The Curiosity Shop

This week's Prompt: Antique Shop, Glasses, Canal.

Josh walked into the curiosity shop, hearing a ding-dong. Looking up above his head, he saw a bell attached to the door, which made him smile. After closing the door, he looked around. He observed shelves filled with all sorts of things; some he recognised, while others were a mystery to him. To the right was a chest of drawers, on top of which was a bust of a Roman legionary, next to a box containing a railway track, a train engine, and three carriages.

          “Can I help you?” a rough-sounding voice asked.

“Erm, just looking, thanks,” Josh looked at the old man behind the counter, his hair was thinning on top, but he could see it was combed into a bun at the back, “you got some good things here” Josh thought he had to say something as the man kept looking at him.

“Erm. I'm just going in the back if you need any help, shout.”

“Cheers, I will,” Josh gave him a thumbs up as the man walked through a door.

Turning towards a rack of shelves, the first thing that caught his attention was a pair of glasses, wrapped in an old newspaper, the headline was ‘Family perish in boat fire, and a passerby dies of his injuries trying to save them. Josh picked them up, blew the dust off, and then turned them around in his fingers. Opening them up, on the inside of the right arm was a name, ‘H J Barrowspoon'.

“I wonder if that’s the maker’s or the wearer's name.” Josh held the glasses in both hands, looking through the lenses at some writing on the wall. It was a bit blurred, so he moved them closer. Something was happening. His fingers started to tingle. It was like the last time he had pins and needles, then his hands were shaking. It was moving up his arms, then his hands were moving closer to his face. He couldn’t stop them. He tried pushing his hands away, but the force was too strong.

He could see something in the lenses, an image coming into focus, “Oh God, what's happening to me?”

Still pushing and trying to move his head away, it felt like an invisible force pulling his head towards the glasses. He couldn’t stop it. He closed his eyes. The arms slid over his ears; they were on. Josh kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see.

Then a feeling of ease came over him, as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could smell lavender, apple blossom, and cinnamon. He felt light and thought he was floating. Holding onto a bookcase, he opened his eyes.

It took a few seconds to focus; it was strange, he wasn’t in the shop anymore, he was on a towpath alongside a canal. A pleasure cruiser motored past, the tug, tug, tug of the engine made him stop and watch. Then Josh thought, hang on, what is happening? It was as if he was watching through someone else’s eyes. I don't remember being on a canal, then a man walked towards me.

“Hi, Mr Barrowspoon,” he said.

Without thinking, I answered, “Morning, George. How’s the wife?”  Then I thought, how did I know his name, and how did I know he had a wife?”

This was very strange, how did I get here, I thought. The last thing I remember was that I was in a curiosity shop on the high street. I opened a pair of glasses, then a strange force pulled them towards my head, and now I'm here on a towpath and someone thinks I'm Mr Barrowspoon. Who is Mr Barrowspoon? I stopped near a narrowboat and smiled.

“Morning, Love,” Josh stood and listened. “Is that you?” a voice came from inside the boat.

Once again, without thinking, Josh answered, “Yes, it’s me” He climbed aboard and walked down the small set of stairs to a woman standing by a stove, stirring something in a pot.

“It’s your favourite,” she said, smiling.

She was beautiful, with fiery red hair, green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, and her accent told him she came from Ireland. I, or Mr Barrowspoon, walked towards her, pulled her close, and they kissed.

“I hear on the news we have a storm coming our way,” Ola said, releasing herself from his grip and moving back in front of the stove.

“Yes, I have been told. We'd better bring everything inside tonight,” Josh started to think, What the hell was going on? Am I inside another man, living his life, I’m saying things I know nothing about,

The narrowboat started to rock from side to side. “Looks like the storm has already started,” Ola said, holding on to a handrail that ran down one side. Mr Barrowspoon stood up quickly and jumped up the three stairs to the stern. Another boat was passing, and Mr Barrowspoon sensed something was wrong. He braced himself against the hull to get a better look, and he could see smoke and flames inside the boat. “Ola, get the fire extinguisher.

Josh was thinking What the hell, what am I doing? I’m no hero, calm down, Mr Barrowspoon.

Mr Barrowspoon didn’t hear, but Josh did; he jumped across onto the other boat and kicked in the door. Flames and smoke came bellowing out. Ola threw him the extinguisher; he flipped the top and started spraying the white foam. While walking down the stairs. He could hear screaming and shouting. When he reached the first door, it wouldn’t open. He kicked it, but it still wouldn’t open. The smoke was getting to him, and he was coughing and being sick. He tried again, but the door wouldn’t open.

Josh was watching all this like a bad dream. He could hear someone behind the door. The body he was in wasn’t strong enough to kick it in; his breathing was getting shallow, his limbs were getting weak, and he was about to collapse.

So, it was up to me to take over. Josh put all his strength into it, and the door opened on the second kick. Inside were a couple with a child. Josh grabbed the child and shouted, “Come on, follow me” The couple stood up following, the thick black smoke was running along the roof of the boat; it was trying to get out the same door the couple and the body of Mr Barrowspoon, holding the child.

Mr. Barrowspoon’s body was failing, but Josh kept encouraging him. The couple managed to get out first. A fire engine had arrived, the firefighters were hosing down the boat, and a ladder had been placed from his across to the one he was trying to escape from, with the help of the firefighters. Sitting on the grass, his wife Ola came over to comfort him. “You saved that couple and their child, Mr. Barrowspoon, you are my Hero.” She hugged him so tightly his glasses fell off.

Josh felt something hit him like a gust of wind, his eyes opened, and he was back in the shop holding the glasses, “What the hell just happened”  he looked around, yep, still in the shop, he looked through the glasses again, they were clear glass, he put them om, nothing, then he saw the old newspaper, it had changed, ‘Passerby saved family of three from boat fire’