#5

Welcome back everyone! You might have forgotten about this blog in the few months it was away, but it’s back now–and so am I. My name is Iolani Mahiai, and I am here to give you a closer look at your favorite places around the castle and the villages. Today, we are going to explore Bonko’s joke shop!

Bonko’s Joke Shop. It was a place that was either your favorite, or the bane of your existence–if you were a prefect, or a certain department head with a hate for dungbombs.

The shop, on the outside, was bright blue, but the windows had yellow edges. The first thing that I would have thought when I saw it was “this must be a joke shop,” so they get brownie points for that. It was a rather friendly looking place, with a large, yellow sign with the name on it, and a very colorful doormat reading “ALL ARE WELCOME, COME ON IN!” I decided to follow the doormat's instructions.

As I entered, the tune of a strange bell played in my ears. It was a mix of a few muggle tunes that I slightly recognized. The shop had the general appearance of what a joke shop would look like. There was a speaker with some fun music playing out of it, and Bonko himself sitting at the counter.

I looked over at the shelves. The jokes were separated into categories. There were edible jokes, pranks, and things that would just help out your life in the most random ways. The first thing that caught my eye were the self-shuffling cards. I knew how to shuffle, but I had a few friends who didn’t–buying them this could rub it in their faces. With a grin, I took a deck of the cards off of the shelf and directed my eyes to the self-correcting quill. These things had gotten many students through rigorous history of magic essays, so I decided to give it a try–why not, right? They were legal at school. With a sweep of my hand, I added it to my pile and walked over to the pranks.

Pranks. These shelves, which were pressed to the back wall, had multi-colored streamers hanging from the top. For some reason the shelf held a fanged frisbee–it was more dangerous than a prank. Like, seriously! That thing can hurt people! With a sigh, I tucked it in my hand. I was definitely going to buy it… but only to take it off of their hands. Definitely. 100%. I grinned as I saw the shrinking keys. I could have bought one, but I decided to enjoy the aesthetic of the shop instead of spending all of my money.

A door in the back caught my eye. That must be where the edible things are. I pulled my eyes away from the shrinking keys and went to the back, an immediate chill hitting me as I pulled open the door. This reminded me of a mini-grocery shop. There were even mini shopping carts on the ground (which had price tags on them as well). There was a giant sign which said “REFRIGERATED ITEMS,” which, for some reason, held dungbombs. On the shelves held fainting fancies. I would never be caught using one of these, but I had some friends who would gladly get out of a lecture with them.

I decided that would be the end of my Joke Shop adventure. After paying for my items, I entered back into the village, giving a nod to the Joke Shop as I left its perimeters.

Thank you for tuning into today’s blog of Lani’s Maps! Hope you enjoyed it, and please, tell me where you want me to explore next time in the comments! Have a wonderful day!

This blog post has been written by: Iolani Mahiai