A Tale of Two Shopkeepers

     Linda, the Elephante who ran the Neopian Pharmacy, called out, "Well, alright, but if I get busy I won't be able to run both shops."

     "You'll be fine," Kauvara replied. "I'm just going to quickly go over some new potion recipes with Kayla, you know, the potion seller from Meridell Castle? Besides, we're meeting right in the Neolodge lobby, so I won't be far if you need me!"

     Linda, already getting nervous, mustered up a half-smile and a nod as she went back to the pharmacy counter and adjusted her chair to keep an eye on the Magic Shop out of her window. She'd never worked in a high-volume shop before, but nothing could have prepared her for what was next.

     ---

     Neopians Dancerchickemily and Travel74147 strolled down the path in Neopia Central.

     "Where should we restock today?" Dancerchickemily asked as they passed the general store. "Maybe the Book Shop?"

     Travel74147 said, "I think Greg the Nimmo is working today. He's SO slow to put new books out."

     "Okay, how about the Post Office?" Dancerchickemily inquired.

     "Nah," Travel74147 replied. "It's too crowded these days. Besides, some of the Neopians in there are super weird. They talk really funny. You'd think they were robots or something."

     Both Neopians stopped in their tracks as they reached the Rainbow Pool. They saw the big, pointy hat in the distance. They looked at each other and back ahead, and then they took off — straight for the Magic Shop.

     ---

     Linda leaned back in her chair and saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was two Neopians running straight for the Magic Shop!

     She sprinted from her chair out the Pharmacy door and called out, "Wait! You can't go in there!"

     "Why not?" Dancerchickemily replied as she reached the Magic Shop door. "We're just wanting to restock for a bit."

     Not wanting to let on that the shop was unattended, Linda said, "Sorry, we are sold out of everything! We get restocked every eight minutes or so, so please come back soon."

     "That's fine, we can wait around while Kauvara restocks the shop," Travel74147 said. "Besides, we're used to her taking a minute to get new potions out."

     Linda was about to tell the Neopians again that they shouldn't go inside ... when she saw them coming down the path from the Neopian Plaza. Dozens of them. Neopians of all shapes and sizes, heading straight for the Magic Shop.

     Linda glanced at the calendar and realized it wouldn't be a slow Thursday morning. It was no regular morning at all. It was Half Price Day.

     ---

     Linda locked up the Pharmacy. With the same half-smile she had given once already that morning, she told the Neopians they could wait for Kauvara inside the Magic Shop.

     As soon as they were in, she ran to the Neolodge to tell Kauvara to come back right away. How could they have forgotten it was Half Price Day?

     But Kauvara and Kayla were nowhere to be seen.

     "Well ... how hard could it be?" Linda thought to herself as she turned back toward the Magic Shop, determined.

     ---

     Inside the Magic Shop, more Neopians began to crowd in.

     "She still hasn't stocked yet?" Mymegamall said.

     "No," Katytheref replied. "I'm going to try the Food Shop. Maybe Larry the Chia will put out some neggs for us."

     ---

     Linda reached the door, took a deep breath and went inside. She made her way through the Neopians and went behind the counter.

     She looked out at all of the Neopians staring her down, waiting to see what she would put out for them to buy.

     "One second!" she yelled as she went to the back.

     ---

     Linda immediately felt overwhelmed the moment she walked through the door to the supply room. To say it was a mess was an understatement. Random bottles were strewn across the floor, counters and shelves everywhere.

     This lack of organization would never fly in my Pharmacy, she thought.

     She sifted through a random array of potions until a bottle filled with a shimmering red liquid caught her eye.

     "Oooh," she thought, "Iyana the Earth Faerie is always looking for these!"

     Linda grabbed as many of the red bottles as she could hold and snatched a few others with handles that she could loop around her trunk. She headed back through the door to the front of the shop, where chaos would meet her.

     She set out the potions she had carefully selected — but to the Neopians' disgust.

     "Fire Jug? Pale Elixir?" Dancerchickemily asked. "Don't you have any Morphing Potions ready? That's what we're here for."

     "Yes, of course!" Linda replied, trying to cover for her lack of knowledge of the magic items Kauvara sells. "I was just, ah, freeing up some space in the back to get to them!"

     ---

     As Linda went back to the supply room, the Neopians talked amongst themselves.

     They saw another Neopian walk inside and look confused.

     "Wait, are there items for sale right now?" Peppermintmoka_latte asked.

     "Yep, but just junk," Smoshandhearts replied.

     "Darn, I guess I'm still banned then," Peppermintmoka_latte said as she walked back out.

     ---

     "Morphing Potions," Linda mumbled to herself. She glanced around and finally located a few. She carefully carried them to the front. These ornate bottles with ears, tails and other ornaments were harder to carry than the small bottles she'd already stocked. She had some basic colours and some fancy ones she knew would be a big hit.

     "I think you'll like these!" She exclaimed as she sat them down on the counter.

     Eventide_blues immediately snatched one before the others could get a good look.

