Page 108 of September
Once the tiny dog was safely back at home, probably getting ready to bark at anyone who walked by the window that overlooked the street, Gwen could go a little faster. The shepherd was dropped off first, followed by a poodle and a husky who hated the heat and was very happy the moment she got him into his air-conditioned apartment. Lastly, she dropped off a shy Pomeranian who was always happy just to be outside and get any attention from Gwen who sat on the floor in the kitchen and made sure to pet him, rub his ears, and toss his toys for him for a few minutes before she finally left and went to go visit her favorite feline client.
Then, it was time to get home and take care of her own pet, who needed his terrarium cleaned. Gwen decided to stop bya pet store on the way to find him a new decorative rock that he could hide in since his old one had seen better days, and he might like a change in scenery. When she got to her usual place where she also purchased Larry’s food, she took a chance.
“Hey, you don’t have any geckos, do you?” she asked.
“Geckos?” the guy who looked about eighteen asked from behind the counter. “I think we do. I’ll have to check, though. I don’t work back in that part of the store.”
“It’s okay. I can find it,” she said and walked to the back of the store, where the reptile and amphibian items were.
There, she checked out a few of the tanks, and there was a small snake that she walked right past because she had never liked snakes, no matter their size.
“Did I hear you were looking for a gecko?” another guy with a store name tag asked as he approached.
“Yeah. I have a reef gecko at home, and I was thinking about getting him a buddy or a girlfriend, maybe.”
“We don’t have any, but there’s a reptile store I can recommend. They should have some in, but if they don’t, they can get you one,” he said.
“Oh, okay. I still need to get Larry a rock.”
“Larry?”
“My gecko.”
“You named him Larry?”
“He felt like a Larry,” she said with a shrug.
The store employee laughed before leaving her alone to look for Larry’s new hiding spot, and when she found what she wanted and left, it was with the business card of the reptile store where she could maybe find Larry someone to hang out with.
Deciding to walk to the bus stop before taking it home, she looked up to cross the street and noticed something.
“You should get it.”
Gwen turned to see an old woman standing there next to her at the traffic light.
“Sorry?” Gwen asked. “Do you need me to press the button for you?”
“The van,” the old woman with kind eyes replied and nodded toward a white van that had a ‘For Sale’ sign in the passenger side window.
“How did you–”
“It’s perfect for what you need, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know,” Gwen said. “I mean, it’s the right size, but I don’t know how old it is or if it needs work or anything.” She looked at the van and the woman. “Is it yours? Are you selling it?”
“No,” the woman said with a head shake. “Not mine. Just thought you should know that you should buy it.”
“I should?”
“Yes. It’s yours already, really,” the woman said. “Well, it will be soon, and once it is, good things will happen.” Her smile widened.
“If I buy a van, good things will happen?”
“All of our actions or inactions have good and bad consequences, don’t they?”
“Is this a butterfly effect thing? Like, if I don’t buy the van, it rolls down the street and kills someone because the parking brake wasn’t on or something?”
“No. But you’ve been looking for a sign, haven’t you? This is it.”
