A New Story Most Thursdays
In This Edition of Thursday Stories: The perils of doing good…
Happy May, Friends and Neighbors, and welcome to Thursday Stories. Looking back over my dusty herd of short stories, I realize that some of these rascals haven’t seen the light of day in quite a spell. Time to let them romp a bit! And so—drumroll please—I give you Thursday Stories. I’m not guaranteeing a new story every Thursday, but I will do my best until all the archived tales have been set free.
You can find all of my stories and more at the Marco Etheridge Fiction Website:
This week’s edition of Thursday Stories features Timeout, flash fiction in the grocery aisles. Here is the tale of two very different women, an angry toddler, and a box of cereal. The genre is literary flash fiction. Timeout first appeared in SuperPresent Magazine, 2024.
Now, without further ado, I give you another edition of Thursday Stories. I hope you enjoy it.
Timeout
by Marco Etheridge
Kate Miller stalked the supermarket aisle as if on a runway at a New York fashion show. Her active wear whispered too-tight lycra secrets while her cute court shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor. Kate turned into the healthy choices section, a haven from high fructose corn syrup and enriched white flour.
Healthy choices mattered. Kate hadn’t always chosen the right path, but things were different now. Her therapist hammered the point home in every session. Be a passenger and let life take you where it will, or take control. These days, Kate chooses the driver’s seat.
It hadn’t been easy, but learning to make her own choices had made Kate a more enlightened person. Being kind to herself allowed her to be kind to others, especially those less fortunate than herself. Not everyone had the advantages she did, or the ability to learn hard lessons and better themselves.
Kate pulled a box of organic muesli from the shelf, flipped the package over, and scanned the ingredients. Was it truly gluten-free? The labels weren’t always true. Part of making a good decision lay in gathering all the facts, another thing her therapist hammered home.
The muesli passed muster. Kate dropped it into her wicker shopping basket and searched for the next item on her list. As she reached for a bag of soy crackers, a high-pitched scream cut through the aisles and pierced her skull. An angry voice chased the scream, a woman’s voice, rough and strained.
“Goddammit, Ryan, gimme that before you ruin it.”
Another scream echoed through the store, followed by the dull thud of boxes hitting linoleum.
“Shit, now look what you done. They’re going to throw us out for sure.”
Kate abandoned the soy crackers, squared her shoulders, and walked to the end of the aisle. She rounded the end cap and stopped.
Bright boxes of sugary cereal lined the shelves. Halfway up the aisle stood a young woman confronting a red-faced toddler perched in a shopping cart. The boy clutched a cereal box with both fists. More boxes lay in a heap around the wheels of the cart.
The young mother reached for the boy’s treasure. The kid opened his mouth to wail, and Kate sprang into action. Three quick strides and she closed the distance. She pasted a smile across her face and tried for a firm but chipper tone.
“Hi there. Looks like you’re having a tough day.”
The young mother turned on Kate. She had hard eyes, hair that could do with a good wash and conditioner, and wore thrift store clothes that were not shabby chic.
“Mind your own business, lady.”
Kate looked from mother to son. The boy’s eyes were bright with tears. Two little rivulets of snot crusted down to his upper lip. Not a pretty picture.
Kate exhaled through her nose and brightened her smile.
“I know some days can be hard, especially with little ones. Maybe if we just took a little break, we could calm down.”
The younger woman looked Kate up and down.
“How many kids you got?”
Kate felt a flush start at her throat but smiled it away.
“None, actually, but I have friends with children. I know how difficult kids can be.”
The mother nodded her head. A mean little smile twisted her mouth. She ignored her grimy toddler, who resumed mangling the cereal box.
“Right, friends with kids. That would make you an expert.”
The woman’s snide tone hit like a slap. Kate took a long breath. What would her therapist tell her? Right, when life gets messy, smart choices come from acting, not reacting. Take action.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. My name’s Kate. What’s yours?”
“Kate, huh? Sure, that fits. I’m Penny, and this little ball of trouble is Ryan.”
“You know, Penny, maybe a timeout would be a good thing. You take a little break and I’ll watch Ryan.”
Penny shook the dirty bangs out of her eyes and looked past Kate’s shoulder. Kate felt the situation shift a tiny bit, like she might be getting through to this girl. Penny looked into Kate’s eyes. The hard anger had drained from Penny’s face, replaced by something else. Hope, maybe? Kate felt a strong bond of empathy. This young woman, a girl really, and already a mother, could be Kate’s little sister.
