a bad sign

The long, white, seemed to somehow get closer together as they carried his view forward. The building had once been full of screaming kids and struggling parents. The kids wanted the right toy, the food not a focus till the toy was checked. The tantrums seemed to move around the room as more young customers opened their boxes, dug through the food to see what moulded plastic laid at the bottom.

The store had still not learned to give every kid the same, so every child seemed to want what every other child wanted. Some enterprising parents traded toys until their kids were sated. Others formed queues to demand or beg the staff to change.

As he walked slowly forward he say a couple of plastic farm animals on the floor, nearly covered by dust and mouse droppings. He remembered many years back demanding the right toy from his dad, then years later his kids did the same.

Today it was him, the plastic animals and some hidden mice. The only noise was his heavy breathing and the storm outside. When the rain started he had only meant to hide under the shops awning, he only ended up inside the building because the door wasn't locked. In fact he only found this out as he leant against the door it swung open and he actually entered head first. The heavy breathing was due to the shock and running for the shelter.

The main bits of the furniture had been removed, any bits that had been attached still remained. Greasy cookers, greasy counters and greasy signs remained. It was strange for this to be dark as well as quiet. The storm rumbled on so he decided to try and find somewhere to make himself comfy. A mix of streetlights and lightning flashes allowed him enough light to head towards the back of the shop.

The white walls nearer the back brought his focus to a door and a switch. The door was a mystery as it didn't appear to lead anywhere, the light switch was also a puzzle as it was in the middle of an otherwise clear wall. The electric box was on another wall, the swich for the lights were labelled and at the other end of the store.

He had heard a few times about mystery switches being in older houses, often with no obvious use. There were occasionally servant switches , where the servant in the house used the switch to light the way as their master returned to the house. Otherwise he couldnt work out what it was for. He presumed that the switch was on a back wall, not near either door and not connected to the lights.

He tried to find the nerve to try the swich, just to see what happened. If he heard or smelt something bad he would just flick the switch back to its original place. In fact the first time he considered a quick flick on and off, just as a precaution. Nagging at the back of his mind was the possible risk, would he trigger sparks from elderly electric cables, would he trigger a fire from a dust filled heater.

In fact the longer he took to decide the longer the list of possible calamity's increased. He checked the back door, to see if it was a viable escape route. As he found it locked he went to check the front door, it remained open to the elements. Next was a check for fire fighting equipment, there was none. He noticed a measuring jug in the kitchen sink, no good if the water wasn't connected.

A mixture of boredom and desperation to find out got him standing, staring at the switches. In fact he was so engrossed the latest lighting flash made him jump. He had a quick talk to himself, flexed his fingers, took a deep breath and flicked the switch down then quickly up again.

There was no bang, no smell of fire or indeed anything else. Nothing appeared to have changed from the time he entered until now. Next time he pushed the switch down , counted to 5 and pushed it back. Again nothing happened, at least not that he knew of.

He decided next time to flick the switch, and quickly search to see if anything was different. of course the switch could have been for something that had been removed, maybe for something no longer enjoying a working electric connection. The switch was lowered, again no fire , smoke or loud noises. He searched, he smelt and listened, not a single thing was different.

With a mix of disappointment and realisation he was never going to know what the single switch non the wall was for. As he completed his checks and realised as well as not hearing any bangs he didn't hear rain. He walked out into the muggy night, desperate to get home. He had pretty much forgot the switch mystery , once he was outside the mystery turned to nothing. He looked around the door as he left and still nothing new.

As he headed to bed he was surprised to smell burning, he checked his home and found nothing. He then saw blue light whizzing by , he presumed to the location of the fiery aroma.

The daily news program reported the fire the next morning, in a building previously used to serve burgers to screaming kids. They reported the uilding had long since stopped trading. The chief fire officer reported a neighbour of the building had told them the fire had started on the roof. He had said he had noticed the massive neon sig flick on and off a couple of times , earlier that evening. Then the sign stayed on, before a bang and a small fire became a large fire.

As the building had been abandoned for so long nobody could explain why the sign suddenly came back to life after so many years.