Later That Day

ThisIsNoOne on 5/1/2024 5:15:51 PM
Episode last modified by ThisIsNoOne on 5/1/2024 5:15:51 PM

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_“This place is on life support...”_ Jon thought as he walked through the mostly empty Lake Point Mall. The only remaining chains stores that were left were Bath and Bodyworks, GNC, and a Taco Bell in the food court. JCPenney, which had been the last remaining anchor store, had been replaced by a local grocery store which seemed out of place in a mall, but it likely generated a bit of foot traffic for the dying mall. Many of the smaller retail stores sat empty, and the handful that did have something it were occupied by local businesses. _”I can’t believe this...”_ Jon could remember going to the mall all the time as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s. _”That used to be the arcade... and the Hot Topic was there...”_ Jon thought as he passed a couple of empty stores. _”Ugh... This is just making me depressed. Maybe I’ll just do digital gift cards from Amazon instead.”_ Jon thought as he stopped by the fountain in the center of the mall. Looking into the fountain Jon was saddened to see a lack of pennies resting at the bottom of the pool. _”The magic of this place is really gone...”_ Jon thought back to fond memories of tossing wishing pennies into the fountain with his friends. _”Man...”_ Jon’s eyes focused on his reflection in the fountain water. _”You know you and I have a lot in common.”_ Jon thought studying his aging face and thinning hair. _”We both peaked years ago... And now we are just shells of what we once were...”_ Jon looked around at the decaying mall. _”I just wish there was some way we could both turn our fortunes around.”_ Jon thought as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed towards the nearest exit.

The Fairy King (9) MagicMyth

Fast Forward to Christmas (4) Magic

I can easily relate to this one. I've seen malls I've known from my childhood suffer similar fates (some worse than others). Even though you know why it's happening (changing economic situations, brick and mortar stores facing competition from online retailers, the end of many 'anchor store' chains, failure to adapt with the times), it's still sad to see a once lively and thriving shopping mall become a shell of its former self, sometimes with whole sections full of empty store locations. Some malls that aren't as dependent on 'anchor stores' might fare better than those that had three or four but are reduced to one, but the fact remains that malls aren't what they used to be. A lot of book store and music store chains that were fixtures of malls are just fond memories of years gone by now. It can be strange to be sad about a shopping mall's decline, but some of us still get nostalgic about them and wish they could become more like the thriving busy places we remember. I like the way of ending the episode, with a note of ambiguity. If Jon accidentally spoke that wish out loud and didn't know the stone had returned, there are so many different ways the wish could be interpreted. So it's not surprising there's already multiple branches from this episode.

Christine L.

5/12/2024 9:42:07 PM

Your comment so perfectly sums up the vibe I was feeling when I wrote that chapter. For people of a certain age the mall was such a staple of life. You could shop, hang out with friends, watch a movie, get something to eat, etc... Seeing so many malls today that are on the brink of failure does make me pine for the good ole days. I'm sure that people who lived before the rise of the shopping mall feel the same way about city centers and "down towns". Vibrant down towns were slowly killed by the rise of the shopping mall, just like the internet is slowly killing the shopping mall.

ThisIsNoOne

6/12/2024 10:30:01 AM