The Mistress of Spices

The store has been here for only one year, but many people think that it has always been here. Above the door are faded brown letters which say: spice bazaar. I, too, look as if I have always been here. When customers enter, they see an old bent woman with skin the color of sand. The foods in my store remind them of India-the land most of them left behind when they came to America. They don't know the truth about me, of course. They don't know that I'm not really old-that this body is not really mine. I am Tilo, the Mistress of Spices. I can see into the hearts and lives of my customers. I know all their secrets and all their problems.