Mischief Night Magic
Sequel to
Cemetery Shenanigans
Part Four: Basic Supplies

Dollar General's are ubiquitous to small southern towns. If a settlement can support a hundred families, then you're sure to find a Dollar General there. In Benton, you have only three real places to shop. If you're looking to buy fresh meat, fresh produce and fill your pantry then you're going to go to the Sunflower Food Store. If you're looking for something special, say local specialty goods then you're going to hit up Potter's Mercantile. For everything else there is also Dollar General.

Dollar General is your one stop shop for everything from toothpaste to oil for your lawnmower. Also going to one is an adventure within itself as normally the stock sits on the floor. Also shopping at one can be a hazard to one's health as the isles are often crowded with buggies of stock, and littered with boxes. Anyway it seemed that Dollar General would be our first stop.

Now Benton has two Dollar Generals, the first one was located at the end of Main Street, which was a slightly bigger and upscale Dollar General. That was called a Dollar General Plus and carried a bit of fresh meat and a bit of fresh produce. And since that was the closest one to us, that was the one that Gwendoline and I decided to stop at first.

Now this was the first time I'd been out and about in full garb. So I was more than a little scared as Gwendoline pulled into the parking lot. She turned off the engine of her car and turned around and smiled at me. I noticed her smiling at me, and without thinking I reached up and wrapped a loose strand of my hair around my fingers. Her smile widened into a grin as she watched me play with my hair. Finally after a few minutes I could not take it anymore.

“Something the matter?” I asked as I turned away from my new found big sister. I could see my own reflection in the mirror above me, the face that peered back at me was not of a teenage boy. But of a teenage girl, a heart shaped face framed with strands of brown hair. Ones whose lips have been painted a light pink color and who's cheek bones seemed to glow like roses.

“You ready?” She said as she turned toward the shop. “Are you ready to take the first big step into womanhood?” She said as she hugged the steering wheel. She paused and then turned around. Her full attention was on me. “Are you ready to show the world who you are inside?”

I blinked and looked down at myself. It was hard to believe how I started that morning. This morning I wore an almost thread bare flannel shirt that was coming apart at the sleeves, a pair of fading jeans and a pair of old cowboy boots. You know your average run of the middle work clothes. That was this morning, it was now early afternoon and I was now wearing a nice, red woolen skirt, a white blouse, and a cream colored sweater for warmth and some really nice leather boots. And I'm not ashamed to say the lacy bra and panties that Gwendoline lent me made me feel more feminine than I could have ever hoped for.

“Yes.” I said after waiting a few moments.

“Cool. Oh and this is just a test run. Black Friday, you and I are so going to hit up the malls. I mean it, Friday we are going to launch an all out attack on Northpark. Then you are going to spend the night with me, we are going to regroup and Saturday you and I are going to attack Metro in full force.” She said with a wicked little grin. “It's going to be balls to the walls, shop til you drop, hunt them deals madness. And girl you are going to love it, trust me, once you taste the thrill of the hunt, there no turning back.”

I tilted my head to the side and peered toward Gwendoline. It seemed to me she was speaking in riddles. Gwendoline clearly saw the confusion on my face and taking a deep breath she sighed. If this was an anime, which sometimes I'm sure it is. A little white cloud would have appeared as she breathed out her frustrations.

“Okay. Heather girl. Here's the thing. You need a whole new wardrobe. And sure you can get some deals with the resale shops around here. But.. sometimes it's fun to spend hours just roaming around the mall looking for deals. Plus if you shop smart, which I do. You can get some good deals. And also, you need to learn how to shop. How to hunt out the best deals. How to stretch your money. And as your new big sister it's my duty to teach you how to get the most bang for your buck. Starting now.”

I blinked.

“Yep, see if you're going to spend the night with me, you need to have your own stuff. I mean I can't have you using my shampoo, my razor blades and my hairbrush all the time. And also you need your own deodorant. Because right now, and no it's not that noticeable, but you kind of smell like sweat. I mean you smell like soap too. And your hair smells nice, and the only reason I notice it is because I'm so close to you. But its a faint musty scent that needs some attention. Plus, like at the dance, you don't want to start dancing and flirting with a cute boy and when he goes for a kiss, he catches the winds of your sour smelling armpits. Major turn off. Or turn on depending on the boy..”

My face twisted in confusion.

“Listen. I'm just saying I've had some pretty weird boyfriends before. Like okay one boy instead of wanting to see pictures of my boobs, wanted me to send him pictures of my feet. Like he wanted to rub them and lick them and suck them. It was weird and we broke up after three or four dates. He was also bad in the sack and the only way he could get it up was if he could touch my feet.” Gwendoline shuttered a little.

“Oh.. My.. God..” I said jumping out of the car. “I'm going to pretend I did not hear that!” I said and then I noticed I was standing in the parking lot, and nobody was giving me a second glance. Nobody even seemed to notice my little outburst. I looked over to my right and noticed Gwendoline smiling a little as she peered at me.

“If your done being a little drama princess. We really need to get this show on the road.”

And I agreed with her. And with that we walked into the store. And the sight that greeted us was pure bedlam. The store looked like a tornado had blown through there. Boxes of unopened stock lay scattered about. And it seemed only one poor, confused guy was working. And judging by the look on his face he had no idea where to start. Poor guy, if I was him I would have thrown my hands up in the air and walked off. Anyway he seemed like the only one working.

