• “Ding, Dong”, sounded the bells, creating a loud echo throughout the cluttered shop; alerting Oren that a guest had just entered his miniature store.

    “Ouch!” Oren shouted in a surprised manner, hitting his head on the wooden desk that was sitting above his head. “Can't a man clean his shop without getting hurt these days?” he mumbled to himself while trying to regain his balance on the now wobbling desk, with broom in hand.

    “Are you okay Mister?” Questioned a young voice.

    Oren looked around the thrift shop, only to realize that the startled young girl was staring at him. She was gazing at him with a confused look on her face, and her hands in her pockets. Her green eyes were covered by her brunette hair; so he wasn't certain of her concern.

    “Yes, I'm fine,” Oren replied, while taking off his red hat. “I was just cleaning up around the shop. I hardly ever get customers first thing in the morning, so you have to forgive me,” he said, feeling the bump on the back of his head to make sure he didn't need stitches.

    The young girl gave a swift smile, and continued to roam the small store.

    Oren watched her pace around the store as he sat at his register at the rear of the shop. Her facial expressions changed as she went to each section. She looked as though she had just been tossed into another world entirely.

    After several minutes, Oren finally stood up.

    “Excuse me, Miss,” He yelped. “Do you need help finding anything?” Oren questioned, grabbing a plastic bag from the drawer of his wobbly wooden desk.

    “Now that you mention it,” the young woman replied. “I'm looking for a gift for my mother; her birthday's today,” she said, pulling her hands out of her brown overalls.

    Oren knew the perfect gift for the girl's mother; but also knew if he handed it over, it would be a big mistake. Just as these thoughts escaped him, the sun made an appearance. It shined through the tinted windows of the tiny shop, and lit up the entire store, making it so it was no longer consumed in darkness.

    Oren noticed that the item he was longing to hide was in plain sight now. He gazed over to see if the young girl had seen the precious object. Happily, her back was turned and her head was planted into one of the ancient books, which she had pulled off the shelf.

    He slowly bent down and began to reach for the small object that was bearing from under the wooden desk. Just as he was about to place the item into the plastic bag he had gotten seconds earlier, the girl's head whipped around to glare at Oren.

    “What's that?” She exclaimed, in a high pitched voice, throwing the book she had been reading fiercely to the floor.

    “Oh, this?” Oren said, with a frightened look on his face, trying to hide his nervous laugh. “I'm holding this for a friend,” he explained, while placing his shaking hand in his blue coat pocket.

    The looks on Oren's face must have said everything; because he had a feeling she knew he was lying.

    “I only asked you what it was,” she said in a whisper. “Why does it matter if you’re already holding it for someone?” The young women questioned. “I was just asking what it was,” she expressed again, moving the bangs from her fragile face.

    “Well,” Oren began.“It's a doll,” he said.

    The small girl pushed past Oren's shoulder that was hiding the tainted doll from view. It was chibi sized, had big blue eyes, red hair, and resembled a small fox. It glowed as the bright sun lit up the
    container to show every detail of the dress it was wearing.

    “Her name is Susie,” Oren said in a whisper, as if the doll was over hearing his every word. “She is a special doll. She was left here a while ago, and every time I sell her, she always ends up back here, about a week or so after she is sold,” Oren went on to say. “Each time the doll comes back to me, it has lines scratched on the back of it's legs,” he said. “There is one for each time the doll has been sold to someone,” he said, holding back tears, and trying not to reveal the real truth to the young girl that stood next to him.

    The small girl stared at him, wide eyed, waiting for the story to continue. But Oren admittedly paused at this note, and frantically looked for his watch in his pocket. He knew she was waiting for more to the story, but he couldn't bear to tell her the real truth, so he left her with just that statement.

    “Look its getting late,” he said, smiling at her, and gazing at the watch he held firmly in his hand. “Are you interested in buying anything?” Oren asked politely, putting the watch back into his pocket. “I close up here, in about ten minutes,” he said, standing up, putting the doll inside the plastic bag, and placing it inside the lower drawer of the wooden desk.

    The girl was totally in love with the doll, and she knew her mother would just die if she saw it. She thought to herself for several minutes, then decided to get the book she had thrown on the floor several hours before.

    When Oren looked up from his register, he noticed the girl analyzing the ceiling of the shop.

    “Are you looking for something else?” he asked her, with a suspicious look on his face.

    “Oh, no,” she expressed. “Just looking around your beautiful shop, since this is my first time in here and everything,” she giggled and skipped out the door, with her bag in hand.

    “Beautiful Shop!” He yelped out loud once she had fled from the door, and out of site. “This place is nothing but a dump! I don't see how she thinks this place is beautiful,” he hollered, falling onto the floor. “But that was a close one,” he thought. Oren looked at his watch one last time. “Well I'll need to close now, or I'll be late for dinner,” he said quietly to himself.

    Several minutes later, he rose himself off the floor, and stumbled over to the wooden desk. He grabbed the whole ten dollars he made for the day, and checked to make sure the doll was snug tightly inside the drawer. Everything was to his liking. He grabbed the keys from the top drawer of his desk, locked the door, and walked happily out the front of the building.

    “Ouch!” Oren screamed. He was lying face down on the ground, having tripped over a rock that was lying recklessly in front of the door of the building. He gained his composure, yelled out several meaningless words and limped home, failing to realize the keys to the shop had fallen out of his pocket into the grass several feet away.

    Just as Oren had limped out of site, the small girl reappeared in front of the shop. She moved the rock to its original place next to the store, and grabbed the fallen keys. She quickly opened the door to the shop, and grabbed a flashlight that was sitting on a near by shelf.

    “That doll is mine,” she whispered to herself, in a happy tone. She crept slowly up to the desk, and opened the lower drawer. There it was, snug just where he had left it. The girl grabbed the doll, and yelled, “My name is Anna, and I finally found the perfect gift for my mother.”

    Quickly Anna ran to the front window of the shop, and stared out to the street. It was clear. She opened the door, locked it, dropped the keys in the grass, and took off running toward her house.

    The next morning, Oren rode his bike back to the shop. “Oh that's where those keys got to,” he said with a smirk on his face. He opened the store door and noticed a small, chibi sized doll sitting on his wooden desk. With a confused look on his face he walked up to the doll, and picked it up. The doll had green eyes, brunette hair, and was wearing brown overalls. Oren shook his head, and placed a fifth notch into the ankle of the doll. “You girls never listen,” he said with a laugh, placing the doll swiftly under his desk.

    “Ding Dong,” the bells echoed through the shop; indicated it was a start to a whole new day.

    “Hi,” a sweet voice echoed throughout the store right after the bells. “Who's doll is sitting underneath your desk,” it said in a pleased voice.

    “Oh, that's my doll,” Oren exclaimed. “Her name is Anna.”