China and a Bull

Following the smooth curves of the white marble with her eyes, Josie felt soothed from head to toe. It’s like when you have a sip of tea infused with peppermint. Or perhaps when you hit a lovely patch of cream in your coffee. You are swept away on a blissful cloud of “Ahhh...that’s nice.” That’s how it was for Josie looking at the marble facade that made up the exterior of the charmingly bespoke store.

The empty, elegant building had caught her eye immediately. There was no questioning that. The moment she passed by the little shop with the spectacular etched marble, she was suffused with intrigue. The expanse of luminous blue tiles on the ground of the outer entrance, perfectly matched the plane of blue expanse gathered above her head.

Having just strolled to the outer environs of the Parthenon, Acropolis of Athens, and the Theatre of Dionysus, she was in a state of reverie. Being in the cast shadows of the Parthenon that day, she had felt the energy of ancient Greece rumbling beneath the rolling mounds of the city. Ancient ruins vibrated in her soul, calling her to live a bolder life with a bit of reckless abandon.

And so her new venture began. Reckless and bold. It took months to secure a residence permit at the Decentralized Administration Office. Even longer to inquire as to how she could purchase the little shop proudly fixed atop an ancient cobbled stone street. Longer still to find a place to lease. She had grown tired of the small hostel she had occupied for the past three months, as well as their nutella and bread sandwiches offered every morning for breakfast.

When she had boarded the plane from Reno, Nevada that June, she had absolutely no idea that after a fifteen hour flight and two weeks of touring Athens she would be staying. Permanently. No idea AT ALL.

Josie didn’t feel much of a connection with what she had left behind in the United States. Things had changed so much for her. After the diagnosis, she needed to take life by the horns. Little did she know that one set of horns would soon wreak havoc on her life. It would be both a curse and a blessing to encounter the horns that were coming.

A curse because of the damage it would cause. A blessing because it would sever the final thread of control she had been feverishly grasping on to. This would finally be her freeing moment. A moment of release.

After nine months of what seemed like endless barriers to her endeavor, Josie once again stood in front of the little marble shop with a bronze key in her hand. It was finally hers! With a trembling hand she inserted the stout key into the lock and savored the sound of the ‘click’ it made. In a surreal moment, she could see rather than feel her hand opening the shop door. The smell of antiquity met her nostrils as she sheepishly crossed the threshold. Even though this was her property, she approached the stately interior with a kind of reverence.

Thick streams of buttery Grecian sun flooded through the sky lights up above. The store had one main room with three walls. The wooden floors, ceiling and back wooden counter were a handsome white. To her it was reminiscent of bone china or milk glass without the sheen.

The faded blue walls had the perfect amount of white knicks in them and just enough imperfection to make them irresistibly charming. The blue walls were covered with sturdy shelves (50 to be exact!) Not just shelves screwed into a wall, but elegant, white shelving built right into the walls. To Josie they looked like china hutches.....

And that’s when it hit her. As Josie swept her pretty little shop with hopeful eyes, it dawned on her that she could fill all of those shelves with beautiful china! White and blue pieces created by local Grecian artisans. Her love for all things smooth, white and creamy made selling china an obvious choice. Plus, now that it was early spring carnival season would be starting soon, bringing with it many locals and tourists celebrating up and down all of the streets. This would be her grand opening!

Anxiety pulsated through Josie’s stomach, chest and hands the morning of her grand opening. The anticipation was almost unbearable. She had the uncanny feeling that she merely ran away from her problems in America and that they were on a relentless pursuit to tear through oceans, sea and land to catch up with her. They were going to come for her and demolish any semblance of hope she had left. Her desire was to lose herself in this store. To find success in it and nothing else.

Josie opened the doors of her shop that morning for the first time to the outside world. The fragrance of spooled Gyro meat mingled wonderfully with the sounds of many shop owners conversing in an animated fashion. Other than saying ‘hello’ briefly to her new shop owner neighbors she kept her distance. Their warm eyes and zestful smiles were too overwhelming for her.

The crux of being an introvert is that you harbor great anxiety when it comes to putting yourself out there. Especially when people who are naturally very friendly would want to know everything about you. Things she didn’t want to have to explain. Memories that she didn’t want to have to share.

A blue banner was proudly draped across the front windows of her shop. A blue banner made of cloth triangles on a string which spelled out ‘Grand Opening’ in Greek (εγκαίνια). As of now, her shop was nameless. She wasn’t able to get a proper shop sign in time. That coupled with the fact that she could not settle on an appropriate name, left the little shop naked to the world.

Left to its own devices, the little shop would have to beckon outsiders in with the sleek, glazed and bright china plates and cups it gingerly housed. With fragility in abundance, the store would rely on firm bones and a marbled exterior to protect what lay inside.

Josie’s heart swelled as she heard the throng of festival celebrators draw near. It looked like a parade was winding its way down to where Josie stood on the blue tiles at the shop’s outer entry. Gleeful human voices mingled with the blaring sound of dozens upon dozens of bronze trumpet-like instruments. Hundreds of revelers were dressed in colorful costumes. Everything quickly became a pulsating swirl of vibrant colors.

In the midst of the twirling colors she saw a pair of horns. Tipped in gold by the reflecting sun. It was a young bull being led by a teenage boy in honor of the ancient Greek activity of bull leaping. The young bull flared it's nostrils, eyes wide with fire. The silky dark coat spilled over the leather straps in places where pure muscle was quivering to be set free.

The incredible animal was just about to pass Josie's china shop when a loud clatter reverberated through the crowd. Several of the musicians tripped on a deceptively uneven bit of cobblestone and their trumpet-like instruments went flying. This is when things got crazy.

Josie flew out of the bull's way as it rushed into her shop. For the rest, she could only remember lying on the blue tiles to the far left of the front door. Looking with disbelief at the scene unfolding before her frozen form. In slow motion she could see a brown mass bucking, kicking and leaping into every piece of china she owned.

The buttery light from the skylights reflected off the powerful back shoulders. Making it possible to witness every twitch, every ligament and every bulge of muscle. The bull ripped plates clean off the shelves with its glinting horn. All of the shelving kicked to splinters by those glossy hooves attached to thunderous legs.

In a strange way it was almost like a ballet. The shower of creamy porcelain raining down in perfect measure with the bulls' every kick and turn. White particles of all sizes and shapes made a thick veil behind which spastic darkness could be seen.

Then it was over. The young handler slipped and slid across the littered wooden floor grabbing the leash for the harness. Half a dozen other men piled in after him to detain the horrid animal. Several women rushed to Josie to help her up. She could have sworn that the bull had been in her shop for hours. In reality it had been thirty seconds.

Feeling the physical warmth of the women closely embracing her, coupled with the immense loss she had just experienced, caused Josie to abandon all control. Josie let herself cry like she had never cried before. She had tried so hard to keep control of her life, her relationships and her diagnosis. She couldn't hold on anymore. So she let go. And let others into a space of her heart that she had barricaded for years.

It took nine months to get up and running again. But this time she didn't have to do it alone. Her neighbors helped her every step of the way. With time she did share the painful parts of her life. Josie was so grateful to be surrounded by these wonderful people.

Her shop had become famous in Athens overnight. There was no shortage of patrons now. The event with the bull had put her on the map. Her shop was the place where the charming colloquial saying ‘like a bull in a china shop’ had come to life. In the end, she decided to name her store Bull in a China Shop.