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Pastor Bill laughed. “Yeah, the vet thinks something might be wrong with their thyroid. We will get that test done.”
“When you said they were flying through the air, I didn’t expect—”, I paused, realizing I might be crossing the point of no return, “—so you’re telling me, they are quite sporty despite being such big kitties, huh?” My analytical mind just couldn’t imagine it.
“They are so playful. Speaking of which,” Julie saw something out of the corner of her eye. “Are those cat toys, Bill?” She pointed to the aisle behind me.
“Yes, they have dogandcat toys on sale!” I ran over to the cat section, where all the toys were catnip-infused and had long dangles of ribbon trim, bells, and feathers.
Julie picked out a set that looked like sushi, complete in a small tray. Each toy had little sparkling faces on it. “How adorable is this?” She showed Bill and he smiled in approval.
“Okay, we better get going, but now we need this too.” She hugged me once more and Pastor Bill waved.
“See you Sunday?” Julie asked as they walked away.
I’d almost forgotten. “I’m afraid not. We are visiting my mother this weekend. But I’ll tune in online, so I don’t miss anything!”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Have a fun and safe trip. We will see you soon!”
They left the aisle and headed for the checkout. I took one last stroll throughand made my way up to the front.
The cashier gave me a side eye as she rang up the eye makeup remover, nodding in approval. “That’ll be $58.16. Cash or card?”
I held up my card.
“Insert the card into the chip reader. Would you like a receipt?”
“No, thank you.” I noticed in my peripheral that the front doors were whizzing open and closed. Suddenly a lot of people were arriving, and I wanted to flee. I slid my sunglasses over my eyes in preparation for walking out any second.
“Sorry for the delay. My chip reader is very, very slow today. The stormy weather is interfering with our satellite connection.”
As slow as the chip reader was, the cashier spoke at even more of a glacial pace. “Oh my. I forgot to scan your rewards card. May I have it?” Someone came through the front doors and paused briefly, looking in my direction. I turned the other way to see if anyone was standing near me in line, but it was just me.
Jesus, I know you only give me what I can handle. But please don’t let that be Eli.
“That’s okay, I’ll skip the rewards this time.” My heart rate was increasing.
“But you don’t get the sale price if I don’t scan it. Here, I’m canceling this transaction. Let’s start over.”
The person kept walking in my direction. I heard the front cooler open, and the clink of a drink being dispersed—then a crinkle of someone grabbing a bag of tortilla chips. The squeak of a small dog toy. The footsteps slowly walked toward me as I still waited for the chip reader, dressed in my bright pink coat with sunglasses on.
“I’ll pay double the price if you get me out of here as soon as possible.” I whispered in desperation to the cashier, but she just shook her head and laughed. She thought I was joking. “I’m as serious as the plague. Please help me get out of here!”
“Alright. Here, let me scan these again.”Beep. Beep. Beep.Not only was she moving slowly, but she wanted to look at each item to analyze what I was buyingbefore she scanned it for the second time.It was the perfect storm.
“Good choice on this. My little Leroy has it in blue.” She held up the pink dog beret.
I let out a whimper as I considered walking out without my items. Did I haveanythingat home that could remove this makeup? Could I use canola oil? Toilet bowl cleaner?A trip to the emergency room?
“Hmm. Something’s still not working on my end. Try pulling out your card and reinserting.”
I followed the cashiers’ instructions.
“Okay, I think it’ll work this time. Let’s just wait a minute.”
The presence behind me in line was so familiar I could feel it, but I didn’t look over.
“Hi.” A quiet voice whispered behind me.
“Hello, sir.” The cashier answered and I smiled.
