This is my entry for the 31 Sentences contest of
, round 19
Despite the fact that walking the street was restricted, I was surprised that there were so many people walking around. Finally, I arrived at the pharmacy, it wasn’t open yet and of course, there were already 6 people queuing up; Don't these people sleep?
And I gently greet them warmly
It never fails; "there's a person behind me," says the woman in front of me (who will magically appear just as the establishment opens, Wonderful), I nod.
The sun is not yet up, inexplicably there's a light bulb working, highlighting two signs; one forbids even breathing and the other states there will be fresh cakes. I guess during WW-II
An obese girl approached, "Is this the queue for the drugstore?"
I nodded and inevitably the worst thing about queuing isn’t waiting but what comes next: "Could you save my spot? I’ve gotta get X thing"; it really pisses me off. Obviously, they ended up saying "It won't be long" and I gave in to the plea
Ten minutes later an old lady arrives, I warn her there was a person behind me; older people are more patient.
Five more minutes and another person appears and I make sure to warn the new recruit of hold-the-line's club that there's another person behind me; it's imperative that more people know.
For some reason, she looks up and stares at the signs and it’s inevitable that old people stay quiet.
"Did you know this was the most famous bakery in the area?"
"In 1966, you could walk by, any time, you'd get freshly baked cakes"
After 20 minutes of describing the cake makers’ family tree, she decides to explain their fateful end.
"It's unfortunate," she says sadly, ”the lady who baked the cakes died of a heart attack; inevitable things," she explains with her ancestral wisdom, "life's unfair”.
"The husband only lasted three months, he couldn't bear his loss; they were so close."
And again, the inevitable happens; "could you be so kind and hold my place, my legs aren't the same as before and I need to sit down"; I nodded.
By then the line had grown by 30 more people. Out of the blue, the recruit interrupted
"After that, this became an awful place, but the new administration got rid of all the crooks and put that new sign."
Finally, the pharmacy opens, I get to the counter and as if it were something surprising, the medicine I am looking for is sold out.
Damn it!
I was crestfallen and gave up and set out to return then suddenly the old lady approached me
"Wait, young man"
"I couldn't help but hear about your predicament"
"There’s another establishment where you could find your medicine"
There was indeed a place I didn't know about and fortunately, they had it; I should think better of people? even old people?
Nah!
Maybe there'd be good people. I happily went home before curfew thinking that there would be hope for humanity
If you want to participate in this contest go to:
@tristancarax/the-31-sentence-contest-round-19
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