Amy walked through an aisle of beauty products. Many of them looked normal, but there was the occasional outlandish-looking container that either enjoyed broad metaphors or actually believed in physically impossible changes. A shampoo label declared in bright red letters, "Grow a mane so thick, everyone will know who's the leader of the pride." A bottle of Dragon Claw nail polish actually promised the user would be able to "Slash through anything...and we mean ANYTHING."
If the store really was magic, as Amy had heard whispers about in school, then it was possible these things were legit. She had a hard time suspending her disbelief...but still, she was afraid to even touch the products in case they actually did have such fantastic effects.
She looked over the bath soaps and lotions, finding more of the same. Deceptively ordinary bottles with little or even no labels were mixed with elaborate glass and metal jars and jugs that looked not only exotic, but dangerous too. One unmarked jade bottle was actually smoking.
Still wary of touching anything, she quickly turned around and walked the short distance to the end of the aisle, wondering what other types of stuff the store had to offer. She made a fleeting glance back at the lotions as she was making her turn, and when she faced forward her eyes met with a hellish demon, eyes wide and fangs bared, inches from her face.
Amy screamed and jumped backward. She slammed against the shelf behind her, and one second later a bottle bumped her on the head and then dropped to the floor. Her nostrils were suddenly confronted with an awful smell. It briefly overpowered her other senses as it attacked her nose with its searing stink. The next thing she felt was her throbbing skull, and as she moved both her hands up to hold it, she looked over at the demon. It was a large stone carving, human-sized. The mutated figure was reminiscent of a gargoyle, except for some reason this one was posed in a frightening attack posture. It was placed there, apparently, to cap off the end of the aisle. A price tag hung from one of its bony, clawed fingers. She would have chuckled in embarrassment if her head and back weren't hurting.
Her back didn't feel scratched up or anything. The shelf was dull enough not to have cut her, though there might be a bruise. But her head felt wet. At first, she feared blood. The bottle had felt like glass. Had it shattered on her? The lingering stink in the air and the small rectangular shape of the bottle on the floor indicated to her it was some kind of perfume. She took her hands off her head to confirm that they weren't covered in red. They weren't, fortunately, but they were wet from the perfume. Now that it was even closer to her nose the smell drove her crazy. It was like a skunk had just sprayed her at point-blank range.
She bent down to pick up the bottle. The cap, with its push-button spray top, had some of the perfume trickling from its little nozzle. It had apparently been pushed as it landed on her head, dousing her hair with it. There didn't seem to be any leaks, thank goodness. She didn't want to have to pay for a broken bottle of that awful scent. A glance at the label told her it was called "Fur-Fume," with this particular scent given the name "White Stripe."
"Well, this sure stinks," Amy said, daring to make the pun. Her hopes of a magic shop were dashed. The store apparently just liked to sell stupid, scary, smelly things nobody in their right mind would buy. She put the bottle back on the shelf. As she walked back toward the front of the store, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to get as much of the perfume out of it as possible. She was wiping her smelly hands on her pants when she saw Lina waiting by the front door.
Lina looked very glad to see her friend approaching, and shot a disturbed glance at the old man who was still snoozing at the counter some fifteen feet away. Lina had apparently chosen the opposite side of the store front to wait for Amy. As Amy got closer, Lina pinched her nose.
"Ugh! Amy, what happened to you? What's that smell?"
"In a minute," Amy grumbled. "Let's just get out of here."
On their way home, Amy explained her encounter with the demon and her determined attempt to run away by backing into a rack of perfume. The smell persisted all the way home. Even the occasional breeze of fresh air couldn't offer effective relief against the aura of skunky stink that enveloped Amy. Lina used the smell as a good excuse to lecture Amy about going to strange shops. Amy was actually relieved when the pair broke off to head to their separate houses. She was partly embarrassed that her best friend had to put up with the terrible smell, but she was also getting annoyed at Lina's "I told you so" attitude.
At home, Amy went straight to the bathroom. She threw off her clothes and proceeded to have a long, hot shower. One half-hour of scrubbing, shampooing, and more scrubbing later, she emerged with aggravation and tired arms. She could still smell it, plain as day. She wiped the fog off the mirror and continued drying herself out, pouting at her reflection. Hopefully it would wear off soon. She had school tomorrow, and her reputation was already in a questionable state. A bookish nature and plain looks apparently didn't go far if one wanted to hang out with the super cool kids or find the best dates. She did have friends, though, especially in Lina. Lina was more geared toward the popular crowd, but she didn't care about sides or cliques. She was friends with a lot of different people, Amy foremost among them. Even smelling as she did, Amy expected Lina would still put up with it...maybe even defend her if some kids started calling her out for it. Lina was there in the shop. She understood what happened.
Ugh! That smell was atrocious! "Just try not to think about it," Amy thought. Her mind then moved onto what homework subjects she had to do. That didn't last very long when she noticed something odd in the mirror. Something about her was different. She couldn't really tell what was wrong at first, the mirror still being partly foggy, but then her eyes zeroed in on it...