Chapter 1: Another Day in Kairo Packer's Life

Kairo yawned as he scuffled down his residential street to his workplace: at the train station near the end of the commercial area, a few meters ahead around the corner.

"Hey, lady, watch out!" A man shouted at the top of his lungs ahead of him: doing his damndest to stop a distracted chubby, middle-aged woman from knocking into a stationary cyclist.

Kairo shrugged his shoulders at seeing the man and pulled out his phone to check his work schedule as he stepped past him. His walk moved him closer to the woman, still fixated on her bun in her hand. She slammed into the cyclist, which made him yelp with fright as he flew off his saddle to tumble to the ground. The woman toppled over and fell on top of him and the bike to pin them down before a set of pedestrian lights. Her cream bun was smeared all over her face.

A few passing people had whipped out their phones to capture the comical image for their SocMed pages. 

But Kairo failed to see all of this as he continued to step around the haphazard incident with his eyes on his phone and mind scrolling through online shop advertisements.

He was so focused on his phone that he didn’t notice his foot stepping on a stray cat’s tail.

The cat screeched with pain and anger as it jumped up on a high ledge to swipe at his passing hand. But as it went to lean forward for another swipe, it lost its balance and somehow landed on the head of an elderly man standing nearby.

"Nyaaa!"

"Blasted cat! Where'd you come from! Get off!" The man struggled to hold on to his toupee as he did his best to shake off the frightened cat.

Kairo noticed the mad elderly man doing a jiggle on the spot like he was wanting to go to the bathroom. He casually skirted around him, narrowly missing the flying cat that had been shaken free from the man’s bald head to fall into the sweet-smelling flower basket of a passing businessman wearing a smart navy tie and shiny matching suit.

"Oh, you must want a ride." The businessman smiled as he found the sight of the cat in his basket cute.

"Hiss." Naturally the cat was afraid but instantly eased its body when the man offered some beef jerky from his satchel. The cat was then happy to catch a comfy ride in the man's basket.

Kairo strolled past them, and nodded with a smile in his eyes when he saw the cute sight of the cat and its businessman owner passing him by.

The sight of the cat in the basket was the most exciting thing he saw that day. Every other time it had been the same evening routine of walking to his local train station to work in the underground convenience store.

At this time of day, the train station was crowded with workers arriving home, students coming back from after-school clubs and many other walks of life that needed to go back and forth between a platform turnstile.

"Evening Kairo!" Station Master Adams tipped his hat to him as he strolled past the ticket area for the platforms near the Underground Entrance.

Kairo stopped to give his attention to the lean man in a smart navy station master suit and crisp stiff peak cap bearing the High Town Station eagle logo.

"Mr. Adams." He solemnly addressed the man with little expression to his voice and face.

"Off to work?" Mr. Adams observed the young man's form in his red and blue striped tunic and pants that was his work uniform. He saw Kairo as a good man with a lanky build, average brown eyes and short floppy brown hair: a man who smiled with his eyes rather than his mouth.

Kairo nodded.

"Hope you have a great day."

He nodded again and continued his walk toward the Underground Entrance. His mind was churning on thoughts of what would be defined as a great day. As every day since he had started his job routine had been mundane experiences. Having something a bit unusual wouldn’t hurt to break up the monotony of his life.

His walk to work was a short flight downstairs and straight run to the end of the corridor for his shop's entrance.

The shop sliding door made a tinkle melody as it opened. He relished the cool air conditioner breeze that hit his cheeks upon walking down the central aisle to the register counter at the end.

"Hey Kairo. Right on time as always," said a balding, middle-aged man behind the counter. He wore the same convenience store uniform as Kairo.

"Evening Martin." Kairo cordially greeted his senior as he stepped past the counter opening and headed into the backroom where he placed his stuff in his assigned staff locker.

"Welp. I'm off for the day," Martin said when Kairo returned to take his place before the digital cash register.

Kairo lapsed into his workday routine of checking shelf-stock, moving around cold drink cans from back to front in the fridges, making sure coffee machine smelt blissful and was always hot with fresh beans, and checking off inventory lists.

The usual type of patrons came and went to buy goods. As always, he had a lot of in-between time to play with his smartphone as he sat behind the counter. He perused Tamu, which was his favorite antique online store for the once-in-a-lifetime unique buy.

"Welcome back, Kairo! Here are your unique specials as our number one loyal customer!"

Kairo's eyes relaxed with a smile when he watched the Tamu cartoon cat do a happy dance around the enticing digital coupon codes for various on sale items.

Tamu had it all: antiques from bygone eras to replicas that could be statement pieces for the next generation.

"Today I need a closet and lamp," he said to himself.

His father had taken his old standalone wardrobe to use as a tool storage and his freestanding lamp for lighting in the garden shed. His parents promised that he could buy whatever closet and lamp he wanted to replace what they took. That was fine by him as this original ones were modern day boring stuff.

He fingered his Holy Mother Cross silver pendant he wore around his neck, as he scrolled through choices with one hand.

"Not this one. Not that one." He mumbled to himself.

He wanted something that looked and felt like it had been made in the ancient times. And furniture that also looked rich like it was designed for a king.

His attention was abruptly interrupted when a customer approached the counter with goods. He dropped his phone to the bench as he rang up the items and completed the purchase transaction. 

The customer left, and he was able to return to his phone. His eyes widened with keen interest when he saw the ad that had been paused on his screen. It was for a choice Baroque style closet and matching lamp.

The closet was a tall and freestanding French door type with delicate vine leaf patterns etched along the frames and edges. But the embossed symbols on the surface near the bronze door handles made his eyes widen with wonder. They were like hieroglyphs seen on Egyptian tombs. These esoteric symbols were arranged in circular patterns to form a figure eight across both doors.

He glanced at the tall and freestanding lamp with a simple bronze frame and clear crystal glass. The hieroglyphs weren't as obvious as on the closet, but he could tell they were the same ones that made a pattern along the metal edges. These pieces were a perfect set.

"I want this." He eagerly declared.

Without hesitation, he placed an order for the goods using his parent's credit card. The whole time he had been rubbing his cross pendant to the point that it glowed briefly while the transaction was being completed.

The shop door made the tinkle melody.

Kairo hastily finished the purchase and closed his phone for the night. He focused on his work and completing another mundane night.