If you haven’t read February 2 yet, you can do so here.

If you stumbled onto this post by accident and haven’t read any of the other stories, head over to this post to find out more about this project.

“Shopping, shopping, shopping!” That was Yasmin’s chant as she made her way through the streets of Bangkok with Pippa by her side. 

Pippa was decidedly less enthusiastic about the entire trip. At least until she saw the building. Then she was terrified. 

“That’s no shopping mall, that’s a skyscraper.”

Yasmin looked longingly at the looming building. “Yep! Hundreds of shops. Don’t worry Pip, website said there was a whole shop dedicated to stationery.”

Pippa sighed, there was no way she was leaving Yasmin unsupervised. They’d never be able to pay for their luggage to get home, because they’d be completely broke. On the other hand, she did need some more thing for her journal.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with. If you can’t find me, I’ll be in the stationery place or the food.”

Pippa nodded her agreement and split away the moment they were through the doors. Pippa stopped in her tracks. The place was huge. She couldn’t even tell how many floors it was, just endless escalators taking people higher and higher. If the outside was anything to judge by, she’d be better taking the lift. 

Turned out, Pippa had no idea how to find what she was looking for using the directory. She settled for the old fashioned method of wandering the floors until she saw something interesting. 

At some point, she wandered into heaven. An entire store dedicated to pens, markers, notebooks, stickers, and washi tape. She started dropping things into her basket without much thought to cost or luggage. It was only when her items started spilling over the side that she realized she had a problem. She’d only looked at half the store and her basket was full. 

Pippa began searching for items she could put back. Did she really need the ballpoint pen with the dogs on it? Probably not. The 72 pack of brush markers had to stay though. Both economically efficient and organized since it came with a carry case. The gel pens didn’t make it, they were a disappointment when she was 10, what made her think anything had changed? 

She managed to clear a third of the basket before she tackled the rest of the shop only to have the same thing happen again. Her basket was full. 

She looped back to the other side of the store and grabbed the gel pens. Everyone was using them in their videos lately. She definitely needed to try them out. 

Already, a voice at the back of Pippa’s mind questioned why she had to get rid of any of it. She was an adult, she could buy it all if she wanted. Pippa tried to ignore the voice. It wouldn’t go away. Nothing seemed to be leaving her basket. She compromised and grabbed a second basket. She’d go through it all when she was done looking. Then she’d know what she was working with. One thing was for sure. The washi tape was staying. All of it.

An hour later, Yasmin appeared at her side with just two small bags in hand, neither from a shop Pippa had ever heard of. Pippa still had one and a half baskets of things. Pens, washi tape, markers, paper clips shaped like pineapples, a coloring book (she was going to use them in her journal), crayons (she saw someone do a tutorial about coloring with them). The only thing she’d managed to remove from her basket was a few journals. She’d chosen just one to keep. It would never be her main journal but it would be cute for jotting down the odd note. At least that’s what she told herself. 

“Dove, I don’t know if you need all of this.” Yasmin squatted beside her eyeing the mess she’d made in the otherwise tidy store.

“No… but I want it.”

Yasmin smiled. “Okay, well what are you definitely, one hundred percent going to use? Could we get it down to just one basket?”

When she said it like that, Pippa had to admit there were a couple of things that needed to go back. She loved post its and the cute little post it sets she’d found had grabbed her attention, but she didn’t use them in her journals much. The gel pens were out again, she’d probably never get to it. As much as she hated to admit it, crayons weren’t really her thing, which meant the coloring book had to go too. 

A couple more items discarded meant she could fit everything in the one basket. 

“Near enough,” Yasmin joked as the washi tape with the whales on it rolled to the ground. 

“I need that one!” Yasmin nodded and bent to pick it up, sliding it back into the basket in a more secure position.

The cashier gave them a slightly odd look as she scanned their pile of items and bagged them. Pippa couldn’t wait to get back to the ship and try them all out. 

You can read February 4 here.

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