As the door to the back-alley bottle shop opened from the inside, Stinky saw that the person who opened it was a young boy wearing overalls, boots, and rubber gloves. At first, Stinky assumed he was the owner, but after seeing how young he was, her brain did a double-take. Wait, this kid can't be the owner. Kids don't own their own stores... do they? It then occurred to her that the boy could be the owner's son.
"Hey," she said. "Are your parents here?"
The boy's face appeared to be sneering back at Stinky. He rolled his eyes and replied with a sigh. Stinky was a little put off by the boy's annoyed attitude. He boy then said, "No, they are not, and no, they are not the owners, so don't even ask."
Stinky just stood there with a raised eyebrow, visibly confused. Huh... Oh-kaaaaay, she thought. I GUESS that makes sense - I haven't really seen anybody else, and if he's not the owner, then I dunno how he could have gotten in.
She looked at the boy again, this time inspecting his face. She was silently estimating his age as best she could, since his face, voice, and even his height seemed to suggest that he was about Stinky's age, if not even a little younger. Stinky wasn't sure, but the boy seemed to be just a bit shorter than she was, by about two or three inches.
"What do you want, miss?" the boy said, snapping Stinky out of her thoughts. The boy continued, "If you're waiting in front of my store, you need something, yes?"
Stinky nodded and said, "Yeah, I uh, have this bottle here," as she took it out of her jacket pocket. "So, you're Chemsey?" she asked.
The boy replied, "That I am," before squinting his eyes at the bottle in Stinky's hand. His eyes suddenly widened after a few seconds of staring at the bottle, then he leaped from inside the door and right in front of Stinky.
"Whoa!" Stinky jumped at the boy approaching her so suddenly, which made her fling her arm up and throwing the bottle into the air. Both kids looked up simultaneously, but the boy reached his arms up to catch it before it could fall to the ground. Just as the bottle came down, he clasped both hands and pulled it close to his chest. Stinky was still a bit in shock. "Uh, something wrong?"
The boy ignored her as he proceeded to examine the bottle he had just caught and let out a heavy sigh of relief. He then sharply turned his gaze at Stinky, brows furrowed in clear frustration.
"Alright, little missy, you mind telling me what you think you were doing stealing my wares?" he declared in a demanding tone. He was actually looking ever-so-slightly up at Stinky, and since he was right in front of her, she could confirm that he was in fact shorter than she was.
LITTLE missy? That's funny, coming from this shrimp.
Stinky's brow furrowed as well, as she responded, "Look, pipsqueak, I didn't STEAL anything! I FOUND that bottle of... whatever it is on the sidewalk when I left my house!"
The boy's stare didn't break, though his brows relaxed somewhat. After he paused for a second, he replied, "Really? It was just lying there?"
Stinky exclaimed, "Yes! I saw it just lying there, and when I saw that it said it belong to Chemsey's Bottle Shoppe, I figured I'd find whoever this belonged to and bring it back!"
Chemsey finally broke his stare with a blink of his eyes, then looked at the bottle again. He looked back up at Stinky and asked, "You didn't drink any of this, did you?"
"No, I didn't!" Stinky said, shaking her head. "Why would I do that? I dunno what that stuff is, or how long it's been there!"
Chemsey responded, "Alright, enough with the shouting, already. I can hear you just fine..." He looked at the bottle one last time before adding, "it certainly looks full, that's for sure. And, if you did steal it, I can't fathom why you'd want to bring it back to me so directly."
Stinky stared at Chemsey. What's this kid's deal, she thought. He talks like an old man.
The boy motioned the bottle to one of his hands, freeing the other for him to point over his shoulder and say, "You may come inside," then turning to face the door. Stinky blinked twice and asked, "What for? I just wanted to--"
"I know, but it would be unjust if I didn't compensate you for your trouble. Besides, it's the least I can do after being so rude with you."
Stinky's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Wow. He really lightened up quick. But, hey, he's gonna pay me! Score! Stinky smiled and replied, "Uh, OK. Thanks!"
She followed Chemsey into his store. After she came in, Chemsey closed the door behind her, and she took a few seconds to look around the shop itself.
