Stepping onto the cobbled pavement, I stared up at the seemingly tiny store. Large, black letters hung over the top window, reading a very confusing 'INCONVENIENCE STORE'.

Apparently, nobody could ever buy anything from the shop. 10 years and not a single item bought. I scoffed at the idea, surely it can't be that bad. So, completely confident in the idea that I could easily beat this.

The doors swung open before I could even touch them as the short rows of different foods, drinks and newspapers expanded so far I couldn't even see the end. Hm.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE!" A shouting voice echoed, "IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD DO TO NOT HELP YOU?"

Once again, I scoffed. This was the best they'd got? Easy.

As if the store heard my thoughts, large speakers emerged from the ground and starting booming the worst possible music ever. The floors vibrated with the bass banging through the room and the walls shook with either excitement or cringe, I couldn't quite tell.

Steadily, I wondered through the endless aisles, trying to keep my footing as the music got louder and louder. My whole idea was to just grab whatever I could and make it to the cashier tills in the other corner of the store.

A packet of doritos. Easy. I reached out to grab them but just as my fingers grazed the plastic packet, the bag disappeared. Great. I went to get the coke bottle at the end but that disappeared too.

Sighing, I walked to the other side of the aisle, newspapers this time. I figured out I needed to do more than just take them. So I covered my ears as I walked towards the door and grabbed a carrier bag from the pile.

Then, I walked back over to the newspapers and tied the hair tie from around my wrist to the handles of the bag, leaving just a small gap for the newspaper to go in.

I then tried to get the bag over the newspaper without actually touching it, it took a few tries but eventually it caught. Smiling, I retied the tie to completely close the gap and walked towards the tills.

Emptying out the bag, I looked up at the cashier but all I saw was a cardboard cutout. Wonderful. "Hello?" I questioned, unsure if someone was here at all. No response. I decided to walk behind the till but before I could register the newspaper, the till began spinning.

"Might as well just give up.." "WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE!" The same voice from earlier echoed. "YOU HAVE COMPLETED STAGE ONE. ARE YOU READY TO MOVE TO STAGE TWO? PLEASE STATE YES OR NO."

"Yes."

"TRANSPORT IN ACTION."

The room went black. Then a red flash. I blinked and then opened my eyes. It seemed like a basement, but creepier. All the aisles appeared again, I was back where I started.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE! WHAT CAN I DO TO NOT HELP YOU?"

It was different to last time, but only slightly. The lights were darker than before, the room seemed to be on an angle. This was when I began panicking.

A pale person appeared about six inches away from my face.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE ST-ST-ST-ST-STOoooOore." It yelled, yet the mouth did not move. It sounded like it was glitching, a robot perhaps. At this point, I was really scared.

A flash. Bang. Crack. The robot person transformed into a shadowed figure, looking very similar to my grandfather, although he had passed away years before.

"Josie..." the figure smiled, gleaming white teeth matching its glowing eyes. How did it know my name?

"Come to me..give me a hug, Jo.."

A tear slipped down my face, it seemed to hypnotise me. As I walked towards it, extending my arms to give him a hug, its arms also extended, but closer to my neck.

It began choking me, but as soon as I collapsed, I woke up again. This time outside the store. I walked up to the door again but this time it was locked and the old words of 'INCONVENIENCE STORE' had now become, 'YOU HAVE ALREADY ATTEMPTED THIS ONCE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN IN 72 HOURS."

I huffed and decided to just walk home. The store was left undefeated.