“Welcome to Mildred’s Shop, can I help you with anything?”
The customer who walked in gives a typical “No I’m good” response with the kind of face that shows he’s trying to be nice but is clearly annoyed with me. Well, it’s not like I enjoy greeting every person who walks through the door. But I have to as part of my job. Mildred’s really obsessed with making her store just like ones from the old days…including the more annoying parts. At least I don’t have to do it in front of the regulars. Mildred’s not even her real name. I suppose that’s obvious since no one’s actually named their child Mildred after the 1950s ended. She’s also Latina, with parents from a Spanish speaking island in the Caribbean so her real name is most likely something Spanish. She says she likes to go by Mildred because “It’s a good old lady name”. She is in her 60s, so maybe she has a point, and even if she didn’t, she’s still my boss.
I don’t usually work day shifts but apparently the guy working day shift today is out of commission, and it’s not like I have an actual life outside of my job…Well, unless you count indulging in my collection of DVDs that I’ve been taking advantage of my worker’s discount to build up as “a life outside of my job”. I also have some games downloaded on my computer that I occasionally play too. The day shift doesn’t seem to be that much different outside of there being less drunks and drug addicts coming into the store. There are however, more instances of strongly opinionated people coming in to whinge about politics and current events in LOVE and HOME as well. It’s not that I’m against those sorts of topics, but I just don’t give a shit about the opinions of random strangers. Plus, I don’t live in either LOVE or HOME. Unless something’s going on that’ll affect this exact territory, I’m not interested in getting into a heated debate about it.
Growing up in a territory not part of either LOVE or HOME means that I’ve never lived under the rule of a traditional “government” or any kind or “laws”…Unless you count being ruled by crypto currency groups as a “government” and threats of being hurt by their goons as “laws”. Looking up online posts from back in the old world days and seeing just how disturbed most people were by the idea of a lawless society is interesting. It is true there are territories that are…”not good” shall we say, but it’s not hard to find an area that’s mostly safe. At the very least, I was born and raised in one of the safer areas, so I don’t think my life is that different from someone back in the old world. Granted I can’t deny that I’ve run into some…“unpleasant” people and situations to say the least. But I’ve also never felt the need for a gun and I think that counts for something.
I decide to look towards the way of the customer that came in; a nervous, pudgy man who seems to be in his 40s. As for why he’s nervous, it’s probably because he’s in the “Adults Only” section of the store. Sure, we’ve got fairly standard “The Pizza Boy and The Janitor do a Three-way with Debbie in Dallas” type of pornos here, but Mildred’s also managed to get her hands on some uh… “exotic” and “extreme” stuff. As long as it’s not a snuff movie or involves kids, she’s fine with selling it at the store. Wonder what this guy’s gonna get. He looks like the typical stressed out type with a miserable dead end job. He probably also has a nagging wife and bratty kids too. From what I’ve seen, guys like that tend to have some “interesting” sexual desires. He finally picks a few videos and comes back up to the counter.
“Just…Just these please…”
He says with the same kind of tone that a virgin buying condoms would have. Looks like I was right about the sexual desires. The first title is a hentai called “Enema Princess”, with a cover featuring an anime loli wearing a very slutty princess dress, being held up by a muscular polar bear man also holding, you guessed it, an enema syringe. The second title’s not as interesting, but this guy’s fetish is made even more obvious as the cover is several women’s asses huddled together with enema bulbs being put right into them, and the title being “Enema Orgy: Episodes 1-5”.
“That’ll be $20.”
I inform him of the price. He fumbles with his wallet for a bit before getting the money out and leaving the store with his goods. I’ve never met this man before today, and I’ll probably never meet him again. Yet my mind can’t help but wonder what his life is like and how it’ll go after today. Maybe his fetish will be discovered, and his life will either be ruined or enhanced by that. Maybe life will go on normally and he’ll eventually die of old age. Maybe he will encounter a woman who gives him the power to have people follow his commands, of which he uses in order to cause a massive societal upheaval motivated by his daddy issues. Or maybe he will just randomly spontaneously combust before the day’s end.
“HELL-O!”
My daydreaming is suddenly interrupted by a loud voice. A small, excitable ginger girl jumps into the store with a taller teenage boy walking in behind her. Probably siblings, although they don’t seem to share much resemblance. Before I can give the usual greeting, the older boy comes up to me and asks:
“…Oh, is Bernie not here today?”
I guess this boy comes here often during the day.