“...” I blinked and turned toward Gwendoline. “You know, we could just go to the Sunflower Food Store ?” I suggested.

“NO! We're here and damn I'm going to find some Halloween candy if it's the last thing I do!”
Walking across the sales floor of a Dollar General is like walking across a battlefield, one that is littered with boxes and discharged stock. It's like digging for buried treasure, or searching through the ruins of a once great city. But despite my protest, Gwendoline was dead set on spending her money here. At last, we stumbled upon the Halloween section. And much to Gwendoline's relief she found her treasure trove of Halloween candy.

And she dove on it. I swear she brought out the whole display.

“Be sure to check the date. It could be from last Halloween.” I said as I stood there, looking at the rack of cheap costumes. I shuddered at the thought of wearing one of those to my first dance.

Gwendoline looked at me and for a second I thought she was going to chew me out, till she flipped the package over and looked at the date. After checking to see if the stuff was still good she tossed the bags into our shopping cart, or should I say buggy. Now the buggies at Dollar General were painted this bright yellow color and most were chipped and broken up. Ours seemed to be the newest of the lot. I'm sure that soon some kid would steal the thing. Or somebody would take it and use it as a make-shift wheelbarrow.

“Okay, now we need to head to the personal health aisle that should be toward the far side of the store.” Gwendoline said as she looked up in a vain attempt to read the signs.

“Keyword there sis 'Should be'.” I said as I took a deep breath. “Like everything in this disorderly, disorganized store. Nothing will ever be where it's supposed to be.”

Gwendoline sighed and nodded her head.

“Also we need to get you a new nightgown. I can't keep lending you clothes.” Gwendoline said as she wrapped her fingers around the buggy and started to steer it out of the crowded Halloween isle.

I must confess that I admired Gwendoline's driving skill as she navigated the crowded isle that was littered with boxes, and products. The isle's were narrow with hardly any room to turn around in. Finally though we found the personal health section. I was amazed at the sheer amount of beauty products they carried most seemed aimed toward tween, or teenage girls.

“Okay shampoo.” Gwendoline said as she reached up and tossed a bottle of unscented shampoo into the buggy. “Razor blades.” She tossed a pack of six pink disposable, plastic razor blades into the buggy. “Shaving cream.” She tossed three bottles of shaving cream into the buggy as well.

While all this was going on, I just stood there watching and blinking. Then something drew my attention toward one of the plastic bottles. It was a bright rainbow colored bottle and the picture on front of the bottle was that of a majestic looking unicorn. Without thinking I reached up and tossed two of the bottles into the buggy. Gwendoline blinked and without skipping a beat said.

“Okay that takes care of deodorant. Now we need it.” She picked up a wooden hairbrush and tossed it into the buggy. “A hairbrush.” She said as she checked off another item from the shopping list she had stashed in her mind. “And some hair ties. Always gotta have some hair ties.” She said as she tossed in a bundle of hair ties. “You can never, and I mean ever, have too many hair ties.”

I nodded my head. It seemed there was a lot more to being a girl than I thought.
“Okay that's enough to get us started. I'll let you use some of my make-up at home for the dance. But soon enough we'll need to get you a basic make-up kit. Cause if I'm right and I'm normally right about these types of things, you'll soon prove popular with the guys.”

I rolled my eyes at the last comment. I mean up till now I've gone the whole of my life, some fifteen years or so without even going on a date. Much less attended any kind of dance. But all that was about to change it seemed.

“Don't roll those pretty little eyes at me Heather.” Gwendoline said in a scolding tone of voice. “Or else you might find yourself going over my knee right here and now. And I mean that, I know teenage girls can be sassy little things. But remember, I'm your big sister. And I also control the purse strings too.” She added as she added a few more things to the buggy.

“Yes ma'am.” I said without thinking as I watched Gwendoline add more items to the buggy. “Also who's going to pay for all of this?” I asked as I watched her wheeled the buggy toward the clothing section that was located just in front of the check stands. Only one of the check stands seemed open and standing behind the cash register was a board looking teenager. One glance at her face told you she wanted to go somewhere else.

“I'll going to buy this stuff and your costume from Spirit. And maybe your first bra and matching panty set from Victorian Secretes. I strongly suggest you get your first brat from panty set from there. And that you let them measure you. You can also get some really nice scents from there.” Gwendoline paused. “Bra shopping is something girls do together because well you'll see. Let's just say there a nasty rumor going around about some weirdo who's stalking the mall. Like on one of my Facebook groups I'm part of. Somebody said some girl got raped in the movie theater behind the mall. So I'm going to be with you a lot. Safety in numbers and stuff. Plus I'm the only one with a valid drivers license.”

I nodded my head. Well after that little bit of talk Gwendoline picked out a nice, soft fleece nightgown for me, some socks, and a few extra pairs of underwear. Then we waited, and waited, a line that circled halfway around the store had formed while we had been shopping. And with only one register open, the line only seemed to inch forward every few minutes. At long last though it was our turn.

It was pushing five when Gwendoline and I left Dollar General. Gwendoline looked tired and so was I. But we still had one more stop to make. And with that in mind we loaded up Gwendoline's car and headed out for our next stop. Spirit of Halloween.