Pees of Mind

The woman just ahead of me at Dollar Tree
was clutching something in her hand a tad too tightly,
crimping edges til she laid it down without a word
onto the moving black belt to be scanned- a bit unnecessary at a place where everything costs just a dollar, but let's get back to the story, for a story there must be when someone goes out rather late at night and looks to be too old for such tomfoolery as this, which I will get to soon. Perhaps it was
a pleasing errand for an errant niece? Granddaughter? Girlfriend of
her son? Not she, at any rate. Gray hair and lines upon her face
bespoke of the absurdity of such. The test for pregnancy she bought
was surely for another, and the peace of mind it would evoke
was worth a buck and more, unless the luck was of a different sort, and
two pink lines would tell another story altogether.
If only I could follow her, I thought, and find out
for myself. I could have asked or, Southern manners barring
that, struck up a conversation, for I sensed her stress and might
have lessened it with some kind gesture or a word. On the other
hand, if I were she at Dollar Tree and someone saw
me buying one of those, I'd be stressed as well, so
I left her to her thoughts.



(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014

As I walked into the Dollar Tree I saw not one or two, but five men sitting in their cars waiting for, I assume, their wives. I wonder which man went with the woman I saw in line?