MEOW: Magical Emporium of Wares - A Cozy Slice-of-Life Fantasy

“So, this is your brother,” said the cat. His voice was soft in my mind and I took another sip of my drink. I didn’t have a way to respond without talking in front of Cyan. The cat moved closer to sniff him. Cyan jerked back.

“Hey, Cat, Cyan doesn’t really like cats…” I said, leaning forward to pick him up. To my surprise, the cat let me move him to my lap.

“It’s not that I don’t like cats. It’s just that I don’t know what to do with them,” muttered Cyan.

“Animals are easy, you be nice to them, speak kindly and give them pets if they want.” I scratched behind the cat’s ears and he purred at me. “Now, cats you just need to treat with a little more respect.”

Cyan rolled his eyes. “So, how is the new job treating you?”

I smiled at the cat, then stopped scratching him to take another sip of my drink. “Great! I’m slowly learning the ropes. We had a book signing here this week. I learned how to bake cookies from cookie dough and handle a bigger crowd than normal.” I motioned to the spicy romance novel on my chair. “See? I even got a signed copy. I was planning on reading it today.”

“You made cookies? Miss ‘I can’t cook to save my life, please save me Umber…’?”

So, he had a point. Throughout high school, I’d do anything to get out of cooking except for breakfast. Umber was such a better cook than I that it was hard to eat anything else. “It’s cookies from custom cookie dough. There’s a great shop we order from.” I shook my head. “I’m not making them from scratch. Though, I can toss a few in the oven, if you’re brave enough, that is, to eat one.”

Cyan stood up, and I pursued. “What cookies do you have?”

“Old fashion peanut butter or double chocolate chunk.” I grabbed my drink and took a few steps toward the sliding door. “Both are amazing.” I glanced back at the cat, who was still sitting next to my book. His dark fur glistened in the sunlight. I didn’t know how to ask if he wanted any of the cookies.

I slid up the slider and motioned for Cyan to head inside. “The kitchen is behind the register, give me a moment to grab my stuff in case it rains.”

“You’re gonna lose me in the stacks,” warned Cyan.

“Have fun! Maybe you’ll find something to read.”

He strolled away from me and toward the stairs. My eyes darted back to the cat as I approached my chair to grab my book and drink. “Do you want any cookies? You can join us if you want company,” I asked quietly.

“Enjoy your time with your brother,” said the cat.

I gave him a nod then headed inside. Maybe he would get lost among the stacks. I could make cookies then get him on his way. The sunlight was still calling my name, and I wanted to read that book. I love my family, I really do, but they’re a lot to handle.

By the time I made it to the kitchen, Cyan was nowhere to be found. The ovens were already at temperature and I grabbed a few cookie sheets out. The frozen cookie dough had slightly longer cooking times, but I didn’t care. Following directions was a strong suit of mine. I set the timer on my phone and got the cookies in the oven.

“Woah, this is a kitchen Umber would die for,” said Cyan.

I spun around and Cyan was staring at the giant space. “Yeah, I’m glad I don’t need to use it besides the basics.”

“You have two ovens?!”

I nodded. “It comes in handy when cookies have two different temperatures. My assumption is at one point they offered more baked goods. Right now, we only offer them for events, and then we get pre-made dough.”

Cyan sat at the counter on a stool. “So you actually like this job?”

“I do. For once I feel like I’m good at something.” I snorted. “Plus, each day things are different. You never know who is going to come into the store or what they are going to be looking for.”

“My sister, a bookseller.”

“Shopkeeper, I’m the shopkeeper.” I immediately went to correct him, surprising myself.

“Sorry, shopkeeper. Sable the shopkeeper. It’s like a video game or something. That one that Onyx plays.”

“How is the rest of the family doing?” Going to school had cut off daily conversations with my brothers. Every week I’d call home, but my mom was a phone hog and wanted to know about everything.

“Cerulean is off somewhere, though he said he’s going to take a vacation after this trip. Maybe he’ll stick around for more than a few months.” We both knew that Cerulean didn’t take vacations for long. He got paid well taking rich guys on mountain trips.

“Yeah, right! Isn’t the longest he’s lasted, like, six weeks?”

