Today's dream: Free shop, free things, and heritage whales (Part 1): Hunger, craving, and a peculiar shop

Background image from HK SSP 荔枝角 Lai Chi Kok 美孚站 Mei Foo MTR Station passageway shop OKASHI Land December 2023 R12S via Picryl. (CC0 public domain image)

 

I rarely have dreams. If I do it'll be some bizarre dreams that even I cannot explain how or why.

This (hopefully two-part) short story is inspired from a rather recent dream, alongside slightly modified based on a long forgotten old writing prompt from a friend. Enjoy the ride. I guess.

This short story probably can double as a side story + world building for the currently in indefinite hiatus Project Dream Hero I guess...?

Side note: I was trying to finish it within a week, but completing the back part is getting increasingly hard the more I write this (and it's already more than one month of me writing this on and off), so I decided to cut a portion of the completed story and publish as Part 1 while I get the back parts completed and release it all in (hopefully just) Part 2.

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It's yet another usual day of "meet supervisor, lunch, wander around, maimai with Poyo till night, wantan mee, go home" day like any other day: Barely any progress on my Masters project progress, landed a few more 1 Miss-tys while having some bad laughs with Poyo, enjoyed a plate of wantan mee with Poyo at our usual wantan mee place at Kampung Selamat, and parted ways after dinner... It's just another regular outing day for me. 

... probably not today.

As I am walking towards the fare gates of the MRT station, I suddenly had the sudden urge of wanting to chomp on something... Which this is unusual, given I just had a nice plate of wantan mee a short while back.

Conveniently, my usually silent (unless prompted) virtual assistant, Misty, that is watching my surroundings through my glasses, pinged me with a quick voice note:

"Your vitals show that you seemed to started getting hungry again...? Weird, you did had a really good serving of wantan mee moments earlier... But oh well give me a moment... The usual convenience store at the station will be closing soon, can go there and grab something... And wait... A new shop...? ...where it conveniently sells food too...? Double weird..."

"Do they sell bread?" Exactly the first question I asked Misty back upon hearing this. Somehow, "bread" was the first thing that came in my mind on my "What should I get to chomp on?" question for the suddenly-got-hungry me.

"It's a mart-kind of shop, so pretty likely there's bread in there... But things just doesn't add up: This shop sprouted out of nowhere, there are no records of it at all when I checked back records back in the morning when we walked past the same place... And with the station closing for the day soon enough, this shop still isn't showing any signs of closing... That's a triple, and a quadruple weird, since the station is closing in an hour or two. You sure you want to check that out?"

Misty was right on this. The attachments she flung up to the small screens of my glasses were solid proofs that the shop was just... There. A shop that just appeared out of nowhere, and neither me, or the (so-called) all-seeing Misty noticed it on her radars or maps...

At the same time, that urge of "I want some bread" somehow evolves into an itch, the "no matter how you scratch it, it won't go away" kind.

I need bread. It's no longer "I want bread" anymore.

"Owner Override: Show the way, I don't care how sketchy this is." Something snapped in me, the desperation finally got the best of me. I am aware there is another safe option, the usual convenience store I normally go and probably pick up a pack of bread and munch it all down while waiting for the train to come (please don't do this, and yes, I'm setting a bad example according to the Train Etiquette handbook), but something feels like pulling me there instead. And I do know activating the Owner Override was not the greatest and brightest idea, and I know Misty is (and always) doing this for our own good, but this very desperation easily overpowered whatever persuasion Misty had to stop me from it.

"Owner Override... *sigh* Guess it can't be helped. Gentle reminder, I am not liable to whatever your choices are from this point onwards. I'm will be following whatever your order is... Just don't blame me for any of your bad decisions moving forward."

Misty let out a deep sigh, despite being a digital entity that doesn't even breathe. She knew this better than me: The amount of times Owner Override was activated were countable with just two hands, and most of the times it never ended up well... Since most of them are just me activating it in desperation and without thinking of consequences.

