Itty Bitty Stories

In Need of Food

alright. i'm back! yeeeah. my sister had on cobrastyle by teddybears and for some reason, this popped into my head. dunno. listen to the song while reading the first beginning, if you want. XD i had a weird dream. it was snowing really hard for like, three seconds, and i was looking out my window, then it got lighter, and then it stopped. really weird. huh. :D

In Need Of Food

I zip my dark maroon hoodie up.

I throw on a pair of black skinny jeans.

I push my hair into a ponytail.

I stuff my hands into the pockets.

“Mom, I’m going!”

I’m halfway towards the door when my mother gives me a guilty look. “We don’t need much.”

“I’ll take what we need.”

“We don’t need much,” She repeats. “I get paid Friday.”

“That’s four days from now.”

Her head lowers and a few of her grey-brown strands of hair fall into her eyes. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

I slip through the apartment door and down the long stairs. The gas station isn’t far from here, and it’s not like I have a choice. I don’t know why I chose to go at night, though. Maybe it’s because it’s darker and people won’t see me as much in the daylight.

About a half hour later, the gas station’s lights flicker into my vision. There’s a white SUV sucking up some gas in one of the stations. A tiny blue car sits in a parking spot, but other than that, there’s nothing around. I enter the store as casual as possible. My eyes do a once-over of the place. There’s food all around, stocked plentiful on shelves. Some other knick-knacks like car fresheners sit pretty on counters, but that’s not why I’m here.

The guy working the night shift is placed on a stool, turned away from me. I can’t see his face, all I can see is his red vest with the logo of the gas station stitched onto the shoulder and his brown short hair. He’s clicking dully on a dinosaur computer, playing one of those ping pong games.

I hold my breath. Maybe he didn’t hear me come in. This would make it so much more easier. I step over, slowly, to one of the aisles. There’s nobody else in the store except for me and the worker. I peel a loaf of bread off the shelve, stuffing it into my hoodie. We have the tap water, so no drinks. I think there’s some peanut butter still left in one of the empty cabinets. Just get some jelly and another snack and we’ll survive.

I take five steps closer and take the jelly. The camera in the corner can’t see me. Yet. Glancing quickly over to the worker, he’s in the same position as before. I rub my fingers together. They’re getting clammy. My heart pounds so loud I’m sure the guy behind the counter can hear it. There’s a container of chocolate chip cookies, enough to last us for four days.