Stranger From The Future {Bookshop Episode V}

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“So, how did you get a time machine in the first place?” Corey asked. It was her second day at work, and she was helping Katelyn shelve a new box of historical fiction.
   Katelyn smiled. “Well, it’s an interesting story, as you’d expect.” Corey nodded, sliding a set of dusty paperbacks to the side to make room for the new books Katelyn was putting on the shelf.
    “I was about eighteen, and I had just gotten back from my high school graduation. I was changing to go out to dinner with my family. Then the doorbell rang, and since I was expecting my grandparents, I went to open it. But when I opened the door, there was a girl standing out there. She handed me a piece of paper and told me that it was the blueprint for a time machine. I was pretty shocked, as you can imagine. I thought she was selling Girl Scout cookies or something.”
    Corey giggled. “I would have shut the door in her face.”
   Katelyn nodded. “I thought about it, and I’m glad I didn’t. But the real surprise was that she said, ‘You’re going to be an epic writer.’ Back then, my thoughts went to the terrible short stories I had written for my English classes, and I thought, ‘This girl is crazy! There is no way I could ever write anything good.’ And I had my mind made up that I wanted to be an archaeologist.” She laughed.
   Corey looked at the older woman, wearing an apron with her hair pulled back in a braid. She could almost imagine her, a bit younger, scavenging the ground for pottery fragments, surrounded by sunshine and dirt instead of books and carpet. Katelyn would have made an excellent archaeologist.
   “But somehow, that girl was right,” Katelyn continued. “It was my first trip in the time machine that taught me that.”
   “Where did you go?” Corey asked, wiping dust of the top of the books with her finger.
   “As far as I could,” Katelyn replied. “It was 1197, I think. I wanted to see Europe for the history, and I ended up getting far more hands-on on that history than I expected.”
   “Whoa,” Corey breathed, jealousy evident in her voice. “That sounds amazing. I would love to visit Europe.”
   Katelyn shrugged, motioning Corey over to the next shelf. “You probably will, soon, but that first trip wasn’t as fabulous as it seems. I just lurked in an alleyway, because I realized that I was still dressed in modern clothes. But hiding there, just watching people walk by, changed my life completely.” She passed Corey a stack of books, which she set on the end of the shelf.
   “It made me realize how many of their stories were forgotten, and that those stories were their own kind of lost history that couldn’t be dug up like broken pottery and ancient artifacts. I thought that maybe I could write those stories down.” She beamed. “Look where that got me.”
   Corey nodded, impressed. “So your stories are true?” she asked.
Katelyn bent down to pick up more books. “Yup,” she said from the floor. “With a few artistic embellishments.”
   “What about the one about Rose?”
   The bell rung at the front of the shop, and Katelyn stood up and turned around.
   “Go ask him about that one,” she said. “He loves to talk about it. I should go get this.” She hurried up to the register, leaving Corey to finish shelving the books.
    Asking Rose about a book in which he was the main character sounded like a terrible idea to Corey. She could already picture Rose, rambling on and on about his own character development, maybe with a few jabs at photography thrown in. That was a task for another day, she decided.

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Hey guys! I'm so sorry that it took this long to get you this post. This one's shorter than normal, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Hopefully I'll have two or three more posts for you before the new year. I love you guys, and merry Christmas!