Chapter Five

Meanwhile, Back at the Shop

Right after the shop opened, the chalkboard sign changed from We Are Here to, simply,

ARE YOU?

As it always did.

Are you?

This stopped passersby in their tracks.

Am I what?

Here, I think. The sign said We Are Here, before.

Well, of course I’m here! Where else would I be?

Others just gaped.

Are You? Are You?

Am I?

One man stared at the sign for a whole minute, and then shouted, “Yes! Yes I am!”, and then ran home, quit his job, and started a cat rescue.

Are You?

Most people thought the sign was simply clever, clever enough to stop people in their tracks, clever enough to make some of them want to go check out the store behind the sign, to peruse the treasures within.

Good marketing! people said.

It wasn’t, really. Getting potential customers into Treasure Hunters was just a happy accident. And it didn’t always work—there are cities where people put their heads down and scurry away in the face of probing questions like Are you?

But, once again, the sign was not for them.

Still all the passersby were right, and I could have told them so. The sign meant both Are you here? and Are you?

Are you here? Are you still alive? Are you well? Are you paying attention?

Are you?