The Up & Coming Magazine

Image Credit: Pexels- Andrea Piacquadio

This story is dedicated to my fiancé, Ian Peters. Thank you, Ian, for everything that you do for me and for loving me in so many ways.

One cool autumn morning in early September, Audrey was sitting in her living room drinking her morning tea and reading the job section in the newspaper. Suddenly, she noticed that the owner of her local bookstore was looking for a new owner. Audrey had been visiting Milton’s Bookstore since she first started learning how to read. Milton and his wife Peggy had owned and operated the bookstore for over 60 years, but now that Milton and his wife were in their eighties, they thought that it was time for them to retire.

However, Milton and Peggy didn’t want to close the bookstore because they knew how much it meant to the people in their small town of Bellwether Bay. That’s why when Audrey heard that the bookstore was looking for a new owner, she knew that she might be the perfect person for the job. Milton and Peggy were hoping to find someone to run it who loved reading just as much as they did. Audrey’s grandmother, Betsy, had been bringing her to Milton’s Bookstore since she was a little girl, and one of Audrey’s favorite things about Milton was that he could always help her find the perfect book, even if she didn’t know exactly what she was looking for.

Audrey loved reading romance novels, biographies, and fairytales. Still, occasionally, Milton would recommend a book that wasn’t in the genre of books she usually read, and she always loved it. To Audrey, there was always something magical about being inside a bookstore because going into one was like being on a new adventure. Audrey loved reading because every book she read made her feel like she was going on an adventure with the characters in her book instead of just sitting there reading it. Books are full of magic unlike anything else in life, and that’s part of what makes them so unique.

When Audrey went into the bookstore that Saturday, she asked Milton if she could apply for the job to be the bookstore’s new owner, and of course, without any hesitation, he said yes. Audrey had wanted to work at the bookstore ever since she was younger. Since she was about to start at Bellwether Bay Community College soon, she already knew that she would need a job to help her pay for college, so becoming the owner of Milton’s Bookstore seemed like the right opportunity for her.

Milton’s Bookstore was only open on weekends, so Audrey wouldn’t have to worry about balancing college life and work life too much. But Audrey was excited to own the bookstore because she knew it would allow her to meet fascinating people. Since Milton’s Bookstore was a used bookstore with many shelves stacked high with books, Audrey always felt like she was on a treasure hunt whenever she was organizing them. The bookstore always seemed to be getting donations because many people loved cleaning out their attics in search of books they could give them. When people don’t need books anymore, it’s nice for them to pass them on to someone else so that they can get enjoyment out of them, and that’s one part about the bookstore that Audrey had always loved the most.

Milton’s Bookstore was also home to a small coffee shop that Peggy ran because she always believed that books and coffee go perfectly together, so she decided to open a coffee shop within the bookstore. Since Audrey didn’t know anything about how to make coffee, Peggy offered to help her learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Audrey planned on asking her best friend, Ellie, if she wanted to run the coffee shop so she wouldn’t have to worry about running the bookstore and the coffee shop alone.  Ellie worked at the local Starbucks as a barista, so she knew something about making a decent cup of coffee. Audrey thought she would be the perfect person to run the coffee shop.

Audrey and Ellie didn’t change much about Milton’s Bookstore once they owned it, except that they gave it a fresh coat of paint. The fresh coat of turquoise paint helped brighten the place, and it seemed a lot more inviting than before. Audrey and Ellie were excited to open the bookstore and the coffee shop for the first time together because they knew it was the beginning of an incredible adventure for both of them.

After completing a few renovations, Audrey and Ellie could finally reopen the bookstore and coffee shop on the last Saturday in September. In the children’s book section, Audrey helped a young girl named Lily find a book about giraffes to read, in the mystery section she met an old lady named Agatha who was looking for a new mystery novel, in the history section she met a man named Mark who was looking for a book about the Vietnam War because his grandfather fought in it and he wanted to know more about it.

The thing that Audrey and Ellie loved the most about the bookstore and coffee shop was that they always got to meet all kinds of new people, but they also had regular customers who visited the bookstore. On the first Saturday that the two girls opened the store, Milton and Peggy stopped by to congratulate them on their success, and they were both surprised at how far the bookstore had come since Audrey had taken it over. Audrey was an ambitious young woman with so many dreams for what Milton’s Bookstore could be and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

This was written by our co-founder and editor-in-chief, Hanna Peters.