Epilogue

The shopkeeper threw up their hands in frustration. “I have shown three of the rarest objects in the world, and nothing satisfies you! I don’t have all day to show you everything in the store for you to reject. Either pick something or stop wasting my time and get out!” This last word was emphasized with a finger pointing at the door.

The teenager stared for a second before, to the horror of the employee, tearing up and turning red.

“I’m sorry,” the teenager sniffed, rubbing at their eyes. “I just, I need a really good gift for my grandma, but it can’t be anything that comes with a warning, cause she wouldn’t remember if I told her not to touch it.”

The employee eyed the teenager, clearly hesitant to do anything now that there were tears involved. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on with your grandmother. Clearly it’s something serious.”

The teenager took a couple deep breaths before speaking. “She has dementia, and lately it’s gotten worse. My parents have to make sure someone is there with her most of the time, cause she could fall or do something dangerous like leaving the stove on. There are caretakers who stay with her most of the time, but they’re still worried about her accidentally wandering off or something. We don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to stay at home, but my dad’s hesitant to put her in a nursing home cause it could upset her. It’s just, a lot going on right now. It’s scary to see someone who was so independent now have to rely on others so much, and dementia can be heredity….”

For a few minutes, the shop was quiet, except for the occasional sniffle from the teen. Finally, the clerk spoke. “Well, this does change things. But, I believe I have a solution.”

The clerk strolled over to the wall of yarn, and searched for a few seconds before grabbing a ball of yarn. They moved a few steps to the right, grabbed another skein, then came back to the teenager.

“Do you remember what I told you about the maker of the nettle shirt? The princess whose father needed a ball of magical yarn to guide him to his children?”

The teenager nodded their head shakily.

“Well, we managed to collect more than just the shirt.” The clerk held out the first ball of yarn, which was a metallic gold. “This is the yarn the king used. It can guide someone wherever they need to go. It most clearly works when left in a ball to be rolled on the ground, but even in another form it can guide someone to where they need to go. You said earlier you want to make something for your grandmother. I take it you don’t know how to knit or crochet?”

The teenager shook their head. “No, but I could learn. Someone around town must offer lessons.”

The clerk offered a small smile to the teen. “Well, the store does host weekly lessons, and I think you’ll want to come here, since not many people are experienced in making things out of magical yarn. Additionally, I think you’ll want to use this yarn as well.” The clerk held up the second skein of yarn, which was thinner than the first and a silvery gray. “You showed some familiarity with Greek mythology; do you know the story of the Minotaur?”

The teen nodded. “Yeah, he was the monster waiting at the center of a maze, and teenagers had to be sacrificed to him.”

“Very good. Well, the hero who killed the Minotaur, Theseus, was given a ball of yarn to help guide him around the maze. This yarn, in fact. It’s a lighter weight than the other yarn, so your grandmother will have something to wear both in cold and warm weather. As long as she’s wearing something made out of either yarn, she won’t be able to get lost. Even if she isn’t consciously aware of it, she’ll wander somewhere where she can be found.”

“What if she doesn’t put it on before she leaves?”

“I can help with that. We can, modify the enchantment on the yarn, include a compulsion charm. Nothing serious, just enough to encourage her to wear it. But it might not be needed. If you make it, even if your grandmother doesn’t remember, she’ll probably want to have it on. I’ve seen it before.”

The teenager digested all of this information, then asked, “When’s the next lesson?”

“Next week. I’ve got a flyer you can take.” The store clerk went over to the counter and grabbed the top page from a stack of paper. “You can try both knit and crochet, get a sense of which you’d rather do. Or you could crochet one item and knit the other. I teach the class, but I’m sure we can find something you’re comfortable with.”

The teen looked at the two yarns in the clerk’s hand. “I do have some money saved up, but I don’t know if I have enough for both the yarn and lessons….”

The employee nodded. “I tell you what. I’ll place these on hold for you, as long as you show up next week. If you do, we can work out something. We do payment plans, and sometimes we need an extra set of hands around here. That sound like a deal to you?”

The teenager nodded, rubbing at their eyes one last time. “Yeah, that sounds great to me. I, I really appreciate this”-

The store clerk cut them off. “It’s fine, I promise. I’ll see you next week, okay? I’ve got some stuff I need to keep working on.” They glanced back at the blanket they’d been crocheting, which was still resting on the counter. And, as the teenager now saw, was glowing slightly.

“Um, right,” the teen said, taking a few steps towards the door. “I’ll see you next week then?”

“Next week,” agreed the store clerk, going back behind the counter, sitting down, and picking up the blanket again.

And with a tinkle of the door bell, the shop was quiet again. Just like it had been before.