Sweet Creature * {h.s | AU}

THREE.

"Hey Wally!" you chimed when you opened the door to Walters' Bookshop.

"Hi, sunshine. Looks like someone's real bright today, eh?" the old man sitting behind the counter said, his smile making his eyes squint.

They've been calling you sunshine ever since you work here. You bring joy to this crappy old room, Wally said. You're the only girl here, so yeah, sunshine, Danny said,

"Oh seeing you always makes me shine, Wally," you beamed. Wally has always been like a father figure to you, besides his wrinkles and aging days, he also cares a lot for you.

"Hey sunshine." You could hear Danny's voice ringing from the back of many bookshelves.

"Hi, Danny," you said, setting your bag on the hanger, "you came in early."

He appeared in front of you almost immediately, "yeah, I figured leaving Wally alone in the morning possibly isn't the best idea."

"I can hear you, you know. I am old, but not deaf." Wally's old rusty voice yelled from across the counter.

You giggled, "His voice is still as strong as young Wally. Alright, I better go do some work before old Wally starts yapping again." You managed to squeeze past Danny and the bookshelves and got to work.

The place wasn't big like some fancy ass library but just the right size for you to feel like you want to work there forever. Maybe that's why Wally stayed. (Well, it's not like he has a choice anyway. He owns this place.)

"My family love reading. My father told me that the magic is all in the books, if you could shut the world out and let your mind run wild, you'll get to behold the wonders of it." He once said. You always love it when Wally tells you these old ancient stories, about how they managed to live through to their 80s with this small place. Wally's eyes always seems to glint when he is telling stories, like he's smiling from the heart – maybe that's why you love the stories, but it was also because of the histories and beauty this small bookshop has held.

Once in a while Wally would say, "Not much young girls, like you, choose to read. They're always on their phone flipping through whatever shit it has, missing out on the great world of books and the smell of it, the whooshing sound when you flip the pages. You're different, sunshine."

"What can I say, Wally. I'm not like them," you'd say.

"Hey, sunshine! Can you help me sort out the J to L books? Some oldies came in just now, they messed it up and it would take forever to do this alone." Danny's voice broke your nostalgia for this place.

You put down the book in your hand and walked over to him, "yeah, sure."

"What were you reading there?" he asked, hands preoccupied with arranging the books in alphabetical orders.

"Cinderella."

"Really? I thought they made movies about it."

"It's different, Danny," you rolled your eyes at him, bothered by his unappreciation for reading. "Do you know, that in the books, the step-family didn't live so well after the ending?"

"Every evils don't live very well after the ending, sunshine."

"No, like the step-sisters got their eyes pecked out kind of unwell."

"Jesus, really? They read these to the kids back in the days? Oh, bless those child."

You laughed at his statement, "yeah, and when their mother, the step-mother of Cinderella, wanted them to fit in that glass slipper, she cut off their toes and heels."