When we left the store, Ava snatched the crystal cock out of my hand. “Here, Eddie. Carry this. We have more shopping to do!”
“Hold on,” I told her. I reached into the bag and pulled out the bracelet. “A gift. For you.”
I slipped it on her wrist, and her elation came through our bond. “It’s so pretty! What is it?”
I smiled. “It’s lepidolite. It’s supposed to stabilize moods. I thought it would help you not to struggle so much.”
Her voice became so soft. “Oh, Charlie! I love it so much.”
I knelt down to give her a hug. She squeezed me tight, and it was obvious she was very appreciative of the gift. I really did hope it helped.
The air around us expanded as we entered a big department store next. I was certain they wouldn’t have the adaptations we needed here. Such a big store with so many customers wouldn’t bother to accommodate people like us.
I was wrong, though, when I heard Ava exclaim beside me, “This is really cool. They have a cart that’s adapted to work with my wheelchair, so I can attach it to my chair and push it along, like an able-bodied person could do with a regular shopping cart.”
“Like you need the ability to grab more stuff,” I joked.
She ignored me. “I’m going to use it!”
Ava rushed from aisle to aisle so fast that I could hardly keep up with her. She grabbed things off the shelves and tossed theminto her cart until it was almost full. At this point, I wasn’t even sure what she was buying.
“The jewelry is downstairs. We have to check it out!” Ava insisted.
“Where’s the elevator?” I wondered.
The headphones I still wore responded automatically. “The elevator is two aisles to your right, next to the perfume counter.”
It was easy to find my way to the elevator, and even easier to feel which buttons to push by the braille engraved on them.
We took the elevator to the main level, and Ava tossed more things into her cart. It was overflowing by the time we checked out. Eddie was carrying so many bags out the door that he nearly toppled over.
I don’t think either of us were prepared for Ava at the mall. She’d scared me quite a few times in the duration of our relationship, but this was her most terrifying form yet.
We must’ve been shopping for hours before we stopped at the bathrooms. I was amazed to find they had several private handicapped restrooms. Ava took one, and I took the other. Audio played when I entered.
“Wave your hand to the left of the door for audio assistance.”
Curiously, I tried it.
“The toilet is three meters behind you. The sink is located to the right of the toilet. The soap dispenser can be found directly above the sink, and the paper towel is on the wall to the right of the sink. The garbage bin sits beneath the paper towel dispenser.”
I’d never been so excited to piss in my life. Seriously. The audio descriptions and accommodations in this place were a game-changer. Now I didn’t have to fumble around to find what I needed.
I left the restroom and heard Ava approaching. “They have audio description in the bathroom!” I said.
“I know!” she cried. “And the bathroom is big enough for my chair. It’s so rare to go anywhere where my chair actually fits in the stall. So many places label their bathroom handicap accessible, but if I can’t close the stall door behind me once my chair is inside, it’s not actually accessible. There should be bathrooms like thiseverywhere.”
“Not just the bathrooms,” I said. “The whole mall.Everythingis accessible. I could actually go shopping by myself, without any help. I’ve never been able to do that, because big places like this are usually too hard to navigate.”
“It is strange to me that other communities wouldn’t make such accommodations for their people,” Eddie remarked. “These kinds of things are no hassle for the Elves. It’s natural for us to provide simple features, to help make the lives of others easier.”
I scoffed. “Never leave Ilamanthe, Eddie. You’d be shocked at how the rest of the world treats people like us.”
“I certainly don’t understand,” Eddie said in confusion. “None of these things are particularly hard to implement. Why wouldn’t all societies have functions in this way, so all kinds of people are able to act as individuals? After all, a disability is only one if it prevents someone from doing something others can.”
“Everyone else acts like we’re such a burden,” Ava said bitterly. “But here, our disabilities are hardly an encumberment, because the Elves are naturally accommodating. Charlie hasn’t even seen half of it. I saw a carriage earlier transporting people around who couldn’t make the long walk from one side of the mall to the other. There are benches everywhere for people to rest if they can’t walk far, and there was a mother’s lounge next to the bathrooms for pregnant people and those with small children. We’ve passed a few designated quiet spaces and meditation areas for people who get overstimulated to calmdown, and there’s water bottle refill stations everywhere. And I can see over the counters atallthe shops, which I haven’t been able to do since I lost the ability to walk! I barely notice the difference between shopping in a wheelchair and how I used to shop before, because everything I need is provided for. I fucking love it here!”
“Alistair said something similar about the counters when we visited last, but I wasn’t sure what he was saying. Is this not something that’s common everywhere?” Eddie questioned.
