The Amethyst Emporium

Prologue

There are some places which all notice. These advertise themselves and push for customers. They’re just there to be heard, they don’t care about their quality. The Amethyst Emporium is the opposite. The Amethyst Emporium lurks in the shadows. In fact, no-one ever pays attention and that’s how they like it, a peaceful place for the owner and her animals to live.

Even though you’d think the midnight bricks stood out from the neon pinks and yellows in the rest of Shimmer Street it seemed to the owner that people just walked straight through her shop. Even though, the enticing smell of freshly baked bread hovered outside the shop, no-one smelt it; it was as if it were a ghost. Even though the shimmering amethyst at the front door glimmered all year round, it was as if she never made it. And no one ever entered.

No-one lifted their eyes to the dust-covered building of The Amethyst Emporium. They didn’t see or feel the Amethyst Emporium therefore no-one ever entered. No-one until the 29th of February 1988 when Emma opened the gem-filled door.

Chapter 1 – The Book of Amethyst Amazement

Emma had always been mischievous and adventurous, and when her twelfth birthday came, on the 29th of February, she was allowed out alone onto the streets of London. She then stumbled into shimmer street, where she found one building that stood out from the neon pinks and yellows, that filled the area nearby. There were people that walked straight through and acted like they couldn’t see it, but when Emma approached she was sure it was real and not an allusion. She opened the sparkling door and stepped through the gap.

Wherever she looked she was awestruck. The shop was full of intriguing items: bookshelves packed to brim, cages with captured canaries that have forgotten the world outside and even a corner full of food. It was when she looked back towards the door that she glanced a golden book. She stepped towards it and realised it had no name! “How bizarre!” Thought Emma.

“Hey! What are you doing with my book of amethyst amazement?” Exclaimed the Owner angrily. “I am Chelsea and I run the amethyst emporium. I have only ever seen people walk through my shop, I am so delighted!”