Katie perused the strange shop with a detached curiosity. The store, called “Lost and Found” had simply appeared one day and was the small talk of the big town. But when she went, she found it surprisingly empty. She couldn’t figure out how the store was organized, or what’s its specialties were.  But she did notice warning signs doting the place:

The store assumes no liabilities for

curses, spells, or transformations.

Snorting at the sign, Katie moved on. She was drawn toward a small selection of jewelry, cheap knockoffs and plastic play jewelry mixed with real gold and diamonds, just sitting on an open shelf. Not that Katie was a thief, but it was just another thing about the store she couldn’t understand.

Katie picked up a piece that drew her eye, a gorgeous snowflake necklace. Surely it couldn’t be real gems, but it sparkled in the light nonetheless as she lifted it from the display stand. This was what was calling her, she knew. Somehow.

“I think that’s mine…” A voice said from behind her, and Katie turned to see a woman about her age, looking breathlessly at the necklace.

“How can it be yours?” Katie said, incredulous. “It was in the store.”

“No, I know. But that’s how the store is. It’s a magical Lost and Found.” When Katie just looked at the woman with a confused, and slightly worried, stare, she continued. “Did you ever lose something when you were a kid? Not socks in the dryer, but something real, and important to you. Like, in a move, maybe.”

Katie thought about it, realizing that yes, that had been the case. Her musical jewelry box with a miniature ballerina. Not that she gave any sign to the woman.

“What about it?” Katie said instead.

“This is where they end up. If you were drawn here, it means there’s something of yours her, too. The woman nodded to the necklace, “I’m pretty sure if you look, there will be a tag with my name on it. Juliet White.”

Katie frowned, but checked, anyway. And sure enough, there was a small tag, and a name. The hairs stood up when she saw Juliet’s name written there, and Juliet, knowingly, put her hand out, hoping her lost treasure would be returned to her.

But Katie wasn’t ready to give the necklace up. She held it close to her chest, rather than releasing it. The woman had lived without it for how many years now? She could go on living without it. Instead, all Katie could imagine was how good it would look on her neck. “Well, you know what they say. Finders Keepers.” She said, and walked away, leaving a stunned Juliet.

“Wait, you don’t want to do that. If you buy my lost item, you’ll forfeit yours.”

“Don’t have one, don’t care.” Juliet said, walking to the front counter. Until, that is, she saw it, sitting idly and plainly on a table. The red wood, the worn lock, the wind-up key. It was her jewelry box. The one she hadn’t seen in fifteen years. And yet, the moment she laid eyes on it, Katie knew it was hers.

With trembling hands, she reached out, lifting the lid, hoping to see that faceless plastic ballerina rise out of the box. Instead, she was greeted by an empty interior. Katie frowned, and frowned more when she noticed, her hand glowing and tingling faintly.

That’s how it started, at least. Katie jumped back when she felt a sudden pull, gasping as the subtle glow became incandescent. She was pulled, body and soul, drawn like a river downhill into the music box in a stream of pink-white light. She reappeared in miniature, wearing a resplendent costume far more elegant and real than the one her own ballerina had worn. Katie was stuck, her legs unable to move, somehow attached to the velvet interior. Somehow, she now belonged to the box. And she looked up with ever widening eyes as Juliet approached, herself staring in awe.

“What? How?” Katie pleaded.

But first, before addressing the new ballerina, Juliet picked up her necklace, which had fallen to the table during the transformation, reclaiming it and some part of herself which she thought lost forever. It was only then she addressed Katie.

“I’m not sure, but from what I’ve gathered, the store works off karma, or something like it. Balance, maybe. You took my lost item and wound up stuck inside another.”

Katie couldn’t believe it. “And that deserves being turned into an object forever?!”

Juliet kneeled to get a better look at Katie, smiling as she did. “I hope you can dance now. Even if you don’t, I do need a place to keep my necklace…”

“No! Please, can you go get someone to help? I can’t be stuck like this forever!”

“The universe will let you out when it decides its appropriate.” Juliet said, reaching out to the lid, beginning to close it. Katie twisted as much as she could, watching the inevitable close in on her.

“Wait! Hang on, let’s talk about…” Katie said, but her body responded automatically to the closing of her music box, folding up in a demure, ballet pose as the last sliver of light fled away from her.

“After all, you know what they say. Finders Keepers.”