A Guide to Convenience Stores
Modern Convenience stores: Unremarkable. Best suited to college students willing to shell out double the normal price for Ramen and candy. Also some of the safest to be in, as long as you head the rules and don't look too long at other customers or the cashier. Stealing is not advised, but the price is usually small.
“Old Fashioned” Convenience Stores: You can tell these by the more dated decorations. The lights may flicker, and the Hood ice cream box may be stuffed with off-brand products. Such stores are relatively safe to shop in. The only caveats are to keep your shopping to when the flickering lights are at a lull (think of the flickering like a cat hissing before it bites), and unless the ice cream is the correct brand, don’t look at the labels for too long. It’s quite impossible to tell how long such treats have been there, so it's best to avoid them. Stealing is ill advised, but will have little consequence as long as no one catches you.
“Night” Convenience Stores: While not the official name, these stores are known for only appearing at certain times. Some claim the doors only open at a certain time, like the exact strike of the clock at 10:35 pm. Others claim such places have a much more liquid time of opening, sometime after the last blues of the sky have fled. While these stores are certainly open to the general public, you must remember to be cautious. Only purchase things you recognize from your world. While items from other places are largely harmless, you can never be sure of what affects they will have on you. Under no circumstances are you to steal. They will make sure you always pay for what you take, one way or another.
“Barren” convenience stores: Found in ghost towns, and on some stretches of less populated highway, they only appear in desolate places. You can usually tell these stores from their broken, dark windows, and the slow music that endlessly pumps from the open doorways. If you come across a store like this, simply close your door, roll up your windows, and keep driving. Don’t look in the windows, and don’t listen too closely to the song; these stores aren’t for you. They won’t hurt you, as long as you keep away.
A side note: It is important to be sure that the convenience store you have come across is in fact a convenience store. The tell tale signs of eye-shaped windows, nostrils above the door, and suspiciously large teeth that ring the door frame will tell whether or not your store is a store or a very well-hidden mimic.
Happy shopping!