Chapter 3: The Plot Twist
The plot twist came on a Thursday, in the form of a man in a sleek suit who entered the shop with a developer's blueprint under his arm. He offered Elena an obscene amount of money for the property. The whole block was being turned into luxury flats.
"I'll have to sell," she told me that evening, her voice hollow. The shop was closed, and we were sitting on the floor between the poetry and mystery sections, sharing a pot of tea. "The roof is leaking, the heating is failing, and I'm… I'm behind on everything. Just like you."
I stared at her. Elena, my anchor, was adrift too.
"There has to be another way," I said, the words coming out more fiercely than I intended.
"Like what?" she laughed, but it was a sad sound. "A magical inheritance? A surprise benefactor?"
An idea, fragile and half-formed, began to take root in my mind. It was risky. It was maybe stupid.
"What if," I said slowly, "we write our own story?"