“Yeah. Apparently, he has a terrible case of food poisoning and is spending all of his time on the toilet or in bed. I usually work evening shifts. I take it you’re a regular?”
I don’t know much about Bernie due to the different hours we work, but I’ve heard that he’s a nice guy who gets along with most people. I’ve also heard that he’s been cursed with some of the worst luck known to mankind. The teen boy talks to me while browsing through some DVDs.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Brenton and that’s my sister Ariel. You got anything new?”
Well, I guess that’s a step above the usual “What do you recommend” kind of question. That’s just way too broad for someone like me. All I do when that happens is just pull-out random movies from the bargain bin. Sure, this kid isn’t really asking for anything super specific, but at least “anything new” is a specification of some type. As I get the box of newest arrivals out, I can see the young girl ‘Ariel’, excitedly looking at DVDs throughout the aisles.
“…Well, we’ve got some new releases from LOVE. There’s an action-comedy film called Aquarela about a man who falls in love with a leader of a resistance movement only to realize that conspiracy theories spread HATE and that spreading HATE is wrong. This leads him to kill the woman and he never disobeys the law ever gain.”
“Don’t spoil the movie for me.”
“I’m not, that’s only the first 30 minutes. Gets pretty repetitive after that.”
“…Sounds lame. Got another one?”
I can’t say I blame him. You’ve seen one political film from LOVE, you’ve seen them all. Not like they can have any variety in political views. If some poor sod really tried to spread any other message, they’d end up in one of LOVE’s mental health centers. I pick out another random film.
“…Oh boy, the title of this one’s a little hard to say… GACTGAAGCTGTT. This here’s a romantic drama about a regular person who becomes a eunuch after a hormone injection goes wrong and is trying to find someone who will love them. I’d recommend it.”
“Isn’t it illegal to even try and bring up eunuchs in LOVE?”
“It is. The term ‘eunuch’ is never used, but it’s pretty obvious the movie’s about the issue to anyone outside of LOVE. Apparently, the director lost a severe amount of LOVE POINTS due to ‘making a movie about a false conspiracy theory’, and is now disgraced and will probably never make another movie again.”
In the old world, the term ‘eunuch’ would simply just refer to a guy who had no balls for whatever reason, but these days the term’s taken on a slightly different meaning. LOVE is known for many things. One of those things being it’s incredibly high quality sex change surgeries that can not only change your physical appearance to the opposite sex, but also make you fertile and change your chromosomes as well. Unfortunately, the one flaw to these otherwise perfect surgeries is that the body will sometimes reject the procedures causing a person to become completely sexless. The wealthy elites that make up the government of LOVE do not like things that make their society look bad. As such, eunuchs are secretly sent to mental health centers along with people who speak of their existence and spread “HATE”.
Difficult to pronounce title and politics aside, it was a surprisingly emotional film that left an impact on me. Really, the fact the director was only disgraced and not sent to a mental health center is a miracle.
“Hmm… I guess I’ll go with that one. You got any new findings from the old days?”
“I think Mildred might’ve gotten some older computer games, but she’s trying to work through the DRM on them to make them playable again. She also got some random CDs of pop music from the 1990s as well if you’re into that stuff.”
Before our conversation could continue, the girl, Ariel comes running right up to the counter with a few of her own selections.
“Gimmie these!”
She slaps several DVDs down on the counter. All of them entries from the famous “Berserker Man” series of horror films. I’ve checked them out before. Pretty standard “killer psycho on the loose” slasher films of the 1980s. I’ve checked them out before. Pretty standard “killer psycho on the loose” slasher films. That said, I do recall them being on the gory side of things and this girl not only looks young, she also seems like the type to scare easily. I don’t really give a shit about these sorts of things personally, but Mildred does.
“…Those movies are pretty violent little girl. You sure you wanna buy those?”
I could see her happy face quickly shift into an angry pout as I spoke that sentence. And then she starts yelling at me.
“How dare you treat me like a child! I’m fourteen years old! I can handle these movies just fine!”
“Oooh, you’ve seen movies like these before?”
I sarcastically ask. A long pause goes by before she replies.
“…No, but I know I can handle them!”
Part of me feels weird about following Mildred’s policies so closely. It makes me feel like a hypocrite given that I was watching much worse at her age.
“Uhh, I can put these back if you want.“
The older boy, Brenton pipes in for a bit.
“No, no it’s fine. Look, uh, Ariel, I don’t actually have a problem with kids watching gore movies-“
Another loud screech from her interrupts me.
“I’m not a kid!”
