Sarafina walked softly through her grandmother's dusty junk shop. Running her hands over the counters a thick layer of dirt coated her fingers.

"How did she ever sell anything?"

Grandma was always a little strange and when Sarafina was a child, this shop held the wonders of the world for her. Now Grandma was gone. She did not survive the long hospital stay, and Sarafina inherited the one item no one else wanted, her shop.

"Maybe I can turn it into a coffee shop."

Sarafina wandered the shelves as her memories flooded her mind. Books of all sorts lined the shelves, their jacket covers so thick with dust that the titles can no longer be read. She grabbed a book and wiped the dust off.

1000 Recipes for Mountain Trolls

"Must be a fairy storybook."

She placed it back on the shelf, and glanced at her watch.

"Ten o'clock already, I should start cleaning this place up if I hope to sell it."

She walked back to the counter with the cash register. An old bronze register with raised buttons and a pull handle stared at her. It seems to be the only thing in the shop not covered in a thick blanket of ageing dust. She pushed a button, and the drawer flew open. Hiding inside was a yellow aged envelope with her name written on it in her grandmother's writing.

"What is this?"

Dear Sarafina,

     If you are reading this you are in my shop, and I am no longer in this world. I am sorry that I will not be able to properly educate you in the ways of my business, but I have sent you help. Upon opening this letter, you have called him. He should be there in about an hour. Don't be frightened.
     The world as you know it has just expanded. I am only sorry I will not be there to guide you through it. You are the only one that I trust with my secrets, Sarafina. They are now your secrets. This shop may seem like nothing, but a dusty junk shop, but there is more to it than what you see.
It is time to waken to this larger world, granddaughter. Remember I am always with you.

Love
Grandma

"What is she talking about? Who is this helper? Grandma, I think your mind left before your body. I better get busy cleaning this place up."

Sarafina walked out to her car, and brought the cleaning supplies she bought into the shop. She pulled her strawberry blond hair back into a ponytail, let out a sigh, and tried to decide where to start. She decided that the best place to start was the checkout counter.

She began cleaning, and the dust flew everywhere.

"I'm going to have to get a vacuum or something cause this is not going to work."

"Let me help with that," a husky voice came from behind her, and Sarafina jumped and turned to face it. There was no one there.

"Sorry, I forgot you couldn't see me. Hold on."

"The dust must be getting to me," Sarafina concluded with a scare in her voice.

"Don't be so overdramatic!" The sound of a pop like a balloon bursting filled the air, and there before Sarafina stood a man no bigger than her shoe with black leathery wing laying across his back. "What did you expect a chorus of angels?"

"I must be hallucinating."

"No you're not. You have just never scene a witch's elf before."

"Witch's Elf?"

"Specifically your grandmother's elf."

"My grandmother was not a witch."

"Now who is believing in fairy stories now? You, my sweet, are the granddaughter of not only a witch, but a neutral witch. This shop is the equivalent to a country store in the magical world. This shop is the only really safe place in the world."

Sarafina plopped down onto the floor and landed on her butt with a thud. She stared at the creature with disbelief and awe. Her brain was just not processing the information.

"Your grandmother sold items to both good and bad magic, and she was off limits to both. No battles anywhere near her shop, her house in the back, or her person." The creature's wings flutters delicately as he surveyed the shop. "Boy, you let this place go to pot, didn't you? "

He waved his hands about dramatically in the air, and then clapped. The tiny handclap roared through the room, and echoed like distant thunder. A flash of brilliantly white light blinded Sarafina, and when she was able to see again the room was clean and pristine.

"Now that is much better," the elf exclaimed with a huge smile of accomplishment.

"I don't understand, "she stammered, " I don't understand any of this."

"I know, dear, but you will."

"So all this stuff in this shop are..."

"Magical items to be bought and sold to magical beings, and you are the new shopkeeper."

The shocked look on Sarafina's face said more than any word could. She stood up, and straightened herself out in an effort to regain her confidence.

"No I am not the new shopkeeper. I am going to clean this place up, and sell it or something. I have dreams. I have hope. I have a future ahead of me." She looked to the elf and realized he was not fooled "Okay, I have no idea what I am going to do with my life, but I'm nineteen. I am young. I have loads of time to figure out the rest of my life."

