[WoT] be careful waking up the giants | jade

I've been living like the end's not dying
I only listen to the wind when it's crying

July 2004
Wonderland of Toys

It wasn't as if Madelyn had a wealth of free time on her hands, but still, she found herself wandering down High Street in Hogsmeade (on a non-weekend, of course) looking for something to frivolously spend her hard-earned sickles on. Sickles, she should have been saving for rent, but that was the end of the month's problem. Not because she was irresponsible, but because she was looking for a quick pick me up. Something to make her feel better underneath whatever storm cloud had decided to linger above her today. She'd woke up in a mood and hadn't wanted to go to her shift at the Deli, but she did so anyway. And while the work hadn't been difficult, by the time she'd finished, Madelyn just felt out of sorts. Exhausted and unhopeful, she should have gone home, but there were so many people in that house, and she didn't want a single one of them to ask her how she was doing.

So instead, she lingered in front of shop windows longer than she should have, staring at nothing. And toward the end of her unmerry adventure, she decided to pop into the toy store just because of the door's color. Once inside, Madelyn squinted at the bright lights and the stuffed animals lining the walls and realized she was likely in the wrong place. The sign on the window had said something about cards and board games, though, so she persevered.

Two more steps in, Madelyn realized she probably wasn't supposed to be in here. It all looked like children's toys, and she turned around to head back out the door when she saw something. It was a mystery board game in a long box and shiny wrapper; it looked like a detective thing, and instantly she thought of Anto. Madelyn didn't reach for it, just stood quietly watching the way the characters on the front seemed to look back at her and wondered. She was tired, broke, and wondered if the boys would even have time for a board game, and all of those reasons just made her want to buy it more.

@Jade Carroll

During the summer months the toy shop was usually quite deserted. Its busiest time was the time before Christmas and its location in Hogsmeade meant that it was busiest at the weekends during the term. Jade’s mother had taken time off to visit her family in Russia, leaving Jade in charge of a shop with barely any customers.

Jade had taken a block to sketch some new ideas but given the lack of input, she struggled to come up with anything. She wished she could just close the shop and apparate home. On Skye she was bound to feel more inspired than in a deserted toy shop. She was aimlessly doodling on the paper in front of her, lost in thoughts and planning what she’d do after she’d close the shop for the day.

The doorbell announced a customer and pulled Jade out of her reverie. She looked up and saw a young witch stepping in and soon enough turning around again. Jade thought that she was leaving again already but then the other woman stopped and the shop worker got to her feet to greet her customer.

“Hello, welcome to Wonderland of Toys,” Jade said as brightly as she could after the boredom she had felt all day. “How can I help you? Are you interested in board games?” Working in sales wasn’t Jade’s favourite thing. She liked developing toys, enjoyed the creativity, the way she could let her imagination run wild. Dealing with customers could be fun as well, but was something she usually preferred to leave to her mother or one of the part time employees.

Madelyn had been wandering through the dark corners of her distracted mind, lost in thought and hovering near the exit of the shop, when a witch approached her. Mads jumped slightly, pivoting quickly to determine the source of the hello, and took a deep breath. She should have been more aware of her surroundings, and most days she would have been, but today was just an off-day all-around.

"Yar, maybe," the young witch replied, tucking a curl back behind her ear and shifting her weight anxiously. "Was just havin' a mooch," Madelyn explained that she was only looking, but did her best to offer the saleswitch a polite smile. It was her responsibility to ask if she needed any assistance finding something, and Madelyn -- as someone who worked way too many positions in the customer service field -- respected that.

While that could have easily been the end of the discussion, and Madelyn wondered if the woman might turn back around or linger, she decided to ask questions instead. "Is this game for adults or more for a babby?" Madelyn's thick Brummie accent harshened nearly every word she spoke, deep and throaty, but she thought nothing of it.

“Okay, I see,” Jade said, unsure if she should give the young witch more space or remain somewhere close by in case she needed assistance, after all. As opposed to her, her mother was a born salesperson. Marina seemed to sense what people wanted before they even knew it themselves. Jade had witnessed it many times how indecisive people had looked at countless things and once Marina caught up with them they had a wide smile on their face and soon left the shop with bags filled with things that would give them some hours of happiness.

Jade tried to be the same but she found it hard to figure out her customers. Maybe she needed more practice (which was hard to get in lonely hours at the shop during the summer).

While she was still thinking about the sales talent of her mother, the younger witch asked her a question and Jade’s face lit up a little. For her it was far easier to answer concrete questions than to guide a customer through the merchandise with no idea what they really wanted.

“It’s more for adults actually,” Jade offered, “I think we labelled it as suitable for witches and wizards from 12 years to 111 years.” She had seen on muggle toys that they put 99 years on the boxes and had encouraged her mother to go for 111 years instead. Magical folk got a little older than muggles and besides, 111 looked really nice.

“It’s a fun mystery game,” Jade added, “the figurines are all a little peculiar, sometimes reacting in an unexpected way and thus spicing the game up some more. You can play it countless times without it getting somehow predictable and boring and there’ll be a special winter edition right before Christmas, too.” She was working on making a board game on which it snowed, so that the figurines could leave footprints in the snow or the snow concealing footprints again. Some festive jingles were adding to the general atmosphere and Jade was actually quite proud to be creating a board game that might one day be something people would collect. The winter edition would surely be limited to just a few copies.