Cyan shrugged. “Umber finally paid off the land next to the house, and he’s going to build his own house on it. His farm’s doing great. Every week he sells out at the farmers’ market.”

I nodded to that one. “Is he seeing anyone?” Cyan blushed in response. “Who?

“I don’t know, he won’t tell any of us. We were hoping you could figure it out when you came home.”

Umber was a homebody. Talented chef and farmer, but he didn’t really want to travel the world. He wanted to keep his people close and make sure everyone was taken care of. “I’ll call him.”

“Yeah, maybe poke at Onyx as well.” Cyan’s eyes studied his fingers. “You can get everyone to talk. They open up to you. Right now the family feels off.”

The smell of chocolate filled the air with hints of peanut butter. I leaned forward across the counter. “Mom sounded fine on the phone…”

“Mom doesn’t want you to worry. Something’s just off with the family. She’s planning a big party for my twenty-fifth and we still have six months to go. For the rest of them it wasn’t a big deal but for me she’s acting like it’s huge. I think she’s hoping you’ll come home for it and not leave.”

That was a trap. Mom sometimes did that, it was with love but still a trap. Just like them all planning my life out. “I’ll call and talk to both of them. Don’t worry about Mom, I can handle her.”

The timer on my phone went off, and I grabbed an oven mitt before taking out the baking sheet. As soon as I cracked the oven, the smell of chocolate filled the kitchen. The dark cookies had melted bits of chocolate in them. I set the pan on the counter. “They need to cool for five minutes or they’re lava in your mouth.”

Cyan jerked back his fingers, which had been drifting toward the edges of the pan. I grabbed the peanut butter cookies out as well. I only made nine of the chocolate and six of the peanut butter. Otherwise, we’d eat way too many cookies.

“Okay, these look amazing.” Cyan gave me a smile. “I need to bring some of these home to Umber. Maybe he’ll spill his secrets to me.”

“You can take half home.”

The first bite of the chocolate chunk cookie seemed to unlock something, and Cyan was chatting about his life for once.

“The art show went well. I sold three paintings. People are really loving my forest scenes. Cerulean promised to take some shots of some mountains and I’m going to try them next. I can only paint so many trees until I need something else.”

“Are you still dating Amy?”

He shook his head immediately. “She discovered the small town wasn’t for her. It sucks, but it is what it is. Our town is small, and I’m not moving away. I love it there. More than I loved her.”

My hometown was small, and hard to get to, but the natural beauty was amazing. Still, I thought he was head over heels for her. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“That’s the thing, it really didn’t bother me. It was more of a relief. She didn’t get along with mom, and she hated hanging out with the family. Like, I thought her and Onyx were going to get into blows once.”

“Onyx, gentle giant Onyx, who wouldn’t hurt a fly?”

“Yeah, he wouldn’t speak of it and she didn’t say.”

“Huge red flag there.”

Cyan nodded. “Yeah, hence I’m not bothered. I think I’m gonna put off dating for a while. Maybe the right person will just show up? You never know.” Stranger things had happened to me this week, so I wouldn’t argue with him. “Anyway, I need to get on the road. There are a few places I want to snap photos of on the way back. It’ll give me something to paint while I wait for Cerulean to get back.”

It didn’t take long to pack up a bag with most of the leftover cookies. I’d already eaten one of each, and I kept one of each in case the cat wanted one later. “I love you, and safe driving!” I said as he headed out the door with the bag.

“Love you sis!”

#

There was magic in her family. More than it took to be a shopkeeper. I knew Sable had some, since she had found the ad, along with the store. Plus, the shop responded to her like no other in many years. Yet, the spark of magic in her brother was stronger. It was caged inside him, trying to find a way out.

Strange.

Something to think about in the coming weeks.

Sable eventually came back to the deck and sat back down in her chair. She set a plate with two cookies next to me. “I saved you some,” she said.

The sunlight was warm on my fur as I studied her. Her own spark of magic had shifted. Not by much, but there was a change. It had grown. I took a deep breath, and Sable scratched my ears. The contract was signed. It could not be broken. Who knew what could happen if Sable accessed the spark of magic she had. Yet, she saved me cookies and gave me scratches, like she hadn’t a care in the world. She must not know what she could be… should I tell her? Another thing to ponder, after a nap in the sun.