Terrible Stories

from Kelly McClure


There’s something about being in a Walgreens that almost immediately makes Addison dizzy. Not even just Walgreens
really, it could be any brightly lit store such as Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath and
Beyond. Even Starbucks. Starbucks will do it too. Any coffee shop for that matter. Or food places where you
have to order from a counter. While on the one hand she has a constant, desperate need to spend money, the
opposite hand would rather wrap itself around her throat than be around people for any extended period of
time, especially while being bathed in fluorescence. These places draw her in with their wide selection of
things to buy, which she hustles home like a squirrel with a nut. And even though she usually doesn’t rack
up more than $100 or so after one of her shopping adventures, the end price is much much higher on
account of the people. Goddamn. Today she’s shopping for a greater purpose though, and she concentrates on her
list so she doesn’t leave anything out, because this time she won’t be able to just go right back out and get it.

Fiction

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