As I’m walking to Helga’s store, it starts to snow.
I’ve always thought that Christmas snow is good luck. So my mood lifts considerably as the tiny white snowflakes land on the shoulders of my coat and my sky-blue beanie. This is an omen—I’m sure of it.
Helga’s Attic is about ten blocks away from the diner. It’s a small, nondescript store that I might have walked past a dozen times in the last couple of years. The inside is dark, and for a moment, I’m certain I misunderstood that old woman, and she meant I should come back after the holidays, but then a light goes on inside the store. I try the door, and it opens.
This store is like nothing I have ever seen before. It almost looks like an antique store, but it’s full of smaller items, ranging from the commonplace to the bizarre. Helga is nowhere to be seen, so I take a moment to browse. The shelf right in front of me contains a picture frame, a ceramic vase that has foreign-looking markings on it, and a skull.
My gaze lingers on the skull. Based on the size, it looks to be a human skull. Is it a replica? A remnant dug up from an ancient burial site? What is this woman doing with a human skull?
Maybe I don’t want to know.
A loud sound from the back startles me, and I jump away from the skull. A second later, Helga shuffles out, wearing a billowy dress. As soon as she sees me, she smiles, her lips completely vanishing into the hole of her mouth.
“Stella, is it?” she says.
Did I tell her my name? I don’t remember telling her, but she must have overheard Bessie saying it. “Yes.”
She places her fingertips together. “So you wish to purchase a Christmas present for your husband?”
I nod eagerly. “You said you might accept a trade, and I have a necklace that I think is worth a good amount.”
“Very good, then. Let me show you some items he might enjoy.”
The temperature is below freezing outside, but it’s very warm in Helga’s store. So warm that when she leads me deeper into the store, sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. I pull off my hat and stuff it into my
pocket. I don’t know why it’s so hot in here, especially with the large windows. It’s almost as if the items in the store are radiating heat.
“This is a very interesting gift.” Helga plucks something off a shelf that almost looks like a hand, but it’s covered in fur. “Sven acquired it during a trip to India.”
“What is it?”
“It is a monkey’s paw,” she says. “The man who sold it to my husband told him that the paw would grant three wishes to the owner.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh really?”
“This could be… quite lucrative.”
“Or how about I trade my necklace for some magic beans?” Helga’s lips twitch. “Very well. Let us keep looking then.”
The next item she pulls off the shelf is a doll. This antique item is about two feet tall, wearing a pink dress with lace trim, with a bow tie around her waist. Her frozen plastic face smiles up at me. “What about this Talking Tina doll? It belonged to my daughter.”
Before I can protest, she pulls a string in the back. A child-like voice says, “My name is Talking Tina, and I love you very much!”
I stare at Helga. “I told you that my husband is a grown man, right?
Why on earth would he want a talking doll?”
She shrugs. “I do not understand what young people like. For a little while, every man who came to my store only wanted to buy toy ponies. Rainbow Dash this, Pinkie Pie that. I do not judge. If you are a grown man and want a pony, I will sell you a pony.”
“My husband does not want a toy pony, and he does not want a doll.” I press my lips together. “I would really like to get home. If you don’t have anything—”
“Wait.”
I follow Helga’s path as she shuffles across the shop to a small desk at the other end. When she’s behind the desk, she rummages around in one of the drawers. Finally, she pulls out a gleaming silver chain.
“This is a very nice item,” she says.
It is indeed exquisite. The shine of it catches the light overhead, no matter which way you turn it. “What is it, exactly?”
“It is a pocket watch chain.”
My breath catches in my throat. One of Justin’s prized possessions is a pocket watch that his father gave him before he died. Like the chain, it is
sterling silver, and Justin always brags that it keeps perfect time and will probably be around long after he and I are gone.
He loves that pocket watch. I’m not saying that he loves the watch more than he loves me, but if there were a fire, and he could only save me or the watch… well, hopefully, it won’t come down to that.
In any case, this gift is absolutely perfect. Way better than anything I could have gotten at the dollar store. I can tell by how heavy it is that it’s expensive, and Justin will realize how much I love him when I give it to him at midnight.
“I love it,” I say. “It’s perfect.”
Her lips quirk up. She has smiled at me a few times, but I have never seen any teeth in her mouth. I’m wondering if she has any. “I thought it might be.”
I reach inside my T-shirt and dig out the necklace with the heart pendant on it. It was a gift from my aunt and uncle, but I don’t have much of an attachment to it. I’m happy to part with it to get this chain for Justin.
I lay the necklace on the desk in front of Helga. She picks it up, her cloudy eyes inspecting the links—God knows how she can see anything with those obscured pupils, though. She takes her time, examining it with surprisingly steady hands. Finally, she lays it back down on the table.
“How much for the necklace?” I ask. “One dollar,” she says.
My mouth drops open. “One dollar? Are you serious? That was a graduation gift.”
“Cheap graduation gift,” she sneers. “Cheap material, all the gems fake. Worth nothing. Not even a dollar.”
Great. Thanks for nothing, Aunt Jean and Uncle Howard.
“I don’t think I have anything else,” I say helplessly. “How much is the watch chain, anyway?”
Helga taps on a little white tag I hadn’t noticed that is stuck to the chain. I turn it over to look at the price, and my heart sinks. Oh well. I guess Justin isn’t getting a watch chain for Christmas.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “There’s no way I can afford that.”
The elderly woman shakes her head. “I told you. We can make a trade.”
“I have nothing else to trade.”
“You have one thing.” A smile creeps across her lips. “You have very beautiful hair, my dear.”
Instinctively, I reach for my silky blond locks, still pinned behind my head. “Thank you.”
“Did I tell you I also make and sell wigs in this store?”
Helga points to the corner of the store, and sure enough, there is an assortment of exquisitely beautiful wigs, mounted on plastic heads. I’ve worn wigs a couple of times to costume parties, but nothing like that. These look incredibly realistic.
“Very nice,” I say. “But what does that—” Oh. Oh. Oh my God.
“No.” I back away from the desk. “I’m sorry, but no. No way. That’s… out of the question.”
“Is it though?” “Yes.”
“Think about it, Stella.” Helga comes around the side of the desk. “Hair grows back. Hair is fleeting. But your husband—he will remember this Christmas for the rest of your lives. Your first Christmas together. And you come home with nothing?” Her lips curl in disgust. “How can you build a life together based on that? He will always resent you.”
“I’ll get him something else then,” I say desperately. “What about that picture frame? Or the creepy monkey hand thingy?”
“You can afford nothing in this store,” she hisses at me. “The only way you will leave here with a gift for your husband who you love so much is to make this trade.”
My knees buckle. Every bone in my body is screaming out that this is the wrong thing to do. And yet…
I can’t come home tonight with nothing. She’s right—he will never forget it. And knowing Justin, I’m certain he has something amazing for me.
And hair does grow back, right?
