Casting Long Shadows

Cliff Richard’s ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ echoed through Stoneridge Mall.
Noor took her time as she seemingly window-shopped her way through in a trance-like state of mind.
A sadness like no other hit Noor as soon as she had stepped foot inside the mall. It was a beautiful mall. She imagined all the people from 1989 enjoying their Christmas shopping. All the families who were excited for the holiday.
Outside, everything was quiet and relative. The interiors told a story that the outside never could. The details were on the inside. Always on the inside.
Music, the clothing, the art, the toys and the decorative Christmas displays.
Nine years ago wasn’t that different. She thought to herself. A way of normalizing the situation perhaps.
A poster for a Corey Feldman ‘Back to School’ autograph signing event was proudly posted up next to the ‘Mall Directory’ map.
Noor looked up.
The expansive sunroof stretched across the center of the mall’s ceiling, a vast pane of glass that seemed to defy the weight of the structure above it. The design was a marvel of engineering, allowing natural light to flood the interior of the shopping center, transforming the atmosphere and illuminating the space below.
The sunroof’s glass was pristine, its surface meticulously maintained to ensure maximum transparency. The gentle curve of the glass created a subtle dome effect, giving the impression of a vast, open sky within the confines of the mall. The light that poured through the sunroof had a softening effect, diffusing the harsh fluorescent lighting that typically dominates indoor shopping areas.
As the sun tracked across the sky, the quality of the light shifted, painting the mall in a dynamic array of hues throughout the next hour. The rain clouds seemed to disappear. Soft, golden rays streamed through the glass, casting long shadows towards the Emporium Capwell entrance.
Noor was drawn to the Emporium Capwell entrance.
She slowly wandered in, but for some apparent reason, she reached for her holstered gun, lowered her stance and sidestepped toward a round-robin display for Women’s Peacoats. Strategically hiding in the center of the peacoat display, Noor felt off. She had seen something in the reflection of one of the pillar mirrors. Was it a face? A person? It looked grey. The music had begun to repeat, a 30 second loop of “Lonely This Christmas” performed by 1970s glam rock band, Mud… The oddity struck Noor as she had heightened sensitivity to auditory stimuli in her environment.
“Who is there?”
A man’s voice.
He looked like a college professor, probably in his forties. Long-ish hair, kempt beard, well dressed. He seemed to appear from nowhere before he disappeared.
Noor tried her best to keep her eyes on him. If he were a copied person, she was authorized to ‘kill’.
She didn’t want to harm anyone, even a copied person, however, she would defend herself if needed.
Noor got a perfect look at the man as once again seemed to appear out of thin air for a few moments before disappearing, this time, right in front of her eyes and then reappeared just a few feet away this time.
He looked like a different person now. Exhausted, confused, out of breath and as he re-spawned, he was clutching a baseball bat close to his chest.
“Anyone? Where am I? What is this?”
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