“A man ran across the street, seeking shelter from the onslaught of fat water droplets drumming on his umbrella and rolling off his sleek black suit. Without thinking, he ducked into the nearest storefront.
The bell chimed as he swung the door open, but it was partially drowned out by the loud raindrops. He closed his umbrella and reached out to tip his hat at the… librarian? An elderly gentleman stood at the counter and regarded his guest with an easy smile.
“Welcome to The Midnight Dive. It’s a stormy night, sir. You’re most welcome to wait for the rain to pass here.”
“Thank you, good sir,” the man said, tipping his hat once more. He glanced at the tall bookshelves behind the counter, and then gestured his intent to explore the place.
“By all means, sir,” the gentleman replied. “But if you may, please keep your voice down. We have other guests here.”
The man nodded. He wasn’t curious about why he was being asked to be quiet in a library, but he wondered why it was called The Dive instead of something more bookstore-like. He wandered through the shelves, noting the musty smell that often presents itself in bookstores, and the dust collected on the unpopular collections. There was one shelf, however, that was chained up. It beckoned the man with its mysterious allure, gently coaxing him over. His hand reached out, but it was promptly smacked down.
“Sir, I apologize for my rudeness, but I insist that you leave those books alone.”
The man’s eyes widened and he instinctively rubbed the spot where the gentleman had slapped him. The strength the gentleman possessed was not something anyone would have expected from the elderly man, who seemed thin by society’s standards. The man’s eyes then grew even wider in anger. How dare this man slap the major’s uncle? His face reddened as he prepared to teach the gentleman a lesson of his own.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, sir,” the gentleman said. “Working here has its merits.”
“To hell with the merits!” the man shouted. “No one is above the law!”
To the world outside, it would have just looked like The Dive had a power outage. The store brightened for only a blink before everything turned as grey as the gloomy raining skies. From the window panel, an elderly gentleman flipped the store sign from “We’re Open” to “Closed.”
A few days later, news of the major’s missing uncle spread throughout the town. And not a whisper of The Midnight Dive was heard again.”
-—————————————————————-
The Midnight Dive, such a cheesy store name.
It was the name my grandfather graced this fictional bookstore before he left this world. And as with death, comes the emotions and the tons of paperwork that piles as his health fades. Once the funeral ends, my parent had decided that they will sort our latest incurred debt, while they sent me to sort through his papers and letters in his old apartment. Thankfully, my grandfather is neat and had place most of his items in boxes when his health permits him to sort so. Most of them were boring bills and letters for stuff like hospice care, but of course, one box caught my attention. Filled with papers, notes and clippings that I guess he felt were related. I flipped through at random, noting many missing person cases and notes in red asking if the case was somehow related to a bookstore.
While it is pretty clear that he took some creative liberty in writing the above story, it was this story that had properly pulled me in this rabbit hole. I found it interesting and am pretty sure that this community would share the appreciation too.
Although, clipped to the front of this story, was a photo of a storefront. It was certainly the inspiration. It beats me why my grandfather felt the need to write the story. It was not something people usually do when they are researching for missing people’s cold case, would it be? There was no store name, and there is not much to go on, other than maybe the small book icon plastered beside the door? Should I go look for this store? Or maybe this is just a wild goose chase to nowhere?