Finally she realized there would be nothing for her today. She would be unable to talk to the old man and give him back this toy that had such a hold over her. She looked down at the doll in her hands and their eyes met. Lula found a strange sense of powerlessness to this doll. She couldn’t bear to simply leave it here. She felt if it wasn’t in the old shopkeeper’s hands then it had to remain in her own. Then she realized there was a warmth about her in the midst of all this cold…she had wet herself. With a shock Lula realized her diaper was wet. It must have happened when she was pounding on the door, but she didn’t even notice it until now. I’m not leaking am I? She thought with a pang of fear. No…not for the time being. With the feeling of a resigned defeat she pulled Catherine back up towards her body and began walking home, the feeling of a cooling diaper beckoning her home with every step. She glanced back towards the shop one last time, almost invisible in the dying light. Maybe it would be open tomorrow, she hoped. Maybe.
The old bell clanged its chime as he entered the old shop, signaling to whomever it was that ran this place a rare customer had arrived. That was what Austin guessed at any rate, considering how hard a time he had finding it, and he knew where to look! But aged and dimly lit though it was, he was hoping to find a few more hidden gems amongst the record collection. Hopefully Lula really had stumbled across somewhere with plenty more to offer.
“Hello?” he called out as he began to take off his coat. The quiet store seemed empty. He began to meander down the aisle when suddenly, the little old man Lula had described appeared from behind a shelf. “How can I help you today?” he asked cheerfully. “Hey there. My friend came in a few weeks back and bought some old records. I was hoping to check out your selection,” Austin replied. “Of course! Please, right this way.” With that, the old man turned and began off towards the back of the store.
As they walked towards a back room they passed all manner of odds and ends from the past. None of it really interested tech-savvy Austin , with the exception of the old records. “So, did you enjoy the records?” the old man asked. “Yeah they were fantastic. I couldn’t believe you had those. How did you come about them?” “Oh from here and there, just sort of built up over the years. I got some pretty good deals when people started switching to new technology. But I’d been at this long enough to see some things just circle back around. One of those feelings.”