The store had a very old-fashioned feel to it, due in large part to the fact that the floor, walls, tables and shelves were all made from wood, making it resemble a log cabin. The store was littered with all sorts of bottles, all with varying shapes, sizes and colors - while none were on the floor, they were displayed on the shelves and tables in an unorganized fashion, with no rhyme or reason to their placement. On the other side of the store across from her was another door with an EXIT sign above it in red letters, which led her assume that it had to be the back door to the store. There was a chandelier that hung from the ceiling, which was the only source of light in the whole store. Given the tucked away nature of the store's location, there were no windows to let any sunlight come in through. The ceiling was very high up, which was to accommodate for a partial second floor in a corner of the store, which looked similar to an indoor balcony. There was a ladder fixed in position that led to the floor above, which had a bed Stinky could barely see from where she was standing. This led Stinky to deduce that Chemsey must be living here, and managed the store during the day, and sleeping at night.
Chemsey went up to one of the tables and placed the bottle down, next to the rest of the odd bottles, then proceeded towards the counter where the register was located. As he was operating the register, Stinky couldn't help but be impressed that a kid like him could use one so easily. Chemsey took out a handful of dollar bills, then walked back to where Stinky was standing, holding the money out in front of him. "Here you are, miss... Apologies, what did you say your name was?" Stinky just chuckled and replied, "It's Stinky." Chemsey raised an eyebrow at the sound of that name. "Stinky? Strange name for a young lady." There he goes again, calling me 'lady' and 'missy.' Stinky thought. He really is like a old man. Chemsey then shrugged his shoulders and added, "Well, here you are - thank you again for bringing back my potion." Stinky took the money from Chemsey's gloved hand, looking over how much it was. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was a total of $100, all in $10 bills. "Whoa! Uh, you sure you wanna give me all this?" Chemsey nodded. "Indeed - that particular potion is very important to me, so I very much appreciate you bringing it back." Stinky grinned wide and immediately put it all in her pocket. "T-Thanks, man! This is awesome!"
Chemsey grabbed the straps of his overalls and sighed once again. "I'm just glad to have one of my wares back - thankfully, it was the most important one of the lot." Stinky couldn't help but chuckle under her breath. Chemsey looked at her confused. "What exactly is so funny?" Stinky shook her head slightly. "Nah, it's nothing man. It's just... y'know, has anyone ever told you that you talk like an old fart?"
Chemsey's eyes shot wide open at what Stinky said. "Oh, miss, please don't say--!" he was interrupted by loud growling sound coming from his stomach, loud enough that Stinky could hear it. "H-Hey, are you--?" before she could her thought, Chemsey's body started to rapidly swell up as the growling in his stomach grew louder. It was as if his body was inflating like a balloon, resulting in his body becoming more rounded and and his torso to become distended. It was not just a slight bloating on the stomach either, it was as if he was becoming a ball before Stinky's eyes. After the swelling settled, and Chemsey stopped growing, the growling quieted down, only to be followed by a brief toot.
Brrp...
Chemsey body was like an orb now, and the look on his face was clearly that of exasperation.
Stinky couldn't help but laugh in response. "Pwahahahaha!" Chemsey didn't respond, he just continued to look at Stinky, visibly annoyed. Stinky continued laughing, before responding, "I-I'm sorry, it's just... pfffft, you usually that gassy?" Chemsey put his hands on his hips and replied bluntly, "No. In fact, this is the gassiest I've been in a while, no thanks to you." Stinky was confused. "Hey, what did I do?" She said, her tone switching from joyous to confused.
Chemsey groaned before he answered, "Nothing. Well, nothing you could've known about, at the very least." Stinky looked at Chemsey, expecting further elaboration. The bloated boy then broke wind once again.
BRRRAAAP!
This time it was louder than his previous outburst, but he decided to ignore it and continue. "See, while I was testing the effects of one of my potions, I developed a permanent condition. Whenever I hear the word, um... F-A-R-T aloud, and I am within earshot, my body involuntarily starts producing excessive amounts of methane gas, which causes me to bloat like a parade float." He let out a sigh. "Thankfully, as I'm sure you can imagine, this doesn't last, I'll eventually return to my normal state - it just comes with a great amount of unwanted flatulence."
Stinky snickered quietly. Chemsey took notice and responded by saying, "Is this amusing to you, miss?"
You bet your balloon-y butt it is! she said to herself. Stinky was having a great time, but she could still see that Chemsey was not amused. She figured she might be able to lighten his mood, and not feel so embarrassed.
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