Salter's End
Day 6: The Gift Shop
DAY 6: The Gift Shop
Wednesday 29th July
The gift shop smelled like beeswax, dried lavender, and salt. To Petra, it smelled the way all coastal gift shops smelled.
She had come in to look for a postcard to send to her mother, who still preferred them over texts and photographs. Then she would send another to her friend Jo, who would find it charming.
The shop was small and tightly packed with various things. Some of it was the usual tat: buckets and spades, sticks of rocks, the usual. It also had driftwood art, watercolour paintings of the harbour, and jars of local honey. The things more intimate to the area, the things Petra liked to buy. It was an eclectic treasure trove of mystery. She moved along the shelves, taking it all in; she loved not knowing what she would find while leaning into the certain familiarity these shops held.
She spotted a small shelf hidden in an alcove, partially obscured by the rotating postcard stand. Small twisted figures made from salt-bleached wood, their shapes almost human, their postures unusual. Next to them, small pouches of something that smelled sharp and mineral, with a handwritten card displaying letters of an alphabet she didn’t recognise.
“Those are local,” a voice said.
The woman behind the counter held a pleasant, neutral expression.
“What are they for?” Petra asked.
“Different things,” the woman replied. “Depending on the time of year.”
Petra picked up one of the figures; it was lighter than it looked, and in her palm it felt warm. Probably from her body heat.
“Are they for the tradition?” Petra asked, remembering hearing something about it in the cafe. “The one at the end of summer?”
The woman’s expression didn’t change.
“So, would you like to buy a postcard?” she said, changing the subject.
See you tomorrow for Day 7.
Emma-Louise
©Emma-Louise Smith. 2026. All Rights Reserved.