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The sun beat down on Astrid’s back as she ambled down the street. It was hot and sunny outside, the way she liked it. Just down the lane, a new book shop had sprung up on the corner. As she got closer, she saw the only thing in the widow was a large sign that read, “Adventurers Wanted: Apply Inside.” Figuring it was only an advertisement for a new book series, she walked past without a second thought. She glanced back to see the name of the shop, and the sign had changed! It now read, “Adventurers in High Demand: PLEASE Apply Inside.” She walked over to check and see if the sign was electric or something, but it looked wooden, as if the letters had been burned into the light grain of the wood. On a whim, she pushed the door open to ask about it.
The interior of the shop was completely different from what she expected. Books lay everywhere, overfilling the floor to ceiling shelves and sprouting in stacks from the floor like saplings. It looked as if the store had been here for half a century, not a week. A little old man sat at a desk in the center of the room busily shuffling through papers. She walked through the mire of books to the desk. The man didn’t notice her approach, so she quietly cleared her throat. The man startled, dropping the quill he was writing with.
Before he could say anything, Astrid said, “Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to ask about the sign in the window.”
The man’s eyes snapped to her face. He had small round glasses perched on the end of his nose. He looked her up and down, not in a creepy way, but almost… measuring.
“Were you now?” said the little old man. “That is quite unusual.”
He stood up suddenly and thrust his small hand over the desk. “The name’s Mr. Clutter, and I can think of an adventure that's leaving soon that would be perfect for you.”
Astrid reluctantly shook Mr. Clutter’s hand. The old man seemed nice, but she wasn’t quite sure she wanted him selling her any ‘adventures’ ...whatever that meant.
“Actually, I was just asking about your sign, it changed when I looked at it, but it’s not electric. How does it work?
The old man cackled- threw his head back and cackled-“Why, my dear- er whats your name?”
“Uh, Astrid, Astrid Palmer.” she answered, startled at the sudden subject change.
“Well Ms. Palmer, you’ll be delighted to know that my sign runs on magic.” Mr. Clutter said, wiping tears of laughter out of his eyes.
A chill swept up Astrid’s spine. Magic? she thought, that was for books and movies. It wasn’t real.
Mr. Clutter snapped back into business mode, and pulled several papers out of his desk and picked up his quill. “Now, just a few standard questions before I call Alex and Arconn.”
Before she could ask who they were, he launched into his questions.
“Do you believe in dragons, unicorns, centaurs, fairies, pixies….” The list went on and on for almost a full minute before Mr. Clutter looked at her expectantly.
“Uhhhh,” was all Astrid could say.
“Great! I’ll check ‘yes’ on that one. Now, do you have a problem traveling with female adventurers? You’re a girl yourself, so I’ll check ‘no’ on that one.”
Mr. Clutter carried on, reading questions and answering them for her for a good while, so she looked around the shop again. Some of the books on the shelves were leather bound, and covered in strange writing. She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, and whirled around to discover a broom sweeping the floor on its own. The broom noticed her, and froze against a wall.
Mr. Clutter’s voice got louder, and she tuned back in to hear him say, “Now, just one last question, ‘Is this your first adventure?’ Of course it is, that’s why you’re scared of my broom.” He checked one last box and rolled up the scroll. He held it up slightly, and it disappeared into thin air!
“Alex should be here soon,” said Mr. Clutter. “Feel free to look around.” And to all appearances he went back to shuffling papers.
Astrid knew she should leave, but she was intrigued. How had that scroll disappeared?
Before she could make her mind up, a popping noise sounded from a back room, and a voice called out, “Mr. Clutter? I got your scroll!” A tall and lanky man stepped out from the room. He looked to be about three years older than Astrid’s seventeen, had sandy blond hair a few shades lighter than her dark blond hair, and was dressed very strangely. He looked like he was from a medieval town; he was dressed in tall, leather riding boots, and a tunic- like shirt, and a jeweled sword hung from his belt. But strangest of all, he was holding the scroll that Astrid had just seen disappear from Mr. Clutter’s hand.
“You must be Astrid,” the boy said. “My name’s Alex. I know this must all seem strange, but Arconn and I will explain everything to you.” He extended a strong, callused hand for her to shake, and lead her to a back room followed by Mr. Clutter. In the back room there were comfortable chairs and a table set with tea and biscuits. Across the room, gazing out of a window that showed a deep green forest, not the back alley it should have, stood a tall man dressed in the same way as Alex was. He turned his head, and his long brown hair moved, revealing long, pointed ears.
The room spun, Astrid had never fainted before, but she thought she might now, so she lurched to a seat and took a swallow of the tea there. The elf sat down across from her and set about making his tea in a business-like manner. Astrid took a deep breath. It was all real, all the fairytales and legends, all of the books she read had at least a grain of truth in them now, instead of being just a fantasy. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
Alex took another scroll and laid it on the table in front of her.
“It may seem crazy to you, Astrid,” he said kindly, “but you have been chosen to go on an adventure. Only true adventurers may walk through the door to Mr. Clutter’s bookshop, and you did.”
“But I don’t know the first thing about adventures!” was the first thing that leapt from her mouth. Astrid knew she should be politely declining the invitation and heading on her way, but she wanted this to be real.
The elf spoke for the first time, and his voice was lilting, almost musical, “The rest of the company will certainly help you learn our ways, and I’m sure Alex will stand good on your supplies.”
“Supplies?” she asked.
“Well, you can’t go on an adventure wearing that,” Alex said with an easygoing smile, “you’d stick out almost as much as we do here.”
Astrid glanced down at her clothes, shorts, vans, normal t-shirt, nothing especially strange. But she nodded.
“Alright,” she said, “when do we start?”
Arconn, the elf, laughed, and it was even more beautiful than his voice.
“We may start with the signing of the Adventurer’s Bargain, and then we will be on to Corus. I will advise you not to worry about being missed in this world, you will find that time moves differently in Corus and the lands around it.”
“What’s the Adventurer's Bargain?” asked Astrid.
Mr. Clutter spoke up from the window, which now showed a large village. “She’s got an eye for this,” he said to Alex. Turning to her, the little man said, “The Adventurer’s Bargain simply states that you will do all you can for the company and everything in your power to help the mission become a success.”
That seemed reasonable to Astrid, so she took a quill from Alex and signed her name in her best cursive at the bottom of the scroll.
Alex rolled up the scroll and tucked it away.
“Now on to Corus to get you supplied for our journey,” he said with a smile.
Going to the window, he tapped the glass three times, and the view changed to a busy medieval-looking town.
“Mr. Clutter, I’d like to thank you again for all your help.”
The old man waved the thanks away with a smile.
Arconn opened the window and stepped through. Alex gestured for her to do the same. Astrid took a deep breath and muttered, “I’m going on an adventure,” in her best Bilbo Baggins impression.
Just before she was sucked into the portal and into darkness, she heard Alex say, “Tolkien quotes. Awesome.”