Green Door Antique Store

Chapter 5: The Basement

Green Door Antique Store: What’s that Secret You’re Keeping?

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Chapter Five: The Basement

I stepped off the last step onto the concrete basement floor and stared at the expanse of the basement as the other nine women joined me. There really were few words to describe the rows upon rows of antiques. Signs hung from the ceiling designating the era of the antiques. There were four eras in the four corners of the basement area: 1800s, Early 1900s, Mid 1900s, and late 1900s.

Did the late 1900s even qualify as antiques?

The center of the basement had been set up as a sitting area with several couches and chairs. On the table in the center of the sitting areas, there were notepads, pens, magazines, water bottles, and snacks. There was also a stack of diagrams of the layout of the main floor—with names and the colors from the paint chips.

Thyme also left a note: “You might want to take a bit of time to think of the theme for your booth! You will have until dinner today and all day Saturday to set up. We will rest on Sunday in preparation for opening again on Monday.”

Looking around at the other women I realized that my own life of unexpected plot twists was going to take this in stride much better than some others. Katelynn had collapsed in one of the chairs and the others had gathered around her. Karyn picked up one of the magazines from the table and used it as a fan. Grabbing one of the water bottles that Thyme had left for us on the table I walked over to the group.

“Here, Katelynn, you should probably drink some water and we all need to take a deep breath.” I wasn’t sure some of the women knew how to breathe under stress like this, but as I began to breathe deeply the others saw the wisdom of it and began to follow my lead.

“Why are we even going along with this? This is crazy.” It was Evelynn. She wasn’t wrong about the craziness of it all. There just didn’t seem to be any other option.

Jayne seemed to have the same feelings said, “I agree that this is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me and trust me there have been quite a few. But there doesn’t seem to be another option.”

Looking at the diagram more closely, I realized the color names on the chips might give us ideas. Thinking it might distract everyone, I said, “Let’s put the colors in a pile! I have never seen so many colors in one building!”

Crystal, who had waited for the others to throw their chips on the table, began laughing. “I agree it is crazy, but my booth is going to be Plum Perfect! I am kind of excited to go scrounge around in here. I think yellow items would really stand out in the booth so I am going to start with yellow as a color theme and see where it goes.”

It was as if Crystal’s enthusiasm had thrown a rock in the center of the pond of despair. Several sat down in the chairs and began looking for inspiration in the magazines that Thyme had left on the table. Several others began to walk through the rows looking for inspiration—pulling one of the Red Flyer wagons that had been conveniently left at the bottom of the stairs.

I had an idea for my booth and set off for the corner of the basement designated as mid-1900s. I wondered what I would find. . .

To Be Continued . . .