The Antique Shop

ingsport's sleepy streets contain a wealth of quaint little shops patiently awaiting the patronage of vacationing tourists. Sometimes the more attentive visitor will note the exceptional quality of local craftsmen, though surely he will not credit it to the nearness of dreams to the waking world that pervades the town and enlivens the creative mind. Occasionally, a shop or artisan might even enjoy the brief attention of a select group of collectors who surrender the word of his work or wares grudgingly to envious friends. This is exactly what Emil Fenton has achieved with his little antique shop, a tiny undiscovered treasure hungrily sought by the inquisitive dilettante and then jealously kept secret once found.

Upon first glance, Fenton's Antiques looks like any one of the other Kingsport shops except that it seems to be filled quite nearly top to bottom with furniture, boxes, knickknacks and even junk. The customer who cannot find his hearts desire on the half of the ground level that is not living quarters can climb the narrow steps to the second floor and rummage for hours. The store is identified by a wooden sign with faded yellow letters that hangs upon the white painted front door. Just below that is a stained and yellowed piece of paper that reads: "Open from Noon to Five Monday til Friday". It seems that Emil Fenton has something better to do with the rest of his time, for few remember him ever receiving visitors other than during business hours.

aturally, Mr. Fenton harbors a secret, though perhaps not so horrible as you might imagine. The antiques sold in his shop are not what they seem. As a younger man, Emil was somewhat of a dreamer, but he was rash and upon death in a nightmare he found himself unable to visit the fabulous realms which consumed his sleeping hours. While vacationing in the town of Kingsport a few years ago, he was strangely drawn to an old two story house, and warily entered. Searching for what made him feel so attached to the place, he discovered a small lost basement and within it a pathway unto his dreams once again. Emil Fenton rediscovered a lost Gate of Oneirology. 

It was not long until he discovered some of the strange properties of using the gate to enter the Dreamlands, including the strange changes which came upon items from the modern world, such as flashlights and guns. Fenton realized the potential when a rusty old flashlight of his transformed into an aged lamp of archaic design. After cleaning up the old lamp, he managed to sell it to an antique collector for a pretty sum. Soon he had opened his own shop in the house he had been so quick to buy. On virtually trip to the Dreamlands, Fenton carries some waking world object with him. Usually the change is far from magnificent, and of little use, but occasionally a bit of the ancient grandeur of the dream manifests and he brings home a lovely antique. 

enton feels a bit dishonest somehow in what he does, but he dearly loves the Dreamlands, and the ability to make a small modest income so easily ensures many free hours of travel time. He takes some measure of pride in the fact that the changed items do seem entirely genuine in every way; he even has noticed that they appear to have somehow actually have become older.

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