Quinn's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Quinn drifted through the cracked glass of the old department store and landed softly on the display floor. He checked his pocket watch out of habit, though time meant little now. Today was the day. He would make this window the most talked-about display in the whole city, even if no living eyes were left to see it. He arranged the three mannequins for the seventh time. A jacket here, a scarf draped just so, boots angled exactly thirty degrees. It looked good. It looked clean. But something was missing, and the missing thing made his hands shake. Quinn floated back to the sidewalk and stared in. The clothes were perfect. The lighting was perfect. And that was the problem. Nothing stopped you. Nothing made you gasp. He needed a frame, a stage, something that turned the window into a doorway. He found them folded in a dusty crate inside: long, sheer curtains in pink, lilac, and pale blue. He hung them from a wooden beam right outside the glass, letting them billow across the walkway. The fabric caught the gray light and glowed. A drifting figure down the block actually paused. Quinn pressed a hand to the window and smiled. The display had its hook. Now he needed someone, anyone, to truly notice.