🟠: The Last Customer in the Bookstore

CHAPTER 1 – The Scheduled End

Élodie stared at the window of her tiny neighborhood bookstore, rubbing her cold hands. The heating was broken, just like the card reader, and December felt colder than usual. One week left before closing for good. No one read anymore. No one stopped by. She had tried everything: discounts, public readings, literary cafés… Nothing worked.

Each night, she packed in silence. Until that Thursday.

CHAPTER 2 – A Step into Silence

He entered without a word. An old man, wearing a worn beige coat, leaning on a polished wooden cane. He didn’t greet her. He didn’t ask for anything. He walked through the shelves slowly, like looking for a forgotten memory. Élodie watched him, curious, moved. When he finally approached the counter, he placed a single book: “The Old Man and the Sea.”

She smiled. “A classic.” He looked up. “The only one that truly speaks of loneliness.”

CHAPTER 3 – The Returning Stranger

He came back the next day. And the next. Always silent, always with a carefully chosen book. Sometimes poetry, sometimes a forgotten novel. He barely spoke, except a line or two: “The world is too fast for pages.”

Every visit gave Élodie breath. He reminded her why she opened that store in the first place: for quiet souls who read to survive.

CHAPTER 4 – The Final Day

The window was empty. Boxes were stacked. Élodie was running the register for the very last time. 5:00 PM. He hadn’t come. Her chest tightened. Then, at 5:28, the bell rang. He walked in.

He stepped forward, placed an old leather-bound book on the counter. His eyes were glistening. “This book is yours now. I’ve read it a hundred times. It’s your turn.” Then, from his coat pocket, he pulled an envelope.

“I’m the son of the man who built this bookstore. I never said anything. I didn’t want to be treated differently. But you gave life to it, until the end. Here.” The envelope contained a check, and a letter: “To buy back your dream.”

Moral : Sometimes, one reader is enough to save a world of words.