A swirly cloud of something that looked like fog filled the room, and then faded into the night. A man lay sleeping in a bed, covers pulled up to his chin. The clock next to him showed "6:59", then quietly flipped to "7:00" and began to beep.

Jim was asleep, and right in the middle of a very exciting dream, when the loud beeping of the alarm woke him up. He blinked his eyes a few times, rolled over and turned off the alarm. He lay there in bed for a moment, remembering what he was supposed to do today. Whatever it was, it had to be better than yesterday, he thought - today is a brand new day!

After laying there quietly for a moment, Jim:

Sharon's birthday!

Jim hopped out of bed, his eyes wide as he realized he hadn't gotten her a present yet. He jumped into and out of the shower, brushed his teeth, and ran a worn-out comb through his hair, and then

Upon entering the mall, the first shop that Jim dropped into was a smallish boutique full of odd trinkets. There didn't seem to be anyone around. He browsed the store for a while, and having still noticed not another soul he went to the counter to look for some sort of an "out to lunch sign". when he leaned over the counter he immediately felt a woman leaning over him quite closely- spooning him in fact. Breifly after feeling her ample breasts on his back he jerked around in suprise, and was greeted by a tall buxom twentyish blonde; she had to be at least 6'1" and quite athletic. Her silken hair grew to the middle of her back, and was styled in cute bangs in front; she had green eyes that set off the slight tan her model-esque face. ( and finally a full fourth of a page in ) Of course Jim's attention was immediately drawn to her breasts, they had to be in the high DD or even E range, and he was by the way that they rose and fell with her breathing. Finally he was able to tear his attention away from them long enough to ask her a question:

"Where'd you come from?"

"Where'd you come from?" She answered immediately.

"I asked you first."

"This is my shop."

"So I guess you just materialized out of thin air then?" He replied sarcastically.

"Maybe, but rather than ponder that, why don't we find your girlfriend a gift?"

"How'd you know my girlfriend needed a gift?"

"Well people only come into these stores for two reasons- women come to find gag items, and men come to buy gifts for thier girlfriends. So unless there's something that you've forgotten to tell me: you're here to buy a gift for your girlfriend."

"So what do you reccomend?" Jim asked.

"How about this?" She asked, pulling a ring from her finger.

Jim now noticed that she was wearing quite an elaborate assortment of bautiful jewelry. However he somehow felt that the ring she showed him would be perfect for Sharon. "That's perfect!" he exclaimed. "But what are you doing with so much jewelry anyway?"

"Probably infringeing on any number of other stories"

"What?"

"nothing."

"So how much is the ring anyway?"

"$15,000,- more if you want a bottle of cleaner"

Taken aback Jim remembered that he didn't even pay that much for his car. "That's insane! Do you manage to sell anything around here?"

"I'll give you the whole package for just $50 if you'll let me come to the party, that would probably be better anyway" She said with a warm, easy smile.

The ring would bem perfect for Sharon, so at this point Jim was forced to: