Aallotar [Good Omens]

Two - The Bookshop

Olly could feel the tip of her nose tingling and her fingers numbing. As much as she loved the rain, it made her quite cold.

There on a street corner, she stood shivering in her red raincoat. Many people had stood there before her and many would after. One time, someone proposed to their girlfriend at that very spot (and she, unbelievably, said "yes"). Someone else ran into their long-lost sibling and became best friends almost instantly. Another found that there, in fact, was more candy at the bottom of the carton! Long story short, that street corner was abundant with luck and love, and it affected any passerby-er. However, Olly did not know that. She also didn't know what laid beyond the doors of the corner building that stood before her. And she mostly certainly didn't know that it was going to make her life in London so much more interesting.

Olly scratched her hood and gazed up at the building, her eyes squinting against the rain.

"'A.Z. and Co.'" she read aloud. She shifted to the right and read the wording on the side of the building. "'Antiquarian and Unusual Books.'" Books--that sold her. It was finally time to get out of the rain. She stepped forward but stopped when something caught her eye. There, by her feet, was a coin. She bent down to inspect it. It was a penny. I thought there weren't any pennies in London. She picked it up. It was older and its shine had long since vanished. On one side, in bold letters, it read "ONE CENT". Olly flipped the coin and froze. Beneath the drawing of a bald eagle was the date: 1857. This thing's 100% copper! If this thing's a proof specimen, it can be worth as much as ten thousand dollars. Olly highly doubted that though due to the rareness of such pennies. She smiled to her self and pocketed the coin anyway. It would do nicely in her coin collection. It must have been her lucky day.

Olly approached the door and peaked inside through the glass panes. The shop was entirely vacant but equally mesmerizing. She could see piles of books placed in any place that could hold their capacity, and she wanted more than anything to explore the unknown of the mysterious library. She wondered why no one was there. People were crazy if they passed up the chance to enter such a bookshop! Or maybe the shop was closed. That never occurred to Olly. But, no, it was open; the sign on the door said so. Beside the sign in the neighboring window pane was a letter concerning the bookshop's hours. It was quite long. Olly prepared herself.

"'I open the shop on most weekdays about 9:30 or perhaps 10 am. While occasionally I open as early as 8, I have been known not to open until 1, except on Tuesday. I tend to close about 3:30 pm, or earlier if something needs tending to. However, I might occasionally keep the shop open until 8 or 9 at night, you never know when you might need some light reading--' oh, dear Lord."

Olly paused to inhale the necessary oxygen that surrounded her. She contemplated on whether to read the rest of the letter or not. In the end, she just skipped to the bottom.

"'A.Z. Fell, Bookseller."

Unsure of what to think, Olly just stood there for a while. Cars passed behind her. People chattered. A bird made someone's day worse elsewhere.

Well, the sign says "open"...

Olly shrugged and pushed the door. With not even a foot inside of the shop, she was hit with the lovely, crisp smell of books. Immediately, she felt at home. Warmth spread throughout her body from her toes to the strands of her wavy hair. Images of her old room flashed before her eyes. She could feel the brush of her mother's hugs and the tickle of her father's beard. The farther she walked into the shop, the clearer her parents became until, all of sudden, she was at the door of her father's study. Wall to wall, there were shelves of his precious novels (some of which he had written). Sun streamed in through the open windows, and glowing dust danced around her. Her father sat behind his desk with a pen in hand and coffee in the other. He looked tired. Olly remembered this moment: she was nearly nine, and her father was working endlessly to meet his publisher's demands. She felt horrible for him, because she knew his creativity could not be rushed. Her father grinned when he noticed her.

"Come here, darling," he spoke in his English accent. It always made Olly giggle. She stood beside him as he turned and placed both hands on her shoulders. "You know I love you, right?"

She nodded.

He stared deep into her eyes. If she was lucky, she could see the deep valleys in his hazel irises as they glistened in the sun. She smiled. Her heart burst with joy.

"All of my stories," he began, "they are for you. Every letter of every word. Every page of every book. All of it for you."

At the time, Olly was unsure of what her father was trying to say or why. In a way, she still was. He opened his desk drawer and retrieved a plain, sage colored book.

"I wrote this story when we adopted you," he said. Olly gently picked the book up and opened the cover. "Flip to the next page," he urged. "Read it to me."

"'This book is d-ded-dedi--,'" she stuttered.

"'Dedicated,'" he whispered. She spoke slowly as an attempt to keep the words from jumping off the page.

"'This book is dedicated to my daughter, Aallotar--' that's me!" she exclaimed. "'You were given to us by God. In your name, He craf-crafted the water be-beneath your toes and the rain that falls upon your skin. You are the force that g-guides us to shore. Aallotar--The Lady of the Waves.'"

Her father gently closed the book.

"You are destined for greatness, Aallotar," he said. Olly traced her fingers along the lines of the bold cover title. "With God as my witness, you will be fantastic!"

"Aziraphale! Where are you, you blasted angel?!"

Caught up in the euphoria, Olly hadn't heard the shop door open. She was pulled back to reality with harsh yank, and she crept toward the commotion.

"Aziraphale! I've heard word from Hell! Something is happening!" The voice faded as the producer ran farther into the shop.

I should probably leave, she figured. Just as she made her way to the front door, the man ran down the stairs.

"Hey!"

Unsure of what to do, Olly froze.