THE MOMENT
"Congratulations," Mundo smiled. The tall, wispy woman gestured at the bin in the middle of the store labeled: 'Unique items'. "Probation's over, you're officially a staff member. You may choose an item every six months, starting today."
"Choose?" - asked. "I can keep it?" Dora asked. After working there for six months, she knew the answer. The other employees used their own items often enough to be considered flaunting. But, even after six months, Mundo still intimidated her and she wanted to be sure. Luckily the wispy, green-haired woman nodded.
"I'll finish closing up, why don't you go take a look?" Mundo said.
"Okay!" Dora nodded and dashed to the bin just in case Mundo changed her mind. Dora knew exactly what Unique she wanted first; but she didn't see anything that looked like a boot. Nor did she see a bonnet. She decided it would be easier to move the things she didn't want out of the way to see what was left.
First, she pulled out a couple of bottles. One was tall and made of dark green glass, the other was shaped more like a jug; but, both had the number 08 etched on the front. Then, she moved a sinister-looking blood-red umbrella out of the way; it had the number 05 embossed on the handle. She continued pulling things out and was somewhat surprised at how deep the bin appeared to be.
She moved a toy drum, #29, down to the ground, then a cast iron skillet, #36, and a wooden carafe, #44. And she kept moving more out of the way looking for something that interested her. Finally, the pile on the floor began to look larger than the shrinking pile in the bin.
"I'm closing up, but you're putting all that back," Mundo reminded her. Dora nodded.
"'Course," she grinned, then she resumed her search. She reached the bottom of the bin and in a dark corner, something caught her eye. It looked like a small white bowl. As she pulled it out she realized it was glass, and it came in two pieces.
"Huh," Dora studied it. It was a glass mortar and pestle set. The exterior was white but a red design decorated the interior of the mortar. It looked like a pair of scissors with the number 63 between the open blades. The pestle also had a 63 on it in red numbers and a thin red thread connected the two items.
"Hey Mundo," Dora called out over her shoulder as she studied it. "You said there were only 54 Uniques."
"There are," Mundo replied without giving Dora her full attention.
"Then...," Dora walked the mortar and pestle over to the counter. "...what's this?" She set it down in front of Mundo so she could read the number properly. Mundo stared at it in stunned silence. She reached for it, then hesitated twice before she finally had the courage to wrap her hand around it. The moment she touched it, Mundo blacked out.
"Oh thank god you're awake!" Dora rushed to Mundo's side as the woman got her bearings. After she fainted, Dora dragged her to the office and onto the couch. Dora only spent about 10 minutes wondering who to call before Mundo stirred again.
"'S different...," Mundo grumbled as she tried to sit up. She closed her eyes again and breathed slowly to get her head to stop spinning. "Everything's different...," she said through closed eyes. But, she opened them again when she heard Dora giggle.
"You're different alright," Dora said. She approached Mundo with a pocket mirror. "What the hell happened?" she asked as she gave Mundo the mirror. Mundo gave her a confused look, but Dora nodded at the mirror. Mundo's once vibrant, forest-green hair looked almost the same as it did that morning. Except now, she had a deep red streak running through her hair like a stripe. Mundo couldn't help but giggle at the development too. She looked up at Dora and smiled.
"What happened?" Mundo repeated Dora's question. "I'm not sure, but it looks like the universe got an update."