It's also much more convenient than eBay, that counts for something.

Do Fridays work in general for her to come by and check for orders?

"Sure, I can plan on it. It's not going to be this much every week, though, you know."

Yeah, that's fine. It's still worth taking half an hour out of her week for, she's not busy.

"Right on."

She'll see him next week, then.

That doesn't bring her quite up to having enough to eat for two weeks and also get a smartphone to put a communication app on, but pretty close, she thinks. Is there an electronics store around to check prices at?

There is an electronics repair shop which has the named boxes thing going on for all actual orders of electronics.

How does that work, she asks a clerk - she knows she wants a smartphone but she doesn't have a model in mind, should she go pick something out on Amazon or is their selection different than that?

"I mean, if you order one from Amazon it can come here in the mail just fine," says the clerk, "what you get here is the data plan and stuff, we only do Rogers and Telus."

She doesn't have a card to order from Amazon with, she wants to pay cash; do they do that?

"Yeah, I can get you a phone for cash. You wanna pick something special online or pick something popular here?"

Something popular should be fine. She's looking for something reliable and decent at apps but cheap.

"Like this?" He pulls a box out of a bin with GREENE written on it. "This one's for Miz Greene but you can look at the package."

She looks, but she's not tech-ey enough to make sense of it particularly.

She'll look at reviews online and come back when she knows what she wants; she appreciates the help, anyway.

"You're welcome."

She takes care of that next time she's at the library; she doesn't have quite enough money, yet, but next time May comes by she should be able to put her order in.

Her next most pressing issue is that she's lonely; she's not actually sure she's ever gone a week without a hug before. She heads over to the playground Saturday after lunch.

Little kids on various numbers of feet gambol around. They are pirates, except for the two toddlers in the sandbox, who are toddlers in a sandbox.

Little kids are pretty cool sometimes, she's not one of the stuck-up kind of teenagers. Do they want pirate hats? And treasure?

THEY ABSOLUTELY WANT PIRATE HATS AND TREASURE.

And a SWORD, says a smol satyr.

She can make safe swords but they have to ask their grownups first!

The satyr asks his mom (a faun) and she says he may have a nice soft sword if there are some to be had.

Then he can have a foam sword. The blade is grey and the hilt is gold with a big red jewel on the end.

The pirates resume play with relish. Cartoon gold coins fly everywhere.

She hangs around to watch and throw the occasional challenge at them. Oh no, a kaiju is attacking! (And now there's a pile of swords for anyone who wants one, the watching adults having had a chance to get used to the idea.)

Pirates attempt to enlist the kaiju in their piratical activities!

The kaiju extrudes a tentacle to steal this one kid's pirate hat and eat it! The fiend!