With Owner Override enforced, Misty lead the way once we got out of the fare gates of the MRT station without question. She lead me towards a used-to-be empty shop lot, just beside the fare gates for the train station of the same building. The once empty shop lot was there since the station renovated to accommodate both the regular trains and the then newly built MRT service... Instead of a shuttered, silent emptiness, a peculiar shop with an image of the price tag on the shop's signboard, alongside with the wording "FREE" in the price tag image appears there instead. For being a shop like this, there are quite some weird points on hindsight: The signage has basically that price tag image and nothing else. No info of shop ownership, no other labels... Simply said, a shop with a signboard that does not follow the city council's signboard specifications at all, yet, at the same time having the ability to set up this seemingly supermarket-sized shop while (probably) not being detected by the local council at all...

"You hungry?" A voice from inside the shop got me (and Misty) startled. As both of us were (still) in awe over the multiple impossibilities this very shop arises for the past 5 minutes, both of us somehow landed yet another 1 Miss-ty for the day: The existence of the shopkeeper himself. Upon close look, an old timer, probably in the 60s (probably older, who knows), sitting at the counter, staring and doing nothing, while awaiting for the next customer to arrive, and has an obvious "We're not closing shop soon!" face.

"It looks like you're getting hungry. Come on in, grab some food. It's free." The old timer continues.

"Sir, something feels very very off. Let's lea—"

"I understand your concerns, young lady." The old timer suddenly interrupted Misty, as if he detected the presence of Misty, which is almost impossible for almost any ordinary human, given the communication gadgets I used to communicate with Misty, odds of sound leakages, people around me detecting her, and even hearing Misty's voice are just astronomically low... That is unless someone got really close and personal to me... Which both of us were caught off guard from this, given there is quite a distance between my face and the old timer's ears.

"Worry not, young lad. I bear no harmful intent. Bring along the young lady and get something good for both of you... It's all free."

"But... Free? Uncle, you sure about it?" Despite Misty got really happy about the fact that she got recognized without getting questioned from such a distance, she instantly snapped back to her skeptical self the moment the old timer throws out yet another point of impossibility this shop is giving out.

"Need not to worry about those little details, young lady. I am the shopkeeper after all, so naturally, I am the one that set the rules for this very shop, just go in, get stuff you need or want, and bring it back to the counter... Not a hard task, as long you read and understand that."

The old timer pointed at a large but slightly discoloured poster, with the word "RULES" printed largely on the top, alongside with some peculiar rules probably no ordinary shop has:

- All things are given out for free.

- Item descriptions give more than enough information you need, including expiry date in the case of foodstuff.

- For foodstuff, items are arranged according to expiry date. Refer to shelf labels for more information.

- Once taken, considered sold. No exchanges, no returns, no refunds, and no afterthoughts allowed. Please bring taken items to the front counter before you leave for verification purposes.

- You are watched at all times.

- Upon taking an item, you agree to follow the rules, and agree to be held accountable to any consequences should you disobey any of the rules stated.

- Do not let greed swallow you.

It's indeed a weird list of house rules this "supermarket" had set. The main highlight was really the "Do not let greed swallow you." line, printed large and in bold. Sounded concerning, but what could even go wrong inside a supermarket to begin with? Getting swallowed whole by a human-sized pitcher plant?

"Should be an easy shopping run for you two. If you're fine with the rules, drop your bags over here. I'll safeguard them well for now. Also, the entrance is over there, the young lady will get navigations inside once both of you got in..."

"And yes," the old timer took a quick pause. "Please check the map if you're in doubt... *sigh* I don't want yet another lost customer..." The old timer gives out probably the final briefing for now as he points to a standard, unidirectional supermarket turnstile.

"Thank you uncle, we'll have a look inside." Misty wearily thanked the old timer on behalf of me, knowing entering the shop (or supermarket?) is going to be inevitable. From the outside, it looks like a regular shop alright, but the rules of the very shop, as well all the various impossibilities and "coincidences" we encountered prior, red flag alerts are probably blaring left and right from Misty's risk management modules... And I believe she just decided to ignore all of those, knowing fully that even if she decided to follow all the stipulated SOPs she sworn on, her foolish owner might just pull out yet another Owner Override to veto whatever is on my way just to shut her up.

A notification pops up on the glasses' screen.

"Oh, it's from Uncle. It's the directory for the shop... And it's... Unusually very large for a shop-in-a-station... Well, whatever. Sir. Let's go."

 

... to be continued in Part 2.