Caiman's bazaar (standard:horror, 2083 words)
Author: Lev821	Added: Jan 23 2012	Views/Reads: 3241/2086	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
In a shop with no-one behind the counter, don't be tempted to steal, because here's why.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

said we would”. Hugh saw that she was serious, took a sip of his 
coffee, and began reading his paper. 

They stepped out in the blazing heat and the children pointed at an
ice-cream van. “Dad, ice-cream”. “You can't have ice-cream for 
breakfast”. “Course they can” said Miriam, handing them a five-pound 
note. They dashed off and their parents began walking along the road, 
passing various shops which were of no real interest. They came to a 
hole-in-the-wall café with a few empty tables and chairs on the 
pavement. “Breakfast”, said Miriam, crossing over and ordering herself 
egg on toast and black coffee. 

Hugh watched as the children wandered onto the beach with their
ice-creams. A few other youngsters were already out playing, and Roy 
and Jake went across to join them. “Look at that. They've made 
friends,” he said, “Are you seeing that?” he asked, concerned. Miriam 
didn't seem interested. “So? There's nothing wrong” she said. “Nothing 
wrong! What if they're bad kids? You know, bad influences. I might have 
a word with their parents, you know, suss them out, see what the score 
is”. “What d'you mean ‘see what the score is?' They're kids having fun 
on the beach, that's all”. He didn't want to argue, they'd done enough 
of that these past few months, and he knew she didn't either, but 
sometimes it was hard to avoid. However, he kept his calm, and ten 
minutes later they were walking along the pavement again, along the 
shops. 

Miriam slowed down when they came to what was the largest shop they had
seen so far. ‘Caiman's bazaar'. She stopped and looked in the window at 
Victorian and ragged dolls, and earthenware pottery and stationary. “I 
think this is the type of shop that sells everything ,” Hugh said, 
walking on, but Miriam looked in at the rest of the shop, and walked 
though the already open entrance. Hugh sighed, and followed her in. 

The place was certainly big, but also the type of place where you had to
be careful where you walked for fear of knocking anything. There were 
paperweights, gloves, children's trikes, binoculars, fishing rods, 
footballs, paintings, toys; something for everyone. “Yes,” said Hugh, 
“You name it they got it”. “Look at these,” said Miriam, walking to the 
back. “Jewellery”. “Cheap trinkets,” her husband replied, not even 
looking at them, standing beneath a lazy turning fan on the ceiling. 

There was quite a display, most of them on a small counter and on little
stands on shelves. “No,” said Miriam, “They're not. Look at this. 
Diamond rings. Crystal brooches”. Hugh walked across and stared at the 
array of glittering fashion accessories. “A Gold cubic zirconia 
bracelet watch” Hugh said to himself. “A hundred and fifty quid”. 
“White gold earrings, £70 pounds”, said Miriam. Hugh simply stood there 
looking at them. He leaned in close to his wife and whispered. “I bet 
it would be easy to pocket some of these”. He glanced towards the 
counter, and saw that there was nobody there. “No way,” he said, 
“No-one behind the counter. No cameras, and no curved mirrors in the 
corners. What do you say? We borrow a few of these”. “No, we're on 
holiday, and we're not thieves”. Hugh walked around the shop, and saw 
that there really was nobody else there. He ended up at the counter, 
looking at a plastic looking caiman crocodile on the counter, curled 
around a blue ceramic bowl. A note was wedged between them: ‘The 
honesty Caiman. Please leave the money for anything you buy in the 
bowl. Thanks'. He saw there were notes and coins in the bowl. “Can you 
believe this place?” he said, shaking his head “Have you seen this?” He 
pointed to the bowl. Miriam walked across. “Why don't you take those 
earrings?” he asked without expecting a reply. “I think I'll have that 
watch”. “No, come on, we're not thieves remember?” Hugh walked back 
across to the jewellery, and Miriam joined him. “Tell me you're not 
tempted” he said, and her silence and the look on her face told him she 
was. He took the watch and put it in his pocket, then a few bracelets 
and rings. Miriam took the earrings, and many other items. “We'd better 
leave enough so as not to look suspicious” said Hugh, but when they had 
finished stuffing their pockets, it looked a whole lot emptier. “Let's 
go,” said Miriam. Hugh bypassed the counter and took a twenty pound 
note from the bowl. “Who's to know?” he said. As they left, what they 
didn't see was that the Caiman had turned its head to look at them. 

“We can't stay here,” Hugh said, walking quickly back towards the hotel,
his eyes darting around to see if they'd been spotted. He'd been in 
similar situations before. However, he saw that he had been spotted, by 
many people, as those in the nearby vicinity had stopped what they were 
doing and were simply staring at them. “They know,” said Miriam, “I 
knew I shouldn't have listened to you”. “Maybe not,” said Hugh, slowing 
down, but still heading towards the hotel. Everybody they could see was 
looking at them. The ice-cream man and the small queue, an elderly 
couple who were just getting out of a car, and somebody in a nearby b+b 
with the net curtain pulled back. “Let's get the kids,” he said, and 
turned and headed onto the beach, Miriam following. A pleasant breeze 
swept over them, and a few seagulls circled overhead, the sun still 
unrelenting in its heat. A few more yachts had appeared in the 
distance, and the water's edge gently lapped at the sand. 

All the children that had been playing had stopped to stare, including
Roy and Jake. “Come on we're going” said Miriam holding out her hand, 
but then all the people seemed to converge around them. They stopped 
what they were doing to come onto the beach, and soon they were 
surrounded, trapped. 

“What's this?” asked Hugh, trying and failing to remain calm. Nobody
said anything, but it was then that they felt a strange burning 
sensation inside their clothes and they realised that the stolen items 
were becoming hotter, singeing their skin and causing flames to eat 
into the material. They yelled and tried to pat down the growing fire, 
but the items melted into their muscles and bones, and the fabric of 
their clothes fuelled the flames as it spread around them. They flailed 
around, screaming, but they burned and liquefied, coming together as 
one fire, the people watching with interest, some craning their necks 
over others to watch, and pushing and shoving to get a good view. 

The fire, however, didn't stop or burn itself out as a normal fire
would. It continued, the flesh burning away, the bones blazing and 
black. Ashes billowed into the air, the bones flaking away, and after a 
while, they too were gone, and the fire burned out, leaving nothing but 
the stolen items seemingly untouched by the heat on the sand. 

The crowd slowly started to disperse, and one man shook his head at the
stolen goods. He'd seen this many times before, and stopped to gather 
them up. He then headed back to Caiman's bazaar to put them back on the 
shelves. Roy and Jake went back to playing with the other children, 
happy in their new home. 


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