There was something extra special about New York City in the winter that Regina never wanted to forget. Even though the hustle and bustle never really stopped some how the thick blanket of snow made everything seem quieter. It was brighter too, even in the night, because of the ice and snow reflecting the already over abundant amount of lighting in the city. As the young witch emerged from the Subway tunnel that connected her tiny Brooklyn apartment to her very favorite spot to buy music she was greeted with the fresh smells of cold snow; dirty from the plows, half burnt Chinese food, and of course engine exhaust. To some it might of sounded less than appealing but to Regina these were the smells of home. These were the smells she missed when she was stuck at Ilvermorny. These were the smells that reminded her of why she clung so tightly to the city she loved.
Walking a couple of blocks the less than fashionable girl was donning a pair of light colored torn jeans, a black and white Nets jersey that was two sizes too big, a baby blue sweater that definitely didn't belong to her, and puffy faux fur hooded green bomber jacket. She didn't try very hard when it came to appearances and that was more than obvious but Regina had bigger things in mind. Sure she wanted a boyfriend and she liked wearing make up sometimes but mostly she just wanted to chill and listen to music and not worry about whether or not her hair was out of place. As she rounded the corner she grabbed hold of the handle of a familiar green door that had been painted over so many times it was starting to peel in multi colors.
Pushing it open she entered the stuffy and stale music store aptly named Hot Hitz. They had everything a young girl could want from CDs and the more eclectic records to fuzzy black light posters and stickers of smiley faces with bad attitudes in vending machines. "Aye yo Mikey you get any Ashanti singles yet?" Regina called across the tiny shop even before she had finished walking inside, the door barely closing behind her as it got stuck on the red, green and yellow floor mat that had 'Wi run tings, tings nuh run wi' printed across it.
Moving into the store the Brooklyn native made her way to the new releases section of the CD racks, filing through them by artist and looking for anything she'd missed last week. She could smell the heavy incense burning on the sales counter at the other side of the tiny cramped store, it smelt like lychee and patchouli and she was pretty sure the thick clouds of smoke wafting from the backroom weren't just from the incense. Mikey, the sales clerk who she'd never seen not wearing a Sublime shirt checked the binder on the desk before shouting back across the room at her. "Nah but it's bout to drop in a few months." It wasn't the news she was looking for but that didn't mean she wasn't going to find something she liked.
Turning from the shelf she had been shuffling through Regina stepped to the side to begin examining the black light poster display. The store was so jam packed full of stuff it was hard to move around with out bumping into something or some one but in a way it was also kind of comforting. Regina always felt antsy, impatient, and fidgety but this store tended to calm her nerves. Like some how the thick clouds of smoke, never ending aisles of CDs, and massive iguana terrarium in the middle were a big blanket wrapping her up and making her feel at ease.
@Ricky Luzzatto
