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Literary (Submission): The Ethereal Emporium of Mister Augustus Bishop

9/11/2018 08:56:00 PM Media Center 1 Comments




Several miles from Saint Peter’s gate
Stood a pretty little store
Knickknacks and tchotchkes
Hidden behind its baby blue door

The door swung open
As Schizein went inside
And a bell rang to alert
The seller standing by

“Hello!” greeted the man
His eyes twinkling like fireflies
Schizein just smiled back
As she was pretty shy

“Can I help you?” he asked
And Schizein nodded to assent
“I need some help, Mister,”
she said, looking up at the handsome gent

“Well, you have come to the right place!
This is the Ethereal Emporium of Augustus Bishop!
What do you need, little lady?
We have all that you need, a one-stop shop!”

Schizein was told
Of a store being sought out
For it sold all the things you needed
And she wanted to see what the fuss was about

The only thing she knew about the place
Was it resided in between of Heaven and Hell
But this store was all she found
So she might just as well

"Here in my emporium, I sell all sorts of things
That your heart desires the most
Love, happiness, and contentment
We got it in stock," he said as if to boast

The little girl felt nervous and busied her fingers
By tugging on the ribbon around her pink dress
She just kept looking down
And the gentleman saw her distress

He knelt on one knee and asked,
“Is there anything wrong, darling?”
“I don’t have any money, Mister,” she replied
But Augustus Bishop just kept smiling.

He replied: “It’s alright.
I don’t require my customers to pay
But I make them promise
To never put harm in people’s way.”

“You will get what you need
But you must not hurt anybody
For I will take back
The thing you wanted so badly.”

Schizein nodded and thanked the man
And then she told him what she needed
Before she goes back home
And continue living her life ahead

“I need silence, Mister Bishop,” the girl looked at him
“I need it to hush the voices in my head.
They have been shouting for so long
I just want to be alone up there,” she said.

“I’m afraid I don’t have silence in store,” he sadly replied.
“Then maybe you have any superpower?
Something to fight the creatures inside?” she asked.
He looked around his shop, from one shelf to another.

“I’m sorry, little girl. I don’t sell powers.
Just the most abstract of things.”
Her face painted disappointment
And the store fell silent as outside, angels sing.

“How about this: I sell you solitude?
You might be put in peace, continue life undisturbed.”
Schizein thought for a while and then nodded
“I will take it, Mister. I think it will work.”

Augustus gave her a glass of clear liquid
Which she drank and then fell asleep
When she woke up on a flat metal bed
The dingy room was quiet and she was finally free

Schizein continued living her life, her folks were quite surprised
She’s now alone with her thoughts and musings
The voices were gone, true enough
But the monsters live still and they kept on listening

She now has a voice of her own
She now lived a normal life
And one day she encountered a vagrant by the sidewalk
Who seems to be living in strife

The woman was talking to herself
Like what she did before Mister Bishop’s magic
So she went up to the woman and told her about it
Because her life seems to be more than problematic

“A magic store?” said the vagrant woman.
“I am Adelaide Bell! I own the Curiosity Shop!”
Schizein leapt, startled by her shout.
“Where can I find this Augustus Bishop because he has got to stop!”

“Schizein! Get away from that woman!” her mother pulled her close.
“We can’t lose you again, honey. Okay?”
They both walked away but the little girl looked back
At the woman who was now waving her hands, as if in a play

Schizein kept quiet during their ride home
Up until the family finished dinner, she felt rather uneasy
The next day, when she saw the vagrant again, reciting incantations
She heard three new voices from within saying altogether, “Isn’t she crazy?"

---

For more on this series, read

The Curiosity Shop of Miss Adelaide Bell
(http://upismc.blogspot.com/2018/08/literary-curiosity-shop-of-miss.html)

and

Miss Adelaide Bell and the Nine Circles of Hell
(https://upismc.blogspot.com/2018/09/literary-miss-adelaide-bell-and-nine.html)

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1 comment:

  1. OMG ano meron AHBUSUWBSUWS CLIFFHANGER NAKAKANIS jk jk. ang galing ng pagkakaplot ng nangyayari sa poem series na ito we need MOOOOORE

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