When Mr. Van Helsing enters the front of his shop, he spots a small boy, leaning close to a glass cabinet filled with figurines some look like a mix out of a human and animal: the human part being that the creature is standing upright on two legs. There were also figurines which depict normal looking animals, standing on all fours.
There were figures of Cats, Lions, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars, Pumas, Panthers, Dolphins, Dogs, Wolfs, Foxes, Sharks, Horses, Zebras, Donkeys, Squirrels, Snakes, Lizards, Raccoons, Monkeys, and even Unicorns, Mermaids, Dragons, Nagas, Centaurs and Dinosaurs. The boy's face is almost pressed against the glass of the cabinet, noticeably amazed by all the different types of figurines.
“Welcome to my shop, kid,” Mr. Van Helsing says, “can I help you with something?”
The young boy, who looks to be not older than 10, lets out a squeak and jumps in surprise, he quickly turns around to see an older gentleman standing right behind him.
Mr. Van Helsing chuckles, “sorry, kid,” he says, “I didn’t mean to startle you.” The man looks at the boy, the kid has short black hair, brown eyes and a light brown skin tone, he also seems to do lots of sports, by the look of his athletic body. The boy is wearing a blue t-shirt with the Superman logo on the front, some brown cargo shorts and some sandals on his bare feet.
The boy calms down, “th-that’s okay, mister,” he says shyly.
“Van Helsing,” the man says.
“Hu?”
“That’s my name,” the man chuckles, “but you can call me Ryan.”
“Um… m-my name is James, James Gorden,” the boy says.
Ryan smiles, “it is nice to meet you, James,” he says, “where are your parents?”
“They… um… they are in a other store nearby,” James says, sounding nervous and shy, “I asked them if I were allowed to check out this shop. They said yes.”
“Oh? And what has sparked your interest to come into my shop,” Ryan asks.
“Weeell,” James says, “I always kinda liked antiques, and I saw some cool looking figurines and necklaces/pendants in your window. Especially the animal figurines, I love animals, and they look so coooool!”
The man chuckles, “they are, aren’t they,” he asks, “so, have you found something particular, that you’d like to buy?”
The boy hangs his head, “yeah, I have, but… I don’t have enough money to pay,” he says miserably, “I only have 50 Dollars.”
Ryan tilts his head, he looks at the boy, ‘he looks so sad,’ he thinks to himself, he then smiles, “tell you what, James.”
James looks up at the man, “what?”
“If you find something, that you really want,” Ryan says, “I’ll sell it to you for 50 Dollars, no matter what the price tag says, what do you say to that?”
James’s eyes widen in surprise, “wh-why?”
Ryan smiles, “because you are my very first costumer,” he explains, “I just opened this store today. So, as a “thank you” and first customer discount, you can choose one item to take home with you.”
James’s eyes sparkle, “sweet,” he says, “that is so cool of you, Ryan!”
Ryan chuckles at the boy’s excitement, “hehe, all good, James,” he says, “go ahead and choose an item, remember: only ONE!”
The boy nods and starts to check out all the items in the store, “maaan, there are just to many cool stuff here,” he whines, “I can’t decide!”
Ryan smiles, “take your time,” he says, “no rush. I’ll be in the back, just call for me if you find anything.”
“Okay,” James says, smiling.
Ryan Van Helsing walks into the back of his shop, ‘I wonder what he’ll pick,’ he thinks to himself, ‘what a cute and well raised boy!’
After a few minutes James calls, “RYAN? I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!”
Ryan gets up from his seat, “I’LL BE RIGHT THERE,” he calls back and makes his way into the shop. When he enters his shop, he sees James waiting for him, the boy looks super excited, Ryan smiles, “so, what have you picked,” he asks.