XXVII: In Which Ronaldo Makes Preparations

Ronaldo calmly worked on his preparations. Samhain was only a week away and he had so many plans to put into place.  First order of business, text the Society to invite them all to a Halloween Party.  Thankfully, they’d all exchanged numbers on the ride home from Zachary’s.

«Fellows. I would like to cordially invite you to a Celebration of All Hallows Eve. There will be Hors d'Oeuvres and refreshments provided.  Costumes appreciated.»

He would text them times and location upon reply.  Now for the details. Exterior decorations had been on display since October the First. That just left interior decor and preparations for his personal midnight ritual for Samhain.  He went upstairs, donned his daily-wear cloak, grabbed his keys and headed to his car.

Kanetown Krystals had such a unique, pleasant smell, as if a Catholic Church were sharing space with a Hindu Temple which had been smudged with sage to cleanse it of evil spirits.  The shop only carried Desert Sage for ethical reasons, and Ronaldo quite preferred it that way.

“Hey, Ronaldo!” River, the shopkeeper, greeted him. They brushed their natural red bangs out of their face, smiling. “What can I get for you today?”

“I’m going to browse your wares a bit, but I would like four ounces of mugwort, and two ounces of Jukro.”

“I’ll get those ready for you right away. Oh, by the way, we got a new deck in. It’s called the Midnight Oracle, developed by a local here in town.”

“Thanks! I shall check into it.” A new Oracle deck. That might be just what he needed. His trusty Tarot cards weren’t telling him anything lately, as if they had gone blind.  He looked at the decks on the shelf, quickly finding the Midnight Oracle. Zodiacs and Symbology, hmm this was different. Not a bad price, either.  He grabbed the deck and started looking for a Labradorite point pendant that resonated with him.

The shop door opened and a short person with short blue hair in a pixie cut, wearing a light blue sundress entered. Ronaldo looked over. It was the same person they had sat near on Saturday.

“Hello, how may I help you?” River asked cordially.

“May I have an ounce of fo-ti, an ounce of dong quai, an ounce of damiana, and four ounces of rosepetal?”

“Oh, of course! It’ll only be a few minutes, if you’d like to browse.”

“May I pay first? It’s a habit of mine.”

“Sure.” River said, ringing up the purchase and saying the total.  Out of a small carry bag came a wallet, but also a tube of lip balm that rolled away, unnoticed.  It came to rest by Ronaldo’s feet. He picked it up and approached them.

“Pardon me mi- . Ah, I apologize, may I have your pronouns?”

“No you may not, but you may refer to me with ‘she, her’ terms.” The girl replied.
“Of course, miss. You seem to have dropped your lip balm.” He proffered said balm.

“Thank you. I’ve seen you before haven’t I?”

“We shared a table briefly on Saturday.”
“Ah, I remember you now. You’re much nicer than your friend. Can I have your name?”

“No you may not, but you may call me Ronaldo."