If I were to write a story, it might start something like this. \u00a0Who knows. \u00a0Maybe I am writing a story, just very slowly, and this is the beginning.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ed left the car running and dashed into the convenience store.\u00a0 He thought it would only take a minute.\u00a0 How long does it take to grab a 2 liter coke and a bag of potato chips?\u00a0 He had just rounded a short aisle stacked with chips, snatching up the nearest bag, when\u00a0 he spied the 2-liter coke bottles on a display near the cash register.\u00a0 This was going to be quick.\u00a0 He grabbed a coke and accelerated to the finish line.\u00a0 Then he noticed the problem.<\/p>\n
Nobody was at the counter.\u00a0 The cash register was open and still full of money.\u00a0 In fact, a hundred dollar bill was sitting right on top of the tray.\u00a0 Ed thought it very strange.\u00a0 Usually, the large bills are tucked under the tray, which is then promptly closed.\u00a0 Something was definitely odd.\u00a0 Why would anyone leave it sitting on top with the tray open?<\/p>\n
Just then, the door opened and another customer walked in.\u00a0 a breeze took the opportunity to slip through the open door, sneaking a small puff of air toward the open cash register door.\u00a0 Ed watched as it lifted the edge of the hundred dollar bill, sending it skittering toward the edge of the drawer.\u00a0 His instinctive reflex was to reach and grab it before it fell to the floor.\u00a0 He lifted his hand, and then checked himself.\u00a0 He watched as another customer came in and the wind pushed the bill over the edge. Big deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s not my problem, <\/i>he thought.\u00a0 Still, something didn’t feel right.\u00a0 He brushed off the feeling just as the hundred dollar bill slid under the cigarette counter, totally out of sight.\u00a0 Now Ed was starting to feel annoyed.\u00a0 Customers were lining up behind him.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAm I in charge of watching the cash register?\u00a0 Doesn’t anybody work at this place?\u201d he mumbled.<\/p>\n
He sat his chips and drink on the counter and was about to walk out when a young lady came walking from the back of the store.\u00a0 She was walking as fast as her short stubby legs would move her, considering she was obviously very pregnant.\u00a0 He smiled at her awkward waddle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d she said, an out-of-breath apology puffing out as she made her way behind the counter and to the front of the cash register.\u00a0 She noticed the open drawer and her eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the drawer?\u00a0 Who\u2019s been in the cash register!?\u201d\u00a0Her voice was full of excitement and urgency, with a hint of hysteria thrown in.\u00a0\u201cWho saw what happened?\u201d\u00a0 She paused for a couple of seconds, and when nobody responded added, \u201cOk, Nobody leave.\u00a0 I\u2019m calling the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ed thought if he didn’t get out of there quick, he\u2019d be stuck there for hours, so he shrugged his shoulders, mumbled \u201cWhatever,\u201d and headed for the door.\u00a0 A coke and chips just wasn’t worth this hassle.<\/p>\n
He walked out the door, ignoring the woman\u2019s objections.\u00a0 Stepping off the curb, he turned to his right and made for his car.\u00a0 Only when he looked up, he noticed it wasn’t there.\u00a0 His mouth cracked open while his eyes squinted and his forehead crinkled.\u00a0 It took a second for the whole situation to register.\u00a0 His car was gone!<\/p>\n
Spinning on his heels, eyes searching in every direction, his heart pounded harder and harder even as it dropped into the pit of his stomach.\u00a0 Ed froze for a moment, waiting for his brain to reset and figure out a way to deal with the situation.\u00a0 Then he took three quick steps back towards the convenience store, jerked open the door and barged in.\u00a0\u201cSomeone stole my car!\u201d he blared.\u00a0 \u201cCall the police!<\/p>\n
The young lady behind the counter was busy counting the money in the cash register.\u00a0 She looked up only briefly, just long enough to give a very insincere and obviously sarcastic smile, then went back to counting the money.\u00a0 Ed cursed, turned, and plowed back out the door.\u00a0 From somewhere down the street he could hear a police siren.<\/p>\n
— *** —<\/p>\n
Terance drove the white Honda Civic down I-85 at precisely 75 miles per hour, his hands knocked together at the top of the steering wheel. His eyes constantly danced around him, first looking at the road, then back to the speedometer, then in the mirror, then back to the road. Occasionally, he would glance up at the sky, which was growing darker as angry clouds squeezed into a fading sunset. His speed never varied nor did his hands move from their frozen grip on the steering wheel. He thought he would feel better once he got out of Atlanta, but so far, his feelings were going south just as fast as the car.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If I were to write a story, it might start something like this. \u00a0Who knows. \u00a0Maybe I am writing a story, just very slowly, and this is the beginning. Ed left the car running and dashed into the convenience store.\u00a0 He thought it would only take a minute.\u00a0 How long does it take to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2140","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2297,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2140\/revisions\/2297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}