Valur placed his heavy envelope full of documents in the letterbox at the ÚTL Institute. Their office counters were already closed. As he turned around, he saw a sign on the window of the new souvenir shop opposite the institute. 

“Looking to hire employee

Ready to start immediately

No tapping required.”

Valur let his curiosity guide him and approached the shop’s immaculate polished windows. Legions of nearly identical figurines were lining up on the narrow shelves. Puffins ready to fly, trolls ready to devour, and legendary warriors ready to kill each other were all proudly displayed from one end of the shopfront to the other. 

Tiptip Tiptiptap

Valur startled before staring anxiously at the inquisitive face of the man who had just tapped his fingers on the shop’s window. 

“ARE…YOU…INTERESTED?” he asked, nodding while pointing at the job advertisement hanging right next to his face. 

“I don’t know, I just arrived… Yes, maybe?”

Valur imagined himself for a moment among these puffin figurines, belonging to this well-ordered and well-polished world, where everyone was similar and everyone had a place. 

“You have to pay your rent, right?” added the old man, flashing a big, knowing smile. “And we don’t need a contract between us, right? We can trust each other.”

Valur was indeed looking for work, although he did not yet have a work permit. He had enough savings to live decently for two or three months, but he had not anticipated the cost of the administrative documents he had just submitted. In the end, why not try here? The shop seemed rather pleasant, and it would be more convenient to do all the administrative procedures for the next months without having to take five buses and two zip lines to get there. Instead, Valur would take five buses and two zip lines every day to go to work and handle his paperwork at the same time. 

“Yes, I’m interested,” he said in a rather determined tone. 

The old man tore down the advertisement, unlocked the glass door that was separating them so far, and shook his hand vigorously. 

“You start, tonight?”