MORT - day 40 - the sleep emporium

“you did?” Desmond asked incredulously.

“don't sound so surprised” Val said accusingly, pointing a finger at Desmond.

“we are two resourceful girls. Did you any better?” She challenged.

“No...” I said, rather forlorn.

“Then who are you judge us, we...” Val did get much father than this before Nona finally erupted.

Nona had been standing behind Val, shifting her balance from one foot to the other in impatient anticipating.

“you have to come see this, it's so cool” she almost shouted at us, from behind Val.

“calm your horses” Val said, but a smile had crept onto her lips, making the statement much less harsh.

“Seriously, this is so awesome, you guys are gonna freak out” Nona continued, as though she hadn't heard Val.

“you better come along, before she bursts” Val said, glancing back at us.

With that, Val and Nona started to lead the way towards the thing that was obviously breathtaking. The dark had truly fallen by this point, leaving the building cavernous and rally scary. The scrambling of the geeks below created a haunting echo, which took the majesty away from the mall and left it feeling empty and hollow. The only bright spot in the room, besides the ring of Desmond's electric torch, was the sporadic shouts of “come on guys” that came from Nona up ahead.

We had walked for a while, when Val finally said “this is it”

We had stopped in front of an empty storefront, where a dilapidated sign read “Sander Stevens Sleep emporium”

“This is the place?” Desmond asked and shone his torch into the store.

The place was as grey and disgusting as the rest the building. Parts of the ceiling hung down and it had a strong smell of mildew to it.
“this is the place that we are going to spend the night?” he asked again, looking Val straight in the eyes.

“yes, this is the place” Val said, her voice laced with sarcasm. “we also thought you might wanna take a walk with the geek in the morning” she added, with no humor in her voice.

“OK, OK, there is no need to be nasty” Desmond shot back at her.

Val was just about to say something inappropriate, when Nona popped up, out of nowhere.

“what are you waiting for” she asked, her smile widening by the second.

Nona's good mood was infectious, as we followed her into the sleep emporium, though we had to step lightly to avoid the frozen puddles that were strew around the room. Nona led us through the store, which was enormous, to a small door at the back of the room.

She put her hand on the doorknob, then hesitated and eventually turned around.

“are you ready to see something awesome?” she asked, her grin spreading from ear to ear.

“will you just show us already” Desmond said, exasperated.

“OK, behold the sleep palace” She said with no lack of grandior and pushed the door open behind her.