ELIXIR

ELIXIR

By Peter Woodgate

It had been a long hot night and Jimmy Smith had found himself walking the streets at 4am looking for a breeze.

Bloody heat, he murmured to himself, as he continued slowly along the deserted high street. Jimmy was down on his luck; he had lost his job, his house, his girlfriend and right now was in danger of losing his sanity.

    The unusually long spell of hot weather had shrivelled almost everything in sight including poor Jimmy’s brains. His worries had kept him awake at night and the heat just compounded the situation.

There has to be something better, he thought to himself, as he started to cross a narrow alley leading off the high street. He wouldn’t normally have given it a second glance but a sudden gust of cool air wafted over his gaunt features. Jimmy glanced at the sign and read the rather odd name, S’NATAS STREET in unusually bold letters. Strange, he thought; don’t remember seeing this street before, mind you, (his thoughts continued) if it hadn’t been for the breeze I probably would have missed it again. The cool breeze continued to envelop him in a sense of relief and he turned left, into the alley, to investigate further.

    Feeling quite refreshed, Jimmy’s step had changed from a plod to a reasonable gait and, before long, he spotted a neon sign.

“What the Hell, “he muttered, don’t tell me shops are open all bloody night. Jimmy looked at the sign and read the bold red letters. “Leave your troubles here before 6am and pick them up freshly cleaned by midnight.”

What a strange place, Jimmy’s head was spinning, am I dreaming this he thought.

    He stepped into the open doorway and the cold air exploded into his face as Jimmy heard a voice from the shadow at the back of the room.

“Greetings friend, what troubles are you leaving with me today?”  Jimmy was speechless for a moment but found himself inexplicably blurting out all his problems.

The shape in the shadows listened intently as he explained all his grievances, one by one.

     As he finished he suddenly became aware of what he had done and felt rather foolish. “What the Hell,” he blurted out, “look, thanks for listening pal but I must be off.”

     “Wait,” came the reply from the shadows, “come back between 10pm and midnight and all your troubles will have been solved.” Jimmy felt embarrassed now.

“Ok mate,” he mumbled as he stepped through the doorway and back into the alley.    The heat hit him like a steam iron and he immediately started sweating. So much for my troubles, he thought to himself.

    Jimmy’s day was crap, no luck at the jobcentre, not a decent meal inside him and the bloody heat bore on. He was watching an episode of Big Brother that evening, bored out of his skull when he suddenly thought about the strange place in the alley. Shortly after, he found himself trudging down the high road, looking for S’natas Street.

What am I doing, he thought, as he spied the sign. He entered the alley, there was no cool breeze this time. He looked at his watch, it showed 9.55pm.

    This has got to be crazy, he thought, as he wandered down the Street. There were no neon signs showing and Jimmy was about to return to the high street when a light blinked, once, then twice, before finally remaining lit. He read the bold red letters again, his heart thumping as he stepped through the doorway, the cool breeze hitting him once more.

    “Ah, I see you have returned, “whispered the voice at the back of the room.” Jimmy peered through the gloom, but could not make out anything except a shadow in the enveloping darkness.

“Your troubles have all been sorted,” whispered the shadow, “but;” there was an eerie silence before the shadow continued, “there will be a cost for this service.”

“Wh… what do I have to pay,” stammered Jimmy, not quite believing what he had heard.

“Just come back here in one month’s time and should you not be completely satisfied then you will not have to pay a penny. If you are completely satisfied I will inform you of the cost. Do you agree?” Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was hearing and thought, well, it probably won’t happen anyway, so I won’t owe anything. “Ok,” he agreed as he smiled to himself.

“Don’t forget what you have agreed,” whispered the voice, as Jimmy, once again, stepped out into the alley.

    The air now felt cooler and fresher and as he reached his flat he was amazed to find his girlfriend sitting on the step. She had decided that the grass wasn’t greener and had returned to support Jimmy through thick and thin. The following day he received a letter from his old firm, the markets had taken a turn for the better and they were offering him his job back, with a salary increase. Within a couple of weeks, Jimmy had commenced the paperwork to secure a mortgage, allowing him to regain the house that had been repossessed.  Even the weather had relented and was back to rain and more rain, with an occasional dry spell.

    Things just couldn’t be better for Jimmy as he walked down the high street late one evening. It had been a month since his visit to the strange shop in the alley; in fact, he had completely forgotten about it as he hurried on, umbrella held high against the driving rain. He was going to meet his girlfriend, whose shift at the hospital finished at 10pm. They were to have a few drinks to celebrate the turnaround in their fortunes and Jimmy was smiling as he started to cross the side street. Something made him look at the name; there it was in bold letters, S’natas Street.

    The memory came flooding back and he found himself walking down the alley, even though he did not want to. Sure enough, there it was the sign with bold red letters.

He entered the doorway, his heart racing.

 “Welcome” sighed the voice from the shadows, “you have come to pay your dues.”

“Y Y Yes” stammered Jimmy, feeling most uneasy and impatient to be on his way. “How much do I owe?” Jimmy began sweating profusely despite the cool atmosphere.

“Here, young man, open the box in front of you, it will reveal what you owe.”

    A white glove extended from the darkness, a key dangling from the outstretched forefinger. Jimmy took the key, nervously, and started to push it into the lock of the gilt box that lay on the table in front of him. He prayed that it would not fit, perhaps it was all a dream and he would wake up at any moment. The key slid in perfectly and Jimmy closed his eyes as he turned it anti-clockwise. He heard the soft click and slowly opened the lid; then opened his eyes and stared at the message inside. An expression of horror crept over his face and the voice in the shadows hissed,

“Say the words Jimmy, say the words.” Jimmy’s mouth was completely dry and his voice croaked as he read the message quietly. “You have dumped all your troubles and reached your goal, now you must pay and the price is YOUR SOUL.”

    Jimmy’s girlfriend was waiting patiently in the bar and as he entered, she smiled at him. She noticed a strange red glow from his eyes and wondered where the light was coming from. He didn’t acknowledge her smile but walked straight over to the bar, and ordered a pint and chaser. Funny, she thought, what’s gotten into him tonight?

Copyright Peter Woodgate