Pushene Cigarettes

[The Commissioner]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 475px; margin-top: 10px; background-color: #0E869C, true] PUSHENE CIGARETTES

THE BEST CIGARS FROM ALL AROUND

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 455px; margin-top: 10px; color: BABABA, true] Shady people tend to congregate here for their cigars and the occasional illegal drugs to elevate themselves. There is also rumored to be an underground organ smuggling circle... that's only a rumor.

By Captain of BTN and OTE

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS Pushing the heavy door slowly Wilhelm entered the ever-familiar shop. He breathes a heavy sigh and run his left hand to brush his gelled hair, realizing a second too late that he just ruined the perfectly groomed hair. "... and I just fixed it..." Leaving the matter behind, he walks further inside the shop, relieved himself with the strong smell of tobacco mixed with embers and some aromatic fragrance. He then glances to his right, where shelves full of packed tobacco stand. Today was not his monthly tobacco purchasing day – that would be next week - , but last week he was under so much pressure from work he accidentally used up his entire batch. After realizing that, he tried to hold the craving for several days to no avail. Promising himself over and over that this was a one-time occasion and won’t happen again, Wilhelm decided to buy a new patch. Standing in front of a shelf, his hand starts trailing each pack, trying to find his usual blend. It was sheer luck he find this shop. The tobacco blend he favored are quite complex, before finding it in this shop, Wilhelm has to buy the ingredient separately and mixed it himself, and that consume a lot of money. Now that he finally found this particular blend, he can enjoy his favorite tobacco with half of the previous cost. He takes one yellow-wrapped pack from the shelf and examined it. Virginia Tobacco blended with Cavendish, Latakia, and Clove. He then put the patch to his nose and smells it; distinctly inhale the unique aroma of the mixture, authentic. People call it the ‘Widecombe’, from the seemingly ghost-town in England with same name, only God knows why they call it that. After smelling it, Wilhelm held the batch in his hand, jiggle it a little to feel its weight. His scowl returns when he remembers his blunder last week. But no time for regret now, tomorrow he have to do some ‘errands’ so he just wants to go home early today. The place is surprisingly empty. Usually at least one or two patrons were inside browsing around the shelves. “Excuse me.” He went to the counter, but nobody sitting there. “Excuse me, anybody here?” made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[Joselle]

MOD - Claudia

A young, lanky girl, perhaps around nine, with dirty blonde hair, a pale complexion, thin lips, and sunken yet brilliant blue eyes quickly darted behind the counter from the back room. Small for her age and awfully thin, she pushed a little crate and stood up on it to face the customer.

Her expression was grim as she stared at him mutely. In those blue eyes was the emotion of muted fear.

"Hello..."

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS A distinct sound of footsteps is heard from the door leading to the back room of the shop, and Wilhelm saw a tiny figure comes up. This tiny figure, revealed to be a little girl around the age of 9 or 10, put a wooden crate from below the counter and climb up on it. She stands up awkwardly and almost falls several times before finally going steady in her feet. Her expression was stoic, but there’s a little bit of fear in her small, round eyes. "Hello..." Wilhelm stares at the girl after she said the short greeting. His mind can’t comprehend for a second, and when he comes back to his senses, he gave the girl an indifferent look. “Your grandpa is out again?” he looks around the shop trying to find the lanky old man that usually tend the counter. “And he left you here alone?” Wilhelm didn’t know what to do at this moment… made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[Joselle]

MOD - Claudia

The girl blinked. "My... grandpa?" She spoke with an uneasy tone. Caudia looked puzzled, uncertain on what to say. In the end, after a couple of short seconds, she gave him a slow nod.

"I am alone. How... can I help you. Mister?"

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS More awkward moment passed before the child speaks again. Now what to do? Here he have an empty shop with just a little girl, Sounds so creepy and wrong. He just want his tobacco plain and simple, and he didn't have time for this. "Look, just this once okay, can you operate the cash register? I want to buy this." He put the tobacco patch and a £10 bill on the table. He sure hope so, because if the girl can't do it then he wont get the change. "And next time, don't wandering around this place without your grandparent" made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[Joselle]

Claudia

The girl nodded slowly as she looked down at the money on the counter. She set a frail hand on it and then slid it closer to her. When she lifted it up, her hand began to tremble.

She looked up, her eyes glossed with tears. "You've... got to help me." Claudia begged. "Please mister... I am... afraid."

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS He wait patiently for the girl to give him the change, after all even though he’s on hurry, he can’t insist or scare the little girl to fasten her pace, it was not appropriate for an adult to do that to children. But when the girl took the money with trembling hands, Wilhelm start getting impatient. Suddenly the girl looks up, her eyes glisten with tears. Wilhelm felt his brow furrowed. "You've... got to help me." The little girl begged. "Please mister... I am... afraid." “Afraid of what?” he asks, deliberately lowering his voice least someone eavesdrop their conversation. His instinct suddenly flared up and his paranoia surfaced. Something really unusual has happens here and Wilhelm blame himself for not noticing it until now. “What happen?” he said again with a more gentle voice, head lowered to the girl’s height so he can hear her reply more clearly. Out of the corner of his eyes, he scanned his surrounding for anything suspicious. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[Joselle]

Claudia

Her tiny fingers curled into a trembling fist as she protectively set both hands over her heart, as if she was protecting it. "They... took my sister away." She sobbed quietly, stifling more tears. "Those men took her away with my mom. They took them away... and... papa hasn't been home for three days."

The pain was too hard to be contained. She had been trying to be strong for too long. Therefore, she wept before this stranger. "I'm sorry... mister." Claudia whimpered as she wiped her eyes with her ragged sleeve.

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[atrb=style, background-color: #1A1A1A; border-radius: 35px;] YOU ONLY GOT ONE LIFE TO LEAD SO DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE LITTLE THINGS His frown goes depper when hearing the girl’s (he needs to ask for her name) story. Her sister and mother are taken away? Who’s taking them? Why they were in a cigarette store on the first place? Why she was left alone here? And his father is also missing. Too many question rose from the girl’s story. He didn’t have time to deal with some kidnapping drama, but he also can’t let a child alone in the store. Hell he can’t let a child alone in this neighborhood. Anything terrible can happen to her! He cursed his ‘big-brother’ instinct that suddenly kicked in. “Okay, what is your…” before Wilhelm finished his sentence, he saw the little girl cried and wiped her tears with her sleeve. “Hey, no tears okay, I’m not mad” he –tried- to console the crying girl. “What is your name little girl?” he asked with gentler voice. The girl remind himself to his younger sister when she was little. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[Joselle]

Claudia

Claudia's tears died down to hiccups. She swallowed when he reassured her that he wasn't mad; in response, she gave him a couple of quick nods. Relaxation only really kicked in when he spoke to her in a gentler tone.

"M-My name..." She began as she looked at him with her glossy eyes. "Name... is Claudia."

The girl sniffled as she inputted the money into the system. The girl slid over his change on top of the pack of cigarettes. Though she did not want him to leave, she knew she had no power over his decisions. Instead, she just stood there vacantly, pleading him silently once more with just an empty stare.