Eat That Up, It's Good For You [OPEN]

by **Loundexx** Tue Jun 02, 2015 11:09 pm

|||||The sun shone its face valiantly down the little man-made alley of 42nd street, creating a brilliant sunburst that only the earliest of risers would get to see. Shopkeepers were beginning to turn on their neon signs, and the streets were filling slowly with the automobiles of those whose jobs demanded their early presence. Save for the exceptional beauty of today's sunrise, the day seemed as any other Friday in Roa city, save the tiniest of punctuations pushing his little wooden kiosk across the sidewalk, setting it down with a rustle on the concrete and opening his shop.

|||||A hundred years is a very long time,
|||||Ho, yes, ho!
|||||A hundred years is a very long time,
|||||A hundred years ago

|||||The man in question was old, with white hair combed up into a messy pompadour and a salt and pepper beard to match, and a hardened body that kept up despite it's age presumably by pushing a cart across Maquina all year long. As he set his mobile shop down on its wheels and opened the sides to reveal all manner of goods, he whistled a sailor's tune from long ago, 'when the seas were for sailing, and the scent of oil on the beaches didn't sicken.'

|||||They used to think that pigs could fly
|||||Ho, yes, ho!
|||||I don't believe it, no, not I.
|||||A hundred years ago.

|||||He slipped off his leather jacket, revealing two sleeves of dark tattoos in a rich navy blue ink, subject matter all of the ocean- the octopus that stole his harpoon one day, the sea shell he gave his wife on their 25th anniversary, and the barnacles he scraped of the hull every week before the plastic beaches killed them before the ship could dock- an entire history on his arms, poking through faintly blonde hairs. He wondered softly mid verse if his regular customers would arrive today- he only showed up with his kiosk once a year, but he could never forget the especially lively ones that stopped by each time he did, chatting him up by the road side while he hocked snake oil to curious passersby.

|||||They thought he moon was made of cheese.
|||||Ho, yes, ho!
|||||You can believe it if you please.
|||||A hundred years ago.

|||||From the bottom of the shop's shelves he realigned bottles full of mysterious black and green liquids, bags full of herbs, various pieces of clothing-- and his pet ball python who climbed into arms and was promptly hefted up to the roof of the shop to sunbathe. He wasn't rightly sure if it was the travelling that knocked everything down, or if Fleder got a little rowdy when he was cooped up- either way, he learned his lesson about keeping elixirs and drinks in glass anymore. Luckily, the plastic kind was in huge supply, and it gave him a hobby of designing little labels for his various creations.

|||||They thought the stars were set a-light,
|||||Ho, yes, ho!
|||||By some good angel every night,
|||||A hundred years ago.

|||||The old man pulled a folding stool out from the depths of his stall, pulling it open with a jerk and setting it down on the sidewalk beside the shop, slowly resting himself. He reached over to a small cord dangling from the top of his cart and yanked it, causing two boards on either side to shoot up from the top, startling the fat snake as he was lifted into the air. On each board was painted in vibrant colors, Dr. Loundexx's Amazing Elixirs! in a font reminescent of the wild west days.

|||||They hung a man for making steam,
|||||They cast his body in the stream.
|||||A hundred years ago.

|||||Who Dr. Loundexx was, well.. that changed from town to town. It was a good opportunity for the master of disguises to try out new things, but for this town... well, they always liked how the sailor persona looked. He was quite handsome, wasn't he?

|||||A hundred years is a very long time,
|||||Ho, yes, ho!
|||||A hundred years is a very long time,
|||||A hundred years ago.