“This place is on life support...” Jon thought as he walked through the mostly empty Lake Point Mall. The only remaining chains stores that were left were Bath and Bodyworks, GNC, and a Taco Bell in the food court. JCPenney, which had been the last remaining anchor store, had been replaced by a local grocery store which seemed out of place in a mall, but it likely generated a bit of foot traffic for the dying mall. Many of the smaller retail stores sat empty, and the handful that did have something it were occupied by local businesses. ”I can’t believe this...” Jon could remember going to the mall all the time as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s. ”That used to be the arcade... and the Hot Topic was there...” Jon thought as he passed a couple of empty stores. ”Ugh... This is just making me depressed. Maybe I’ll just do digital gift cards from Amazon instead.” Jon thought as he stopped by the fountain in the center of the mall.
Looking into the fountain Jon was saddened to see a lack of pennies resting at the bottom of the pool. ”The magic of this place is really gone...” Jon thought back to fond memories of tossing wishing pennies into the fountain with his friends. ”Man...” Jon’s eyes focused on his reflection in the fountain water. ”You know you and I have a lot in common.” Jon thought studying his aging face and thinning hair. ”We both peaked years ago... And now we are just shells of what we once were...” Jon looked around at the decaying mall. ”I just wish there was some way we could both turn our fortunes around.” Jon thought as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed towards the nearest exit.
