Shopping

Shopping

Jane sat in the car waiting for her husband to come out of the store. She hadn’t wanted to go in, grocery stores were part of his world and in his world they both had to pretend she was just a normal person. But, she was bored.

As she sat there an employee came out to round up carts. He seemed annoyed, even as he left the store, jerking carts out of parking places as if it was beneath him to be doing this menial work, pulling them into the open, then stomping up the drive lane to the next errant cart.

Just then an elderly woman turned into the lane, but the carts he’d left were right in her way. Jane saw the employee glance back, but then continue on as if he hadn’t seen her. ‘That jerk,” Jane whispered to herself, but before she could move, another shopper, coming out, ran over and pulled the carts out of the woman’s way.

Glancing back at the employee, she noticed he was still putting carts into the drive lane, and actually grinning about it now. Jane unconsciously reached for her pendant, a symbol she always wore, usually out of sight under her shirt.

Holding the pendant, she raised her other hand slightly, not enough for anyone to notice, a tiny movement. Suddenly some brown leaves near the ground began to swirl, lightly skittering across the driving lane gathering dust and dirt as they blew. Getting down near the employee, still fighting with the carts, they blew higher. Reaching him, they blew up, directly into his face.

As Jane watched him swearing and rubbing his eyes, she suddenly felt better. She certainly wasn’t bored anymore and also decided it was probably really good that she’d stayed in the car today.