"Of course you do, missy. Look, it is not at all bad. There are many wonderful things in this shop. Here let me show you round."

The elf started to fly down the aisle with Sarafina close behind him.

"It all looks like junk."

"Oh, this is not junk, sweetie. Take this pencil for instance." He picked up a pencil out of a box of pencils on one of the shelves." This unimportant item is guaranteed to bring great wealth."

"In a pig's eye."

"No pig's eyes are only to be used for mating rituals. This pencil is one precious object. See here." Without much flair the elf unceremoniously tapped the pencil on the shelf making a penny appear with hear tap. "See a tool to wealth."

"Those are pennies."

"So"

"You can't get rich off pennies."

"That's what you think. Take a look over here." The elf flew across the shop and landed on a crocheted tablecloth with many small clocks. "Pick a clock"

Sarafina walks over to where the elf landed and looked carefully at the clocks. She picked up a small brass wind-up clock and handed it to the elf.

"A very good choice. This clock sublimates brass when you wind it up."

"What the heck does that mean?"

"Don't you children ever read anymore. Language is going the way of the dinosaur. Sublimates means that it goes from being a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid."

"What good does that do?

"Those nice brass statues are not all statues. Some are prisons for beings that should never be free. This clock can help place them in those prisons, or it can set them free. This is a powerful magical object."

Sarafina picked up a pair of glasses on a nearby shelf. "What about these?" she asks.

"Those tricky little devils stop all forms of combustions. While you are wearing them, fire will flee from you. Cars with a combustion engine will not work, and guns will not fire. It is a very handy item to have."

The two continued the walking tour of the shop. Elf answered all of Sarafina's questions. Her curiosity bloomed as they talked.

"Now there is a useless thing if you ask me, " elf continued as he pointed to an umbrella.

"It's just an umbrella."

"Yes, but the umbrella makes people think they know you. I guess it's a good thing if you are shy, but other than that useless."

" Why didn't my grandmother ever tell me anything about this shop, about what she, and who she was? I feel like I didn't know her at all." She slumped against the wall. "Why didn't she tell me?"

The Witches Elf came and sat beside her. He could understand her feelings. So much had been hidden, and now this young girl was to be in charge or a complicated and pivotal place in the magical world. He had to help her just as he had helped her grandmother.

"Look, sweetie," he placed his hand on Sarafina's shoulder, "Your grandmother loved you very much. She meant to introduce you to all of this when you were ready. Your mother didn't let her when you were younger." Sarafina looked at the elf with interest, as he took out a coin from his jacket pocket. "This is for you. Do you remember those stories about the magic shop and those who shopped in it?" Sarafina nodded her head. "She was telling you about this place. Put this in your mouth, and remember her tucking you in. Go ahead. It's not going to hurt you."

Sarafina took the coin and placed it on her tongue. The memory of those stories came back so vividly that she thought it was playing out before her. Then the images came through clearer and she realized her memory was before her like a play with no sound. Sarafina spat out the coin.

"This coin makes your memories come back to life, but only for a short time. As long as the quarter is in your mouth."

Sarafina placed the coin back in her mouth, her younger self danced across the room, and she saw her grandmother laughing and clapping. She took the coin out of her mouth.

"I guess this is where I belong," she told the elf. She looked at the elf with a new respect. "Are you going to help me with," her arms pointed all around," all of this?"

"I will never leave your side. I promised that to your grandmother."

Sarafina lifted herself off the floor and brushed off the seat of her pants. "Well, I don't feel much like a boss, so we are going to have to be partners." She held her hand out to the elf who took it gladly. "Well what do I call you? I am sure 'hey you' is not going to work."

"I am Frack. I have a twin named Frick who will be along in a day or so."

"I am Sarafina, Frack, but most people call me Sara. As someone or other famous said 'I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.' Come on. Hop in the car, and we can get a burger and a shake while you tell me more about the shop."

"You've got a deal."

They walked as friends into the bight sunshine outside the shop. To Sarafina the future was not as muddy as it once was.