Tag: fiction

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

Gerald yawned and stretched. The night shift hauling coal was boring, but he was good with that. His shift would end in Kansas City in a couple of hours.

An emergency stop was the most excitement he ever experienced during his nineteen years on the job. Barry, the conductor, forced an unscheduled stop in a small town without a station. A pair of drunken hobos were fighting over who was smarter. Gerald thought they were both ridiculous. If either had had any sense, neither would be riding in the dirty coal cars.

Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash

The surf and sun had become my daily slice of heaven since retirement. I’ve always loved the ocean, but with a healthy dose of respect for its power. There is a saying “Never turn your back on the ocean.”

Today, my golden retriever, Henry, and I took our daily mid-morning stroll on the beach. A small group of children from a nearby rehabilitation center were there playing along the water’s edge. I tossed a stick up the beach away from the group for Henry to chase.

I turned back to watch the children. The children explored the sand and water with their bare toes from their special strollers or chairs. Their shrieks and giggles were music to my ears. One caretaker handed a chair-bound boy a seashell. He responded with a whole-body smile.

Photo by Veenit Panchal on Unsplash

“Hey, do you work in the mall?” asked a woman with a small child. Wade nodded. “Good. Where’s a bathroom?”

Wade had only worked there a week. So, he looked around until he spotted a map kiosk and motioned for her to follow. His finger landed on the pink dot that said ‘You are here’ and then pointed to the nearest bathroom. She thanked him, then walked in that direction.

He looked at the map again because, now, he didn’t know which way to go. Do I need to go left or right to get to ‘Games and More’? Why don’t they put the store names on the spaces located on the map? Matching the address numbers and categories to find the store was too difficult. He glanced at his phone. Ten minutes left before his shift started. He went right because of the barely visible sign the same color as ‘Games and More’. When he reached that store front, it sold candles; the aroma made him sneeze. Since the mall is a large circle, he didn’t turn around. I’ll eventually walk by it. With one minute to spare, he breathlessly walked into the store.

Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash

“What’s the trouble now?” asked his wife, Stacy, as she tossed her leftover crust on to the pizza box lid.

Mort looked up at her from the newspaper. “You remember that guy at the county fair? The one with the booth of beautiful woodwork?” He didn’t wait for her to reply. “Well, he died of a heart attack three days ago.”

“Yeah, so, we all have to die sometime.” She looked away from him and flipped the TV to a different channel.

Photo by Peter Lewis on Unsplash

The headline on the ad in the weekly freebie paper read ‘Get Paid for Your Opinion’. The ad was for a mystery shopper job with a twist – instead of shopping I would go to a church and give it a grade. I was laid off from work and looking for every opportunity to earn a little extra here and there.

Entering the church, I felt like a fraud. I was raised to go to church every Sunday, but hadn’t been to one in years. I felt like everyone was staring at me. I had second thoughts about going through with it, but my empty bank account and pile of bills urged me onward.