The Curious Cat: A Petunia's Peculiar Particulars Prequel

The Meeting

Author's Note:  (Reformatted for easier reading 7/12/21)

    Autumn fell upon the countryside with glorious purpose, necessitating that Petunia take up a regimen of clearing the leaves from the front walk. The day was cool and clear, and the air had a crisp scent that made Petunia feel a little bit nostalgic. It was on just such a day, one year ago, that Petunia had a unique sort of customer. This was not to say that any of Petunia's customers were particularly ordinary. The customer that came to mind on fall days like this was a great dragon that inadvertently stopped traffic on I-70 for three and a half hours when he was on a bender and passed out in the middle of the bridge that overlooked downtown. Because dragons tend to do nasty things, like breathe fire, one doesn't wake a dragon or attempt to move him. One merely waits for him to awaken himself and move along. The city wasn't pleased with his choice of location for a nap and gave him a ticket for obstructing traffic and charged him with reckless endangerment, but that was another tale for another day.

With a small shake of her head and a slight smile, Petunia tucked her hand into her pocket and rubbed her thumb over the piece of dragon's gold she kept there and went back inside her shop to sit before her crystal ball. The focus was necessary so that she might consider the possibilities of the day. If the universe favored her with a vision, she might learn who was next to be drawn to her little establishment.

Of course, the shop ran on magic, not on money, so her customers were few and far between. This caused Petunia no hardship at all. She charged for the items sold in the shop, but only because it was necessary to bind the magic in the items to their new owners. It was certainly not for monetary gain. Petunia could scarcely recall a time when she needed money. Oh, now and then, she wanted to run to the store to pick up some food or a fresh tin of earl gray, but the moment she had the thought, her tea tin was suddenly full again. At first, this was unsettling. Over time, it became a matter of course. She would rarely leave the shop and only then to visit some of the scenery around the city where ever the shop had landed on days when a customer was not due to visit. The shop was Petunia's world.

Petunia finished collecting the leaves on her walk into a pile and felt the familiar shift and pull of reality that told her that the shop was preparing to relocate itself. She retreated to the front step and stood just beneath the purple oval-shaped sign she had painted herself. It was ringed with gold and read in her handwriting: "Petunia's Peculiar Particulars." The front step, the sign, and the arbor with its ancient grapevine always seemed to transport with them, though there had been occasions when the shop location did not allow for the grapevine to join them. At those times, it would disappear and reappear with the next jump. With a sigh, she tucked her broom just inside the front door so that she did not have to watch the world spin as the shop moved through space and time. On occasion, the view would make her quite ill, so she learned that it was best not to look.

The magic did its job, and once the teleportation was complete, she looked at the new walkway that stood outside the shop's current location in the middle of the city. It was a rare patch of green in an otherwise concrete and glass landscape. The grass was turning brown, but it was still quite green in patches. There were no leaves to tend to on the sidewalk because the grapevine that wound above the pathway to her shop was just turning to that hint of golden-green that indicated early fall. The balm in the air suggested a slight shift in time. Petunia turned to go inside with a smile. Since the shop had moved, she needed to prepare.

It took her no time at all to set the table at the back of her shop and to get a pot of fragrant earl gray brewing. She reached behind the counter and withdrew a bold smock in purple. She glanced at her crystal ball and found it mysteriously silent. With a grimace, Petunia looked up at the ceiling. "I can't help them if I don't know what to serve them."