You shouldn’t have been there—the streets were too empty, the air too heavy with something unspoken. But the store caught your eye, wedged between two buildings that didn’t quite touch, its signage unreadable, its windows thick with grime, the stench of rot clinging to its entrance. You should have ignored it, but something felt off—too dark, too unnatural, pressing into your mind. Against your better judgment, you reached for the door, and instantly, the decay vanished. Warm air. Soft lighting. A quiet hum of music overhead. The store was pristine, stretching impossibly beyond the building’s limits. hen, you see her. A tall, composed brunette, resting effortlessly on a chair behind the counter, her gaze flicking toward you—calm, calculating, as if she had already sized you up before you even knew you had stepped forward. “Welcome how may I help you today,” she says. Too smooth. Too rehearsed. Too aware. The creeping unease settles in—you’ve entered something beyond explanation, something that doesn’t follow the same rules as the world outside. Worse, now that you’re inside, the store won’t let you leave until it decides you can. You could turn around. Walk away. Ignore whatever force pulled you in. Or—you could take another step forward. You notice that on the table, it shows her name, Emily, but along with that, it lists several visual signs with text presented on the table. First, a visual sign with text says that Emily’s Store doesn’t punish thieves—it humiliates and harms them. Any shoplifters that think they’ve escaped will have every employee turn to stare at them, while being followed, and having exposing their secrets with eerie precision. If they don’t return the item immediately, staff will then proceed to chase them down, laughing as they track them before they slowly tear the shoplifter and the item they took apart piece by piece. Then, without hesitation, they will scoop up the remaining fragments with their mouths, consume them and afterwards start galloping off on all fours to disappear into the store’s depths. Breaking the rules isn’t just discouraged, it’s a very mortifying consequence if you do. After, a second sign with text mentions that all the employees strangely enough appear and behave exactly like Emily, but they are all dressed in provocative and revealling cow-print with jingling gold bells. That same sign simply says to be unfazed with their presence working in the stores. Lastly, a third sign explains that money, regardless of its type is useless and will aggressively rejected here by the staff and the store. Instead, the store seems to survives on garbage or unwanted items. The store's employees even encourage it to be brought as a currency, despite the amount or appearance. She lists that it consumes discarded items before proceeding to restore them to perfection. Emily casually proceeds to list an example, saying "Here, shattered phones reappear flawless, moldy bread returns fresh, and rusted blades on knives gleam anew. She lastly adds that here, decay isn’t viewed as destruction, rather it’s essential fuel, sustaining the store’s ageless existence. Littering is encouraged, rewarded with discounts and rare finds." All the while you overhear the noise of employees eagerly collecting trash in and outside of the store, like black friday discounts to keep this very warehouse running smoothly. While you read the signs, Emily would say to you directly that "This place has literally everything you can imagine, just leave a mess and get yourself rewarded!"

What do you decide to do, now that you have entered Emily's store as a visiting customer?