"Can you believe some of this stuff?" Karyn said. "What's this? Staff of Obedience? It doesn't look like anything special. See any good costumes, Jon?"
"Not really, Karyn," Jon said. "I mean, there's some interesting outfits here, but I'm not sure I'd call them 'costumes', and even at 50% off, some of these prices seem a bit steep."
A short while later, the old man reappeared from behind the curtain. "See anything you like?" he asked.
"This is an interesting shop," Karyn said. "But I'm not sure we're willing to spend the prices you're asking."
"Ah, I see," the old man replied. "In that case, let me make you an offer. I'll loan you one item in this store, for oh ... let's say, a week. You can try out the item, and if you're not perfectly satisfied, you can rent any costume here for an 80% discount. What do you think?"
Jon and Karyn thought for a moment, then Jon spoke up. "Well, the costume dance is just over a week away, so I guess we still have time to get costumes. I'm game. What do you think, Karyn?"
"Yeah, I guess," she said.
"Well, do you know what item you'd like?" asked the old man.
"This Staff of Obedience seems interesting," Karyn said. The old man grinned and pulled the wood staff out from behind the glass and showed it to Karyn.
"Yes, the Staff of Obedience. There's a terribly long and interesting story behind this one, but I won't bore you with it right now. But allow me to explain some things. First: Whoever holds this staff will not be able to put it down until the week long trial period is over. Second: Whatever command you say while holding the staff will be obeyed. Please be VERY careful with it. That's about it. I assume the lady will be the one to hold it?"
"Yeah, sure, I guess," Karyn said as the man handed her the staff.
"See you in a week," he said as Jon and Karyn left the shop.
"Do you really think people will just obey you with that stick?" Jon asked.
"I don't know, maybe I should try it out."
"Go right ahead, but I don't think it will work."
"Okay ...
