“Ooh, they look nice!”

“Here, take one. They’re delicious.” Debbie waited for Sophie to pick one then hastily placed the lid on the box. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to share, but these were something special.

“Wow, Mom! Where’d you get them? Not at the supermarket, I know that much.”

Debbie shook her head. “No. It’s a new place, a ‘chocolatier’ no less. It just appeared on the high street and I couldn’t resist. I see you’ve been shopping too.” She gestured to the carrier bags that Sophie had been trying hard to hide.

“Oh, just a few things to smarten up my summer wardrobe. You know how it is. I’ll just go and put these away.” Sophie sidled across the room towards the stairs, unsuccessfully trying to hide the four bags that each looked full.

Paul arrived home looking slightly less harried than usual.

“Hi, love,” Debbie said. “You look like you had a good journey.”

“Oh, not so bad.” Paul didn’t mention that his spirits had risen when the new shop he spotted along Main Street turned out to be empty. There was nothing their finances needed less than another place enticing them to spend money that they couldn’t really afford to spend.

At dinner that night Debbie noticed Sophie was wearing a new outfit. “You look nice, Soph. Is that a part of your new wardrobe?”

Feeling slightly guilty about the amount of money she’d spent, Sophie avoided her father’s gaze, but she couldn’t resist doing a turn and showing off her new dress and shoes once the meal ended.

“Don’t forget to give Dad one of those chocolates,” she added before racing up to her room.

Later that evening Debbie brought out the box of chocolates and offered them to Paul. His hand hovered, not sure which to pick so, somewhat reluctantly, she added: “Take as many as you like.”

When she watched him pick out four she regretted being so generous and quickly put the rest away.

“So, tell me, have you and Sophie been out of town?” Paul asked once the chocolates had all been eaten and appreciated. “I know these didn’t come from here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. It was a new shop, just opened today on Main Street. Sophie found a new boutique too.”

Paul frowned. He hadn’t noticed either. It had looked the same as it always did, other than that empty store.

That weekend they seemed to come to a unanimous unspoken agreement to go into town together.

“You can show me where you got the chocolates,” Paul said to Debbie. “Maybe I’ll treat you to some more.”

“Okay,” she answered. “You’ve got yourself a deal!”

“If I show you where I bought my clothes, will you...?”

“No,” Paul said. “I think you’ve got enough to last you for years. But, I will show you the empty place I came across. I’ve been trying to think which store has just closed but I can’t work it out.”

It seemed a bit strange that they all seemed to be heading in the same direction. Surely, they’d each have noticed what the others had seen.

Things got really odd, however, when they all stopped in front of what was nothing more than an empty space between two of the long- established town shops.

“It was here!” Sophie was the first to speak up. “I know it was.”

Debbie frowned. “You know what? This is the exact spot where the chocolatier was too!”

Paul stepped forward and inspected the ground. There was no rubble, no foundation work; no sign that a building had ever been there, and yet he knew this was where the empty store had stood just a couple of days previously. It did not make the slightest bit of sense, and any enquiries resulted in more muddle as everyone they spoke to seemed to have seen something different.

On that same day, a hundred miles to the north Elsie and Amber were discussing the new store that had just opened in their local town.

“It sells the most beautiful hats,” said Elsie, preening in front of her sister.

“You must be thinking of a different place, dear,” Amber opened her bags that were full of wool. “The one I went to sold yarn. Look, I’ve bought enough to keep me knitting for months.”