Today was my last day as Tioli's.

It has been crazy here for the week, and today Charlie and Leo clearly couldn't bear to be here any longer. I know I shouldn't take it personally, since they have been so sad for a while. But now, Charlie says she will "walk through" me tomorrow and then hand in her keys.

People were coming to see me like it was Christmas season. Something about how Leo and Charlie had marked things for $1.00 but would take a quarter instead brought people into me like never before.

A customer exclaimed, "I wish I knew you were having a sale, I just finished making a huge order to Dick Blick." Dick Blick is some guy who seems to live on a thing called an internet and put me out of business, or something like that.

I wondered why they didn't just make everything the new price and keep me open. Guess it doesn't work that way.

Another customer informed them, "You’re getting low on your stock." Which Charlie usually thinks is nice of people to let her know, but she didn't seem grateful today.

The knitters were in for class today, too. It was nice to have them here with me on my last day as this particular place. They are a lively bunch, and I will feel especially quiet without them.

Someone I've never seen before came in and said, "Oh man, I’m so sad you’re leaving. Do you have any artist supplies?"

"Are you really going out of business?" a woman asked as she browsed.

"As opposed to what?" Charlie muttered.

Jack the dog has a little sister, I found out. She came in and visited today. She didn't do any of the stuff that Leo and Charlie thought she might do. And she did something they didn't think she would: she ate rat poison from one of my dark corners. So, while the knitters were being festive, and the customers were lining up, Leo ran the puppy to the vet to make her vomit and Charlie rang up sales. Boy, these people know how to go out with a bang.

I think that Charlie may have been over her stress-load capacity today, though. One customer asked her why she was going out of business and she snapped, "Apparently there is a worldwide recession thingy."

To which the customer cheerily agreed and added, "I've lost everything."

Another customer agreed about the tough times, adding, "It’s really bad on the island. I’m moving to the mainland. The vog is eating my teeth."