Good Changes

Chloe has a clothing store in between two large buildings. Every day she complains about it being too small or, “squished” she prefers to say. And every day she finds something that just isn’t right. This time she said it was very dull. She was right, her store was too dull; the walls were gray, the air conditioning was loud, the lights always blinked, the clothing was all dark, it was dusty, the floor was not waxed, the windows were scratched, and worst of all, Chloe was grumpy—just like always.

“If only it were lighter. Yes! That’s it! If I get better lighting, it’ll fix things up.”

The following day, Chloe had her lights fixed. She was right, it was much better! For once, she could see all the dust in the room. So, she set a goal that she would dust the store. The next hour she sat at the desk waiting for customers like always. This time, though, the people walking by actually stopped to look at the clothes! But they still didn’t come in. She wondered, At least they can still see the clothes…

“And the dust too,” said a voice in her head.

“Ok then, I shall dust the store!” she said.

Chloe dusted the store from top to bottom for the rest of the day. In the evening she felt much better and her spirits were rising. It felt so good to be back home to take a nice refreshing shower, after all that sweat, she felt like all the dust she removed from her store stuck to her!

The next morning, Chloe walked grumpily to her store, she turned on the lights and smiled in surprise; she forgot about all the work she had done the previous day. This time, she noticed that the floor needed waxing, so she waxed it. By the time she finished, the floor was dazzling. Next, she bought some light yellow wallpaper, had her windows changed, and turned the “Closed” sign on. She had realized that a real renovation process had begun.

After changing her windows, she looked into the air conditioning to see what was making all the noise; there was half-blocking the air passage. Chloe also cleaned the air filter, and it was a mess! Next, she installed the wallpaper; it made a huge and beautiful difference to her once un-welcoming shop. Once that was finished, she ordered some bright new clothes. It was time for more modern ones, that place looked so old-fashioned with those old things.

About a week later (she took the time off meanwhile), her new clothes arrived. Chloe started by organizing them by colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, gray, silver, and gold. She also added shoes and jewelry around too. Finally, she added a pot of flowers to each of her two windows.

“Wow,” she said, astonished. “Such a difference! I’m just so speechless…”

The following day, she came in her best clothes with a huge smile on her face, she gladly turned the “Closed” sign to “Open.” Her customers were more than pleased to come in and comment on Chloe’s grand renovation. As long as I keep this store like this, thought Chloe, I’ll be just fine.