Lady Mimi’s Shop

Lady Mimi was an unusual character who owned and practically lived at her sewing shop in Greenville. Her age was never divulged by her, but that didn’t keep people from guessing (She is most definitely a young fifty-three!; Not a day under seventy, that woman!; Sixties, you mark my words!) No one agreed on the topic, concluding only that the owner of Magic Threads was somewhere between the ages of forty-five and ninety. But most all concurred that the woman was strange, with her odd clothes and almost indifferent demeanor.

Today, Mimi was laying out fabrics to measure for a young customer. She was so engrossed in this activity that she didn’t notice the young lady staring at her intensely. Greens, golds, and oranges opened up before her as Lady Mimi cut the desired lengths.

Sara Sampson narrowed her eyes as if trying to understand something. Taking a deep breath, she uttered, “Lady Mimi, you can help me. I m-mean,” Sara began to stutter a little, “I, I mean can’t you?”

Mimi smiled at the woman before her with a twinkle in her eye. “Maybe.” Looking Sara up and down, she asked, “What do you need help with, Dear?”

Getting suddenly uncomfortable, Sara looked down at her feet. She felt her face growing hot as she did so, unsure of what to say next.

“How old are you, Dear?” asked Lady Mimi breaking the uncomfortable silence that was beginning to develop.

“I’m…thirty-four. Probably too old to be believing…” Sara Sampson found herself unable to finish her sentence.

“Oh, I believe in magic,” Mimi seemed to read the younger woman’s thoughts. “And I’m older than you,” she winked as she laid out yet another piece of fabric for her client. Stealing a glance at Sara while she neatly folded the golden material, Mimi added, “But I do so feel that everything has a consequence. And that includes magic.” Mimi smiled as she handed the brightly stacked cloths over to Sara.

“Here you are, Mrs. Sampson. Can I get you anything else today?”

“Well, actually…” Sara was hemming and hawing. “Actually, you know I’ve heard things.”

“Things?” Mimi looked amused.

“That you can do things, that you can help people out. At least those who believe,” the curious customer looked more bashful than ever. But a look of determination came over her and she blurted out, “Lady Mimi, I want to be happy.”

“Of course you do; who doesn’t?”

“But I don’t know how and I heard that you can make it happen.” Sara’s brown eyes met Mimi’s blue ones. The blue pair was looking Sara over closely, studying her expression as if determining whether or not she was serious.

“I can,” Mimi finally answered. “Then quickly added, “But it’s done as a transaction.”

Sara looked bewildered at this. “What? What do you mean? You’re making me pay for this service that any Good Samaritan would do?”

“Not in the way you mean,” Mimi took the money from her customer and handed her a bag with her new purchases. “It’s not a transaction like this one,” she gestured toward the bag. “But everything comes with a price.”

Mrs. Sampson nodded. “Okay, I’m willing to pay the price for happiness. At least I think I am. What do I have to do?”

Lady Mimi smiled, “You have to give up another emotion. Is there a feeling you don’t want?”

“Sadness! I don’t ever want to despair again!” Sara answered so quickly that her relief was written all over her face.

Lady Mimi handed her a small wooden box. “Open this,” she commanded as Sara slid the smooth top off. Inside was tissue in the brightest yellow hue she’d ever seen. Rustling through the paper, she found a small ring. Silver, delicate, a tiny diamond in the center. “Put it on,” directed Lady Mimi kindly as she took out another box, this one made of cheap tin. “Look here,” this time Mimi herself took the top off the box which revealed a muted blue tissue paper. Within it was a necklace with half a heart.

“I’ve seen those before,” Sara told the older woman. “Those are for girls who are best friends. Each one wears a half.”

“This one is your sadness. Not a Best Friends necklace. This is the exchange you’re agreeing to.”

“Yes!” Sara smiled at Lady Mimi and thanked her as she rushed off to see the results of her newest and most treasured object.

Happiness seemed to be spreading throughout Greenville. Tommy Burrows, just ten years old, was smiling from ear-to-ear all the time; fifteen-year-old Amy Nelson was glowing from having made the high school cheerleading squad; Mr. Dennis who’d been single all his life was now a happily married man at sixty-seven years young.

It was clear to those in the know that all these residents of Greenville had made “the exchange” with Lady Mimi. And it encouraged others to want to see her, too.

One day, Sara Sampson was happily walking down the sidewalk as she passed young Tommy Burrows’ house. She noticed Tommy sitting on the front steps with a limp, furry animal in his arms. Sara recognized Daisy, Tommy’s dog, in an instant.

“What’s happened to Daisy, Tommy?” Sara found herself fearful as she realized the small dog wasn’t moving.

Tommy looked up, expressionless. “She got hit by a car.” The next moment, Tommy’s eyes narrowed and his face turned red with rage. “Why are you bothering me? Go your own happy way and leave me alone! Who cares about some dumb animal!”

