At the market sample

It was a cool morning yet the crowds at the open air market were thick and bustling. Since starting  his adventure, Aaron had become adept at weaving through crowds and he grinned to himself,  watching as his breath fogged the air. On the outside the collection of tents and tables looked more  like a farmers market than the mall but in reality, it was superior; he saw stalls for everything under  the sun, from clothes and tourist trap trinkets to the latest games and electronics.

His eyes scanned the displays, fully focused on his goal. When he’d set out on this trip it had  been partly for the new experiences and adventure but if he was honest, meeting new women with  no strings attached in the local backpackers was foremost in his mind. He’d met Rosalie, a pretty  French girl, last night and now he needed the perfect gift to impress her. None of that touristy cheap  stuff, something memorable.

As he wandered the stalls, he found one that finally caught his eye. An older woman in  Romani style clothing was sitting amongst several racks of women’s clothing. Everything from  dresses to scarves in every colour of the rainbow; he was no fashionista but even he could  appreciate how well made they looked. She gave him a toothless smile as he approached, indicating  for him to inspect all she had on offer. At first, he was leaning toward one of the colourful scarves  hanging from the top of her sign but then he noticed several folded squares of patterned material  laid out on a table to the side.

Lingerie.

The tiny bundles of lace and silk looked taboo sitting out in the open like this, at least to his  American brain. Since arriving on the continent he’d been surprised to find Europeans were a lot less  prudish when it came to things like sex and nudity, so perhaps selling sexy underwear in the local  market wasn’t too strange. At the very top of the table was a glass cabinet containing fancier items,  three pairs of panties, one pink, one white and the final black, all on display like pieces of art. The old  woman running the stall turned to him and spoke a few words he didn’t understand. He’d been on  the move so much he hadn’t bothered trying to learn the local languages, they were all so different  and half the people seemed to speak English anyway.

“Sorry, I don’t understand.” Aaron enunciated loudly before pointing to the pink panties,  “How much?”

They were silky on the inside with an intricate pattern of lace across the front made to look like  petals falling from the embroidered flower sitting just below the waistband. They were gorgeous and  just the thing a classy French chick like Rosalie would like. The old women spoke in her native  tongue again before looking at him expectantly, once again he said, slower and louder, that he didn’t  understand.

“How long?” She asked, was she offering him a rental? On panties?

“No, no I buy.” He tired, pointing to himself and then his wallet, “How much money?” Finally, her face seemed to light up in understanding and Aaron thought he’d finally broken through.  “Do want special?” She asked, pointing to the panties.

“Yes! I want to buy this special pair of underwear.” He nodded with a big smile, a smile  which quickly faded when she started talking nonsense again.

“Address?” she asked, “No here address? Where send?”

“No, no, I don’t want it posted I want to buy them here.”

“Have here? When back?”

He rolled his eyes.

“I am not bringing them back. I am buying them now.” He placed a few euro on the table  and opened the cabinet, picking up the panties and showing her.

“Year back? Week back?”

He was at the end of his tether, really, how hard was it for this woman to learn a few basic phrases  for talking to tourists! Frustration at its peak he slammed a few extra euro down on the table.

“No back!” He yelled, “I buy now.”

She looked down at the coins and shrugged before meeting his gaze again. Her eyes seemed alight  and a mischievous grin split across her face. Realising he may have just been scammed Aaron  opened his mouth to renegotiate but never got the chance. There was a quick snap from the  woman’s fingers and suddenly, everything was gone.

~

Aaron tried to blink away the darkness but found he had had no eyes with which to do so. For a  moment, terror flooded his system but then he realised he was in no pain, not even discomfort but  he was a different…shape? Full of confusion he tried to figure out what exactly was going on, he  couldn’t move but he wasn’t tied up or restrained in anyway, whatever this form was simply did not  have muscles with which to move under its own power. Normally, with a panic like this rising up  within him he’d try to take deep breaths to centre himself but whatever this new form was it didn’t  need to breath. All he could do was lie in the darkness, waiting for his panic to inevitably fade as  time passed.

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