Little Pieces

The last assignment for the Keep Writing Challenge is to write a 180-word story using the prompt "glue."

Little Pieces

“How are you?” mumbles the tight-lipped clerk as I unload groceries onto the conveyor belt.

“Fine.” I recite my line and follow it with the obligatory, “And you?”

Later, loading my groceries into the backseat of my pickup truck I imagine how differently that encounter could have gone.

“Oh, thank you for asking, Ms Grocery-store-checkout-lady.  I noticed how rudely that last customer treated you, and I am sorry for that. I hope you can forget it and enjoy the rest of your day. And, since you asked, I’m not feeling very well. The arthritis in my left hand has made it almost useless this week. My Mother’s dementia has made a dramatic turn for the worse, too, and I am afraid I shouldn’t have left her alone to shop for groceries. My daughter’s family is really struggling to pay bills since the pandemic ended their second income...”

I start the truck and pull carefully out into traffic. Life breaks us all into little pieces. We pile the pieces up and exist until we are able to glue them back together and live.