Adunni yelped, palm resting on her chest where pearl necklace had been only a moment ago. The necklace her father gifted her on the day she was born. In all her eighteen years, she only took it off for cleaning. Now the heirloom had slipped off her neck and fell into Odo Wura, the sacred river in their kingdom.
Her maid, Omoremi, stared at her in shock. “How did that happen?”
“I don't know,” Adunni snapped, confused as she searched the surface of the river for any hint of the necklace. “The clasp must be weak. What will I tell Father?”
As the young ladies argued on the best course of action, a woman dressed in indigo cloth with a calabash on her head approached them. “My princess, it's late,” she said, glancing up to indicate that the moon had risen high in the sky. “Are you searching for something?”
Omoremi quickly moved to stand in front of the princess, realising their prank of ditching the palace guards to come play at the river was a bad idea. “Erm, the princess' necklace fell into Odo Wura.” She pointed to the spot. “We can't see it and you know it's forbidden to step into the water without a priestess present.”
“Haa,” the woman exclaimed gazing down at the spot Omoremi pointed to. “I have an idea. There is a special store just before the border of our kingdom where lost things wait for those who have been chosen to find them.”
The girls looked at the woman like she'd grown several heads like a hydra. She chuckled at their expression and nodded. “Yes, the store exists and very few know about it. But you both must disguise yourself or else the store owner might not release your necklace to you.”
“But how about the spirits wandering the walls that our hunters spoke of?” Adunni asked and Omoremi shivered beside her. “How do we evade them?”
The woman lowered her calabash and pulled out a brass bell gently so it didn't ring. “I can ring this to ward them off.”
Convinced, the princess and her maid followed a stranger to the border. The special store was a small mud building hidden between enormous trees. Inside, it felt like the girls had stepped into another world where shelves rose so high they wondered how any person could reach the top and there was no ladder in sight.
Every shelf carried strange and old objects that were common at a time before they were born. Adunni and Omoremi held hands, looking different in their disguise.
The woman approached the two elderly women seated in a corner and spoke to them in low tones. The two old women nodded and pointed to the middle shelf.
Adunni's pearl necklace sat in a glass jar on the shelf. She gasped and quickly reached for it.
As they were about to leave the shop, one of the old women spoke. “We are honored by your visit, Princess.”
The ladies paused at the door while Adunni turned with an apologetic smile. “Thank you, my mothers. I shall visit again soon.”
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt phrase "that special store”.
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Image created by AI using NightCafe Studio
