It didn't seem like my day shift at Gary's Grocery earlier today, was ever going to end anytime soon. I was ready to go home in the middle of the shift. By mid-afternoon we haven't had a single customer walking into the small grocery store to shop. I was beginning to suspect we would not be getting any good business.
After the witch who lived in the dark woods left the grocery store, after giving me the special notebook for the book club meeting, I had put in my locker in the employee's only back break room.
I couldn't stop thinking about what kind of creative scary stories I could possibly dream up for the talent agency at the school library. I wish I could make a living writing scary stories. But it's so hard to find something to help support my writing craft.
It was almost closing time, later in the night. I was checking out one of the elderly ladies who was a customer, buying some chewing gum and a soda pop, while the other cashier next to me. Just got done checking out another lady.
"Thank you for shopping with us today, at Gary's Grocery," I heard the other cashier named Mike Thoughts, say politely to the customer. "Come back and see us again!" He said, rightly and waved good-bye to the lady customer.
After the little old lady customer grabbed her sack, of groceries, she smiled in return and walked out of the store. Then, Mike suddenly turned seriously toward me with a dirty look. "I'm going home now, thank God," snapped Mike, pressing some buttons on his cash register.
I smiled and waved polietly to the other lady customer I was checking out on my side of the check out. As I watched her walk out of the store with her sack of groceries she had bought from me. "So, what time do you work tomorrow, Mike?" I asked him, pretending I cared about my fellow employee.
He sighed, heavily. "If you come back to work again tomorrow, and you see me here. You'll know the answer to your question," Mike said, rudely. "I'm out of here," he said, and walked out of the grocery store.
I couldn't believe I was all by myself in a dark, suddenly closed little grocery store, by myself. I was closing up my cash register at the check out. When suddenly, I heard some giggling laughter in the employee's break room in the back.
I locked up the cash register and headed my attention to the break room in the back of the store. "Hello?" I called, out to nobody in particular. "What's going on, here?" I asked, impatiently. My voice echoed in the darkness, as I headed closer to the back store to the employee's break room.
Suddenly, I jumped with fright. As the bright, lights in the break room, flickered and sparked out. Plunging me into total darkness. I was alone at Gary's Grocery, and there was nothing to defend myself. I didn't know who I would suspect would be breaking into the break room, at this moment.
But I also knew I didn't want to be caught doing something they shouldn't be doing. "Who's there?" I stammered, my voice cracked and weak from nervousness and fear. The lights flickered back on. I could see somebody's shadow dancing in the hall, leading in the back of the break room.
I took a big, nervous gulp. Then, I turned and opened the door to the break room in the back of the little grocery store. I gasped out loud! I saw a huge shadowy creature who held my special black leathered notebook in it's grasp. As the spooky dark monster, had the notebook opened, and there was a swirl of black smoke coming out of the pages of the special notebook for my book club meeting at the school library!
The shadow monster's eyes flashed bright, evilly red at me. Holding the notebook in it's skinny, clawed hands, the shadow creature opened the pages of the notebook and pointed the swirling black smoke at me. Sucking me into the enchanted special notebook. Where I was never to be found. Hearing the creature let out loud, rude laughter, he snapped his fingers. And disappeared from the break room in the grocery store.
I couldn't believe what had happened to me, next. I was no longer myself. And not at the Gary's Grocery store where I was supposed to be locking up the store after closing hours, by myself. I found myself lying flat on my back. In a black, wooden coffin, somewhere in the darkness of the woods, later at night.
I never wanted to be apart of a club meeting to begin with. If it weren't for my passion for writing scary stories to frighten book readers around the world. I didn't mean anything but to give them a good scare. I didn't expect writing to get serious and dangerous.
If I don't get back to closing up the grocery store myself, somebody could break into the little store and rob the store without anyone there to stop him or her. But I found myself lying flat on my back in a wooden coffin, all chained up. I couldn't breathe and I wanted to get out of the coffin, before I suffocate!
I screamed for help as I felt the coffin suddenly start to pick up and move by itself. And I was being carried somewhere I'm not familiar where I was going off to. If being a scary, horror writer, was going to get me into trouble, I wanted to drop out. And just stay at my day job as a stock boy at Gary's Grocery. Never open another scary book to read for fun again!