched him walk away.

The dogs and I return home and Jacob has his headphones playing on his PC. My dad and Scott post up on the couch. With a drink in hand my dad turns to me. "Have a nice walk? We need to go shopping and get some things for you before I leave town." I sigh and hang up the dog leashes. "Who's driving?" I ask, reaching for my keys. I could feel a wave of mischievous intent behind me so I paused, looking at the two grown men. They had impish smirks painted across their faces. What is going on? "We took the bus" they said in sync. Shivers ran down my spine but I situated the keys in my hand.

I said goodbye to Jacob, positive he's thankful to have the house to his own for a little while. My dad in the passenger seat, Uncle Scott in the back, we get situated before going anywhere. The car starts and I pull up my maps app "Alright, where to?" My dad starts toying with the radio and finally stops on a channel that's nothing but static. Oddly enough , he sets the volume exactly at level 8. I could hear faint music in the background but I didn't want to listen to this screeching longer than I had to. My dad drew a symbol on the dashboard in front of him. I don't know why, but I jumped when he slapped the area he just drew on. My car vibrated for a second then began to feel like it was floating. I was too scared to touch anything at the moment. "What did you do?" There was no static on the radio now either. The cab of my van was full of an instrumental melody that was surprisingly catchy. "I lifted the seal. We are now able to travel between the realms freely and safely. Just hit the gas pedal." This old man is out of his mind. "I can't just drive forward, there's a car parked there!" He took a sip from his glass. I didn't even notice him bring it in the car, f*****g hell. "You won't hit the car, trust me." I'm not about to trust a crazy old man who could be drunk right now. I crossed my arms and shook my head. "We're not going anywhere!" A deep growl emanated from his chest. He cracked and finally leaned down to hit the gas pedal with his hand. I can't stand this man!

I screamed, clutching my eyes shut and holding my arms up bracing for impact. Nothing happened though. I open my eyes to see us in a mid-sized parking lot. I release a sigh of relief and hunched back into my seat. "Dad, what the f**k was that?" They were both laughing their asses off. I didn't think it was so funny personally. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" I huffed in frustration and started collecting my things. "Where are we?" My dad and uncle popped their doors open, "Come on, we'll show you." Then continued to step out the car.

It looked like a small mall. I've never seen it before though.. I grew up in the town there's no way I could've missed something like this. Oh right, we drove through a car to get here. No wonder I haven't seen it before, I usually don't drive through f*****g cars. Overall it was cute. I've never heard of any of the stores inside. They seemed normal for the most part. Clothing, jewelry, candy, toys, this shopping center has it all. One store really caught my eye, the art supplies. I tugged on my dad's arm, "can we go in there?" I pointed to the store I was interested in with my biggest puppy dog eyes. He followed my finger and shook his head. "Later" I pouted from his response. After more walking and gazing I started to feel like this place was significantly bigger than what was seen on the outside; my legs were starting to get sore. "Are we there yet?" Uncle Scott put his hand on my shoulder, "just a little longer." That reminded me about Scott's makeover. "Say, Uncle Scott, is this where you went for your new look?" He smiled and shrugged, "Yeah, kind of. You see, that hobo thing is a part time job for the main gig. Most of my time goes towards the store." My brain had to process what he just said. "What store?" At that time we stopped at the entrance of the largest store I've seen here. "Trinkets and Treats" It was a mall inside a mall.. The inside looked to be filled with all sorts of fun goodies. Candies, toys, the aroma of cinnamon rolls filled the air. I felt like a child again already. "This. This is my store." Uncle Scott said proudly as he soaked in the warmth of children laughing and chattering among themselves.

"You see, Nova, the homeless man act is just a facade. I'm able to find the weirdest, unique items on the side of the road no one cares about. I take it to my workshop and it becomes a trinket. " He had nothing but tranquility on his face as he picked up a mechanical rabbit. He patted the top of its head and laid it on the ground. It came to life in front of me. The eyes lit up, its nose and ears twitched before hopping off joyously. "That little guy used to be a car bumper!" My mind is growing tired of getting f****d so much from the last few days. "Plus, you hear the juiciest rumors when people think no one is listening."