It was time to give up. Admit defeat. Accept the desolation. The whole thing was futile. Life was futile.
It was just another thing, on top of everything else, that made him angry about this year. A year of pandemic, riots, protests, more Brexit, more Trump, more Boris. Was it no wonder the country was going mad?
And now this. The humiliation of standing in the supermarket and staring at the last packet of toilet roll. Up on the top shelf. Right at the back. Out of his reach by two inches. Even on his tiptoes.
A masked shop worker appeared. She was taller than him, attractive with long blonde hair and healthy skin.
‘Excuse me?’ he said, his voice muffled.
She looked at him. He looked up at the toilet roll. She understood. She was sympathetic. They both rolled their eyes to say ‘panic buying idiots.’
She reached up and plucked the packet and handed it to him. She may have smiled, it was hard to tell with the mask covering her face. She turned and left him standing with the toilet roll before he could say thank you, or introduce himself, or… Forget it. She was too tall anyway.
He headed for the checkout. Yep, life was futile.
This is my first time taking part in the Three Things Challenge, hosted over on Pensitivity101’s blog. Each prompt has three words to incorporate into a piece of writing. This week’s words are: FUTILE, MAD and TALL. Follow the link to see what other writers came up with.
This is so true Iain. Thanks for joining in today. Good to see you!
Take care.
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Thanks Di, enjoyed it. Looking to try a few different prompts, so I’m sure I will be back 🙂
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That’ll be nice, Always good to see something from you.
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I don’t know why this made me laugh, but it’s a rueful laugh. Poor guy.
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Yes, it’s okay to have a rueful laugh. It’s all we have left really!
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This is good!
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Thanks Sadje 🙂
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You’re welcome 😉
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Good one, Iain. She could have been greedy. Maybe there is hope.
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Good point – all is not lost!
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Poor guy. Just another side effect of corona. Good one, Iain.
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Thanks Shweta
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The important thing here is that he has toilet paper! 😀
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A silver lining! Apparently it’s vital during a pandemic!
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Great! In my experience, it isn’t just the worry that you might miss out. It’s the worry that somebody will think you’re greedy because you’ve taken the last one! Too much worrying going on. 😊
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Yep, you worry what people will think of you when you genuinely need toilet paper!
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Loved this take of yours. Perfectly tracks the current situation and mood!
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Thank you so much Ramya
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A year ago, this story would have been funny. We would have laughed at the idea of megastores being out of toilet paper. Maybe a certain brand or type, but totally out? Man, 2020 is a serious game-changer. The line about healthy skin got me. Does it mean the main character has unhealthy skin? Is there another element of boils and pox? I don’t know, it just made me pause.
I am excited for the upcoming YA scavenger book hunt (YASH), and for the Pass or Pages query contest at Operation Awesome with the YA category this October. I hope you’ve been staying healthy and thriving as best as you can this year.
– J
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Thanks for stopping by, good to hear you’re well after all that this year has thrown at us, and your YA writing is going from strength to strength 🙂
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LOL! Though I do feel sad for the guy, but it made me smile! I know all too well the atruggle to reach things on the top shelf! 🙂
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Me too 🙂
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