I leaned nonchalantly against a rack of sunglasses, enjoying the shop's air conditioning while scouting the lay of the land. The polarized lens and reflected sunlight and skeptical shadiness of this place had me on edge. The Rose-Kissed Sun™ wasn't a terribly brag-worthy name for my first mission as an undercover rookie cop. But as I watched customer after customer trickle in and out, it confirmed our suspicions: there was something fishy about those special rose-tinted glasses.  Normal people didn't skip down the road during the pandemic. It just didn't happen.

I approached the cash register. Katy Anderson, the shop's owner scrolled through her phone. Her effortless smile was hidden behind a medical mask, but her presence brightened up the room.

"I see your business is doing well?" I ventured. 

She nodded and gestured to her collection of brand names and original products. "Very. Pandemic or no pandemic, everyone needs some style! My fuschia shades are especially famous this time of year."

I snapped my fingers. "Right, those ones! They seem to have quite the effect on my colleagues. It's made office work a lot easier to handle, especially when working at home with kids." I played the part of a tired office worker, and not a police officer.

"Which was why I made these glasses just to spread some happiness around until we're all vaccinated." She grabbed a pair off the rack. "You must be here to buy one! They're still on sale, buy it while it's hot!"

I pretend to squint through its fuschia lens. Nothing was visible at first, but....

"I promise, it works. You won't ever want to take it off again." Katy smiled. 

"You said you made these yourselves?"

"Ye! Anything that helps with what we're dealing with these days, counts, right?"

When I finally tore my eyes away from what I was seeing, Katy's lips had returned into a straight line. "Spreading happiness shouldn't be a crime, sir. On the other hand—a police officer, loitering in my shop during quarantine! You'd think law officials would follow their own rules."

—

Several weeks after Katy Anderson's arrest and the mind-control theories of the Rose-Tinted Sunglasses case had died down, the shop was boarded up with white paper and lease signs. It was another addition to the row of closed businesses lining the street.

A man walked up to stand beside me. "Well, this pandemic just can't get any worse, can it. My favourite bar closed down too."

"Some things had to be done. Whatever she was doing, we couldn't risk endangering the population."

"From what?"

"Mindless false hopes and all."

"All good things come to an end."

I risked a glance at his rose-tinted glasses, and raised my brows. "I suppose. Though I'd like to believe that it applies to bad things, too." 

I feel like more of my stories need less work to write. Perhaps it's because they're now leaning towards contemporary, or because I am more easily inspired by one-liners. For example, this idea came from a video game when a character asked a go-lucky character for a prescription of their rose-tinted glasses.