     "That one's bait," Dancerchickemily giggled to Travel74147. "He always falls for the Zombie Blumaroo Morphing Potion."

     Eventide_blues snuck the potion back on the counter, hoping nobody noticed.

     "These are ALL bait!" Mrsria2015 said. "You don't actually expect us to buy an Ogrin potion, do you?"

     In a panic, Linda grabbed all the potions off the counter and yelled, "Sorry, we are sold out of everything! We get restocked every eight minutes or so, so please come back soon."

     She ran to the back again as she heard one of the Neopians yell, "Clear!"

     ---

     Back in the supply room, Linda dug around some more.

     "If Zombie potions aren't desired," she thought, "maybe the prettier ones will be more sought after."

     She grabbed a few more, and back out she went.

     ---

     The Neopians, growing impatient, watched as Linda set out three more bottles: a Golden Elephante Morphing Potion, a Strawberry Wocky Morphing Potion and a Starry Grarrl Morphing Potion.

     "You have GOT to be kidding me," Dancerchickemily said. "Junked AGAIN."

     "Wait a second," Travel74147 replied. "Strawberry Wocky isn't too bad since it's half-price today."

     Travel74147 picked up the bottle and took it to Linda.

     Linda looked at the price tag and said, "I want at least 25,000 Neopoints for this great item," to which Travel74147 said she would do 22,000.

     "Surely you would pay at least 25,000 Neopoints for this item?" Linda asked.

     "Well, I think 22,000 is a fair offer," Travel74147 replied.

     "Hmmm, no," Linda said. "I'm not going any lower than 22,000 Neopoints."

     "That's ... what I just offered you, Linda," Travel74147 said.

     "I paid much more than 22,000 for this item," Linda stated. "Give me 22,000 and it's yours."

     Travel74147 dug in her pockets, handed over the Neopoints and looked at Dancerchickemily, puzzled.

     Dancerchickemily laughed and said, "Don't mind the haggling. Sometimes shopkeepers refuse to take a deal unless it was their own idea."

     ---

     Happy to have made a big sale, Linda put the Neopoints in the till and sat down for the first time in what felt like forever. She took a deep breath and thought to herself that maybe she did have the hang of this after all.

     Then Linda did what every other shopkeeper did between stocks: relaxed, read a book and waited for the sales to roll in.

     ---

     The Neopians mulled about the room, knowing they couldn't buy any of the current stock and turn a profit.

     "Surely she'll restock soon," they all thought.

     The morning stretched on into the afternoon without a new stock. Neopians came and went, stopping back in just long enough to brag to their friends about things they'd bought in the Petpet Shop and Collectable Coins in the meantime.

     As the Neopians grew more frustrated with the lack of new stock, Linda grew just as frustrated with the Neopians' lack of patience. Couldn't they see she was almost finished reading the new Coltzan Book?

     "Well, if they don't like what I've put out," she thought, "I'll just put it all back in the supply room. Maybe that'll teach them some patience ... or at least give me some peace and quiet to finish my book."

     Once again, she gathered all of the remaining potions and put them in storage.

     ---

     Peppermintmoka_latte walked back in the shop.

     "Clear or ban?" she called out from the doorway to the group of Neopians still waiting inside.

     "It's clear in here," Dancerchickemily replied. "But I'm not sure about other shops with inventory right now. You could always check Tiki Tack over on Mystery Island."

     ---

     And so the day went, with Linda (incorrectly) guessing which potions would be big sellers with customers. Ghost Buzz, Split Mynci, Pirate Aisha ... so many bottles she thought would sell. But each time, the Neopians just complained about the junk she'd set out for them.

     Growing tired of lugging heavy potions back and forth, instead of taking the unwanted potions back to storage, she just kept adding more.

     ---

     As the sun began to set, Kauvara finally made her way back to the shop.

     She saw the assortment of potions on the counter and shelves.

     "Why," she exclaimed, "there must be 46 different potions out for sale!"

     "It's about time you showed back up," Linda said, exhausted. "I don't know how you manage working here. It's so much different than the Pharmacy."

     "Oh, it's not so bad," Kauvara replied. "If you'll help me take these bottles back to storage, I'll take you to the Chocolate Factory. My treat."

     "Yes, I suppose that's fine," Linda said.

     The two gathered all the potions and took them to storage — Linda setting them gently down in groups of similar bottles and Kauvara tossing hers wherever she found an empty spot.

     As Linda headed out the back door, Kauvara took one more trip to the front to be sure they hadn't missed anything.

     "What's this?" Kauvara said, noticing a shiny bottle that had mistakenly been placed on the floor.

     She set it down on the counter as a rush of Neopians all tried to grab it.

     In a flash, someone grabbed it, paid handsomely and disappeared without a trace.

     "That was so fast!" Dancerchickemily said. "What just happened?"

     With a laugh, Kauvara yelled "Ice Hissi Morphing Potion is SOLD OUT!" before turning around to head out for the night.

     The End.