While he knew to be patient, he was still unwilling as he left the gear store behind, Alicia's motherly grip propelling him forward and away.
After walking for a while, they finally stopped in front of a store. Different kinds of vegetables and fruits could be seen in wooden square baskets at the entrance outside, many of those still unknown to Theron. A greengrocer was at the side, rearranging and restocking the various baskets. The name-board above the entrance read "Greens For You!
"....." Theron was speechless. 'That's a pretty enthusiastic name for just cabbages and carrots...'
This was the grocery store Alicia often bought from for their fresh products and quality to price ratio.
Alicia gently patted Theron at the back. "This is the place little Teri, let's go inside."
"Ding!" As Alicia opened the door and held it for Theron, a bell hung over them sounded, announcing their entry.
The place smelled of nature and earthly odors. It was filled with long wooden baskets placed along the walls full of fruits and different kinds of bulbs. Shelves resembling bookshelves, but with green vegetables on them instead of books, were neatly arranged in the middle of the store while jute bags with some kind of potato like vegetable in them were placed at some specific spots on the floor.
At the other end of the store and past the shelves with the greens, a bald head popped out from behind a wooden counter and looked straight at them through its small round glasses.
"Misses Alicia, what a surprise!" The owner of the bald head immediately called out, just before he vanished again behind the counter.
From the left side of it a short man appeared. He was only one head taller than Theron, his head barely reaching in its entirety above the height of the counter. He must have a stool, or something similar, he uses to step on behind it.
"Didn't you buy your weekly supplies the day before yesterday? I wasn't expecting you today." he said while he walked towards us.
As he got closer, finer details about him could be observed. He wore dark brown trousers with thinly worn-out black boots on his feet. Most of the trousers though, along with a dirt-smudged white shirt, were hidden behind a dark green apron that was strapped behind his waist.
He was about forty to fifty years old as shown by the small wrinkles on his forehead and corners of his eyes, while the few hairs he was left with were graying out of their black color.
"Good evening mister Gren. I just wanted to make little Teri's favorite today, but I was missing some ingredients."
"Little Teri?" slightly surprised, mister Gren glanced at Theron.
"Oh, so this is little Theron, the genius of the family!" mister Gren exclaimed.
"Well little guy, I am glad to make you acquaintance. I am the owner of this humble grocery store, Gren Voger. It's nice to finally meet you. Your mother only speaks of praises for your intellect when she comes to buy from this small store of mine." pleasantly said mister Gren as he introduced himself and put out his right hand for a handshake.
Theron looked up at his mother, but instead of embarrassment from being exposed of her bragging to strangers, he only saw full-on pride! Well, truth was, he wasn't really expecting anything else from her.
Bringing his attention back to the "Greens For You!" owner... he calmly brought out his tiny hand and reciprocated the handshake.
"Hello mister Gren, nice to meet you."
Gren Voger was surprised by the calm and composed demeanor the four years old boy had.
Any other kid at his age would be so nervous, shy, or even afraid by now when meeting a complete stranger, they should be hiding behind their mothers. Instead, only unbending confidence and sharp intellect was escaping through thi boy's innocent eyes.
For the past four years, he would constantly, on a weekly basis, listen to the praises misses Alicia spurted out for her son as she bought from his store. She almost deified the boy from her accounts of the amazing feats her son had performed, as if they were the first steps towards his ascension.
Of course, he never voiced out his disapproval for her obvious exaggerations, attributing them instead to the crazy adoration this mother had for her child.
But seeing the young man today, he was starting to believe those crazy stories a little. After all, the boy was clearly different than the other kids his age.
"Oh, that's a steady handshake you got there! Impressive young man, your future will be bright!" Gren said while they both withdrew their hands at the same time.
He stared at this intellectual child in contemplation for a few seconds after that; his thoughts, a mystery and well hidden from the mother-child duo all the time until he snapped out of them.
"Right misses Alicia, let's get back to business. What ingredients are you looking for today?"
"Ah yes, mister Gren. This is the list of what I want." she took out from her purse a folded piece of paper and handed it over to mister Gren.
"Wow, this is one rich favorite dish!" exclaimed mister Gren in awe as he read the dozens of ingredients.
"Well, although there are quite several of them you require, our "Greens For You!" can surely meet your demand." mister Gren stated with a business smile on.
"I will go to the storage room right now and pick out the best quality ones. In the meantime, feel free to browse our shelves and look around until I get them ready for you." he said, right before he walked straight towards the counter and through a door at its left.
"Okay, mister Gren." Alicia nodded.
While still holding her son's hand, Alicia leisurely walked through the shelves, stopping a few times only when she spotted a vegetable that her son didn't like, to ask him if he wanted to try it again.
Sometimes she would pester him over a particular one in a bid to change his mind, while other times she would admit defeat after she received the first no as answer and instead squeeze her son's cheeks in adoration.