Then the younger woman smiled, and Kate’s heart went out to her. She saw herself standing in Penny’s scuffed shoes, saddled with a child. It could have happened that way. Good decisions and good luck made all the difference.
Penny’s voice, quiet now, broke into Kate’s thoughts.
“I guess I could go for a quick smoke.”
Kate bit back her disapproval and nodded.
“Sure, you do that. Ryan and I will be right here, okay?”
Penny smiled a shy smile, ducked her head, and snatched her purse from the litter of the shopping cart. Without another word, she was gone, walking fast past cartoon faces grinning down from rows of cereal boxes. She turned the corner of the aisle and vanished without a backward glance.
Kate stared down the empty aisle. A twinge of doubt tightened her throat, but she pushed the feeling away. No, taking action felt good. She balanced her basket atop the pile of cheap food in the shopping cart and turned to the grubby boy. Ryan mangled his cereal box, seemingly unconcerned that his mom had just disappeared.
“Hey, Ryan, how are you doing?”
The boy grinned at her and thrust out the crumpled box.
“No, we can’t open that until later, okay?”
The boy ignored her and managed to tear off a bit of cardboard. He grinned in triumph. Kate reached for the cereal, but the boy clutched his treasure and scowled.
Kate held up her hands in surrender. The minutes ticked past. She checked her watch and sighed. To pass the time, she restocked the fallen boxes. Penny did not reappear.
“Right, let’s go find your mom.”
Kate pushed the cart toward the front of the supermarket. Ryan tore at his cereal box, leaving a trail of shredded cardboard.
A wall of floor-to-ceiling glass looked out onto a wide sidewalk. Kate parked the shopping cart and peered over pallets of potting soil and charcoal. People came and went, pushing laden carts or clutching shopping bags, but there was no sign of Penny. Kate craned her neck, looking for a telltale cloud of cigarette smoke. Nothing to the left, nothing to the right.
Doubt surged through the pit of her guts, replaced by bitter certainty. Bile rose in her throat, harsh and choking. Mocking words echoed in Kate’s brain.
You’re such a fool, Kate. Little idiot. The dirty bitch is gone. Dumped her snot-nosed kid on you and disappeared. She’s going off to party and you’re stuck with her disgusting rugrat. How could you be so stupid?
Kate pushed up against the glass, practically climbing over bags of charcoal destined for happy grilling parties. She looked and looked, but panic did not cause Penny to reappear. Then she heard a squawk behind her.
Ryan managed to extract the cereal bag from its carton but could not open it. He held it out to Kate, pleading with his eyes. Kate climbed down from her perch and stood beside the pathetic child. She reached for the bag and tore it open with one savage yank. Sugary nuggets fell to the floor. She offered the gaping bag to Ryan.
The toddler stuck both hands into the remnants of the bag. He yanked out two fists full of cereal and began stuffing it into his mouth. Matching strings of drool crept down his chin.
“Well, I guess you’re happy now, aren’t you?”
Kate blew out a long breath. She stared at the ruptured bag balanced on her hand.
“Looks like it’s me and you, kid. You’re stuck with your Auntie Kate.”
Ryan smiled at her and gurgled out a spew of wet crumbs. Kate eyed the sidewalk one more time. Then her hand strayed into the cereal bag and came out full. She tilted her head back and opened her fingers. A harsh sweet tang filled her mouth and coated her teeth. She chewed and chewed, then held the bag out to little Ryan.
finis
You can find SuperPresent Magazine here:
And… if you desire more flash fiction, look no further than my collection Broken Luggage:
Broken Luggage Collected Flash Fiction
Broken Luggage: Two dozen flash fiction tales of love lost and love found, of darkness at the end of life, and light at the beginning.
A man's life condensed into the broken luggage that will contain it. A young woman alone in the Sonoran Desert. Memories of dangerous eggs, thunderstorms, and a gunshot man. A character tours his self-made hell. Another steps from between the pages. Parables of sand and migration A labyrinth into new love, and the remembrance of love past. These two dozen flash stories tell swift tales of love lost and love found, of darkness at the end of life, and light at the beginning.
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