Green Eyes and Mystic Vibes

I woke up when I heard the familiar bark of my alarm system. Someone was in the shop. I was actually enjoying my nap this time; no nightmares, no falling, no world in turmoil. Since everything fell apart I ditched my little apartment across town and taken to sleeping in the back of the shop. I felt safe and at peace here surrounded by all my crystals and of course my great dane Dharma.

I opened my privacy screen and ran into Briar.

"whoa!" "Hello there B" I said to my friend.

"River! I need help! It's urgent!" shouted Briar grabbing at my shoulders

"It's always urgent these days" I said giving her a sleepy eye-roll

"well yeah have you stepped out of this shop lately?"

I looked past her shoulder and out of my store front window. She had a point.

Our world was always chaotic following a pandemic a decade ago. It hit hard. Some died of the infection, some changed as a result of , the rest could not deal and ended it. Briar and I remained pretty much unscathed except my odd new silvery highlights and her developing neon green eyes.

Ok so today did look a little more end of the world than usual.

"Rainer declared himself the leader of the new world this week.Haven't you listened to the news lately?"

I looked at my ancient receiver.

"Ignorance is bliss?" I said with a shrug

"Well, thats not why I'm here"

She grabbed my arm and dragged me into her dingy bookshop next store with Dharma following close behind. There, behind a big pile of old books, was a man (I'm guessing late thirties) feverishly looking at and tossing books into the pile. Dharma let out a low growl. I patted her on the head to let her know she could be at ease.

"I has to be here!" the man said "This place is it, the last of the old relic bookstores!"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment"Briar said with a leer.

"What has to be here" I said suspiciously

"There was a fictional book wrote twenty or so years ago, It was a total flop but I read it and donated it. I wish I haven't" he said feverishly

"So if it was that horrible, why are you looking for it?" Briar asked

"I believe it holds important information about our future" he said breathlessly

"Really" I said sarcastically, "Do tell Mr.?"

"Bear, call me Bear" he replied

He did kinda look like a Bear. He had a large husky build but wasn't really doughy just somewhere in between couch potato and lumberjack.

"After the pandemic everything started to change in all our appearances (he points to his face which has one hazel and one neon green eye). Not only in our hair and eyes but I've noticed changes in others skin tone and texture."

"No shit, tell us something we don't know Bear" I barked

"What you don't know is that it was all in this book" he declared

"That has to be a coincidence" said Briar

"I have a feeling it's not and if I could just find it and show you ......"

"What is it called and what does it look like?" Briar asked

"It's called "patrimonium" it's from an ancient language called latin and translates to "inheritance." Bear replied

"I has a blue grey cover with the title written in silver cursive"

"Wait! I know this book!" Briar declared

"I bought it a couple of years ago from one of those traveling merchant scavenger people that come through here sometimes. I thought it looked cool"

"Do you know where it is?" Bear asked

"Ha! have you not noticed this place? It's a disaster!" I scoffed

"I think it's charming" declared Briar "organizing the store would ruin its mystic vibes"

I had to leave it to her she did have that mysterious, dark, cobwebby thing going on.