ODDSTOCK

Before the war, a store tried mighty hard to make every shelf look alike. Georges has gone about this place the other way. Oddstock is a jumble of patched metal, canvas awnings, crowded corners, and lamps that make small islands in the dark. There are some rough decorations I could do without, but I know better than to judge the usefulness of a place by how politely its boards line up.

Looking at all that salvaged stock, I can imagine Georges finding the bones of an old trading spot and giving it another purpose. He is a hard fellow to pin down about his own beginnings, yet he always seems to find a use for what somebody else has passed over. A single sound chair or the right little fitting may not look like much until it is the very thing a neighbor has spent a week hunting.

Of all thing odd things about this location, I would say the oddest is how people have reported finding PG perched on top having what appears to be deep conversations with his withered, skeletal vistor.