Never Again!

Since I was old enough to understand, my mother would tell me not to pick up random things. 'You never know what can happen' she would say. And since I was old enough, I have been picking them up. Not that I am a kleptomaniac or anything, I do keep these things back. I just like to lift them, examine them intently and put them back as they were. 'You'll break something!' my mom would shout, everytime we entered a shop and I wandered away. It was her instinct to wrongly predict the worst that could happen in any situation. She, however, considered it a positive quality.

I too considered my habit of lifting things and trying them out as a positive. That was before my visit to Miss Jane's. Miss Jane's was a vintage shop, a few blocks from where I stayed. People who cleared their closets after decades, or others trying to get rid of memories of people past, would give in things, for a minimal compensation.

I enjoyed going to Miss Jane's. The products in the shop were always eclectic and most definitely unique. I had probably lifted and examined three- fourths of the shop, the remaining being items out of my reach or too big to lift. That particular day was found with new clothes in the shop, which I promptly ran to. While looking through the various dresses, all of which I wanted to buy, knowing I wouldn't wear a single one of them; I came across a beautiful hat. It was purple, with green embroidery along the sides.

As I put it on and looked in the mirror, I noticed a purple tinge on my skin. I took it off and examined it in the mirror, but it seemed to have gone back to normal. Again as I put the hat on, my skin turned purple, and this time, the colour was accompanied by thin lines, running like veins along my body! I quickly removed the hat and looked in the mirror to find myself completely normal. As I examined the hat, along the lining was a tag which said, 'Make me arty.'

As I walked out of the little shop, I thought, ' Mom was right.' It is safe to say I will never touch something I don't plan on purchasing, ever again.

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