Feeling a little upset by the outburst, Sara realized that Tommy had to go through the grief of losing his dog in his own way. Something was tugging at her mind, but she couldn’t quite grab it. Something felt wrong. Oh well, I’ll remember it later, she thought to herself. No big deal.

Later, Sara was cheerfully cooking dinner when her husband, Matthew, walked into the kitchen. He looked as though he had something heavy on his mind.

After Mr. Sampson silently ate his dinner, he asked Sara to talk. She felt a type of contentment that she hadn’t ever remembered experiencing. Until Matthew told her that he’d been considering divorce. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said earnestly to his surprised wife. “You seem so much happier now that I thought you could handle it better. And I’m in a better place, too. Happier, like you. I guess it’s contagious-” Matthew stopped talking as though considering something, then shook his head before continuing. “I felt that we could finally have a discussion and perhaps come to some type of agreement. Maybe we could even work out our differences...”

But Matthew’s words were falling on deaf ears. Sara didn’t feel happy upon hearing this shocking news, but felt nothing at all.

That night, Sara tossed and turned. She loved her husband and had thought he loved her back. The night he proposed was the best evening of her life. It had been so romantic and intimate; she did not hesitate to say yes. But now, thrashing around in the darkness, Sara felt confused. She did not feel sad about this new turn of events. She tried to search for an emotion. Disgust. That was the one.

Sitting bolt upright in the bed, Sara determined that her life was not to be wasted by some jerk of a husband. She didn’t even want to know why he felt as he did or how they might possibly fix the situation. She wanted to go for a drive.

Driving around the now quiet town of Greenville, Sara saw a figure on a swing. It was Amy Nelson and the teenager was laughing maniacally. Sara had known Amy since she was yea high…and Amy Nelson did not go outside to frolic at midnight.

Making a snap decision to stop the car, Sara got out and beckoned Amy over. Amy could not stop laughing ecstatically. She seemed so hysterical that Sara almost slapped her. “What’s the matter with you? Did you sneak into your parents’ liquor cabinet?” she asked the teenager in shock.

Amy giggled and said that her best friend Erin was upset about not making the cheerleading squad while Amy had. If she was following Amy’s frenzied story correctly, it appeared that they were no longer friends at all. “That doesn’t sound like Erin to break up a friendship over something like that. She’ll get over it. Now you should get some sleep, Amy.”

“That’s not why!” Amy nearly shrieked into the quiet, night air. “We stopped being friends because I thought it was funny! Still do! Erin thought I’d feel unhappy for her, but I feel positively gleeful! I’m so glad we’re not friends anymore.”

What Amy was saying didn’t make sense. She and Erin had been friends since kindergarten. As Amy ran toward a tree and started feverishly climbing, Sara saw something glinting off the girl’s hand. A sinking feeling overcame her, kind of like the one she’d felt with Tommy, but stronger. Everyone was happy while they seemingly ruined their own lives.

What about me?

Sara asked herself why she was driving and willing to leave her husband without a second thought. None of us are behaving properly. We’re throwing our most treasured gifts away. Our marriages, friendships and pets. Why?

Looking down at her own ring in horror, Sara suddenly understood. Since they couldn’t feel sadness, they were substituting the wrong emotions. We need sadness in our lives! Her own realization shocked Sara.

The following morning, Lady Mimi looked up as Sara Sampson walked in. “I was wondering when you’d return,” Mimi smiled pleasantly as she calmly greeted the woman.

“Lady Mimi, I’ve made a terrible mistake. Emotions can’t be traded or used as things. Neither can people or pets. I WANT MY SADNESS BACK!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

As if expecting this, Mimi took out the box and placed it on the counter. “I will need your ring back.”

Sara took it off and set it down. “Gladly.”

“Now watch,” said Lady Mimi as she took the ring and opened not the wooden box it had come in, but the one made out of tin. The ring disappeared and the tissue paper was now a simple white. But what Mimi pulled out was not half of a broken heart. It was a necklace donning a whole heart. “You have learned,” said Lady Mimi, “happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin. You can’t trade one emotion for another as if it were a mere object. We were blessed with all the emotions we’ll ever need. You never lost your happiness,” Mimi paused for effect, “you got greedy for more.”

The words were harsh, but true. She owed a lot to the older lady standing before her.

“Thank you for showing me how much I already had. It was a lesson I needed to learn and you taught it brilliantly. But what about Tommy Burrows and Amy Nelson?”

Lady Mimi looked surprised. Did you think they were the only ones? They’ll come to their senses. They all do.” Lady Mimi smiled as she looked towards the door.

Coming towards them was Matthew Sampson, Sara’s own husband, slipping off his own glimmering ring to make a return.