“…Young people. Look, my boss is pretty touchy about selling this kind of stuff to people that the old world would refer to as ‘minors’. I could get into some serious trouble with her if I ended up traumatizing a youth like you by doing so. If we’re going to make this transaction happen, I need you to promise me that you don’t tell anyone about the purchase.”
She looks confused by my explanation.
“…So, I can’t talk about the movies?”
“You can talk about them, just don’t let anyone know you bought the DVDs from here. Especially if the movies freak you out.”
Yet another long pause passes between the three of us.
“…You’re the only store nearby that sells movies! This is bullshit!”
The small girl ends the second pause with an explosion and storms out of the store. Brenton gives me an apologetic look and heads out after her. At least having to go put these movies back gives me something to do beyond standing behind the counter waiting for someone to buy something. Geez, she’s acting like not getting to buy those movies is the worst thing ever. She can just download them online for free. Not like the old world concept of “copyright” is a thing here. While putting the DVDs away, I can hear the front door opening again. A young woman with dark braided hair and glasses comes walking in, and I immediately recognize her.
“Hey Blanche. Been a while since I last saw you.”
Her eyes widen as she recognizes me.
“…Gray? I wasn’t aware that you worked here.”
“Well, I usually work the evening shift, but the guy who works the day shift is out sick, so you know.”
Blanche is a nurse at the local clinic. I met her when my next-door neighbor, Marisa, was dying a miserable death of organ failure. I spent a lot of time in her hospital room those days, so I got acquainted with some of the doctors and nurses, most notably with Blanche. Of course, our time was short, and Marisa’s inevitable death came about. After helping me out with the cremation process, I never saw Blanche again. At least not until now. I wonder, is she a regular here? If she comes here often, then that would mean literally the only reason I haven’t seen her in a while is due to my work schedule. She seems to have lost all interest in whatever she came into the store for and decides to start conversing with me.
“How’ve you been holding up? I know that everything involving Marisa was…tragic to say the least.”
I don’t really know how to talk about Marisa. We were neighbors and casual acquaintances, but that’s it. I just helped her out when she was dying because she had no family or friends with her.
“…I mean, I’ve been holding up fine. Just living life. What are you looking to buy?”
My abrupt subject change takes her by surprise, but she decides to go along with it.
“…O-Oh, well I’m just browsing. I’ve been getting into the habit of visiting here during my days off as of late.”
So yes, the only reason we haven’t talked in a while is just me working evening shift. What a weird thought. Silence returns back to the store as she proceeds to browse through the aisles. Every now and then, she keeps looking at me, as if she wants to come up and say more. It’d be awkward even if she came up for a recommendation. Blanche is originally from a state in HOME, and although she no longer identifies with the church she was born into and has accumulated to modern technology, she still seems to have inherited some the prudishness that comes from the culture. I am not a prudish person in the least and I just feel like I’d end up accidentally grossing her out in the process.
She eventually comes back up to the counter with a movie I’m intensely familiar with, The Long Journey. It’s a movie about a family traveling across the continent in their shitty van after the apocalypse hit. It was a massive hit in the old world, breaking box office records, winning just about every award you can imagine, and sold an insane amount of merchandise, to the point where you can still randomly find said merchandise these days. I once came across a lighter with the movie’s characters on it while on a walk one day. I’m extremely fond of the movie myself, so I took it home with me despite not being a smoker. It’s actually rather embarrassing just how much I feel the urge to gush whenever I’m reminded of the movie’s existence.
“That’ll be $10.”
The transaction goes smoothly enough, but Blanche pauses for a moment, before speaking up.
“…Are you sure you’re alright Gray? You look so skinny.”
“I’ve always been skinny. I was a preemie you know.”
“…Being born premature only affects you as an infant, not as an adult. Are you getting enough to eat?”
She’s being awfully pushy. I get this is part of her job, but I’d much prefer it if she could stop pestering me, especially since she’s off shift.
“Yes, I get enough to eat, you can calm down.”
She furrows her brows and looks at me like she doesn’t believe me. She’s starting to get on my nerves.
“…It’s common for patients of mine to say that they’re eating healthy only for it to turn out that they have a warped idea of what ‘eating healthy’ means. Why should I believe you? Tell me, what did you have for breakfast today?”
Now I’m irritated. I didn’t really have “breakfast” per say, and I know saying that is going to get her riled up no matter how I phrase it.
“I didn’t have ‘breakfast’ so much as I got random things out of the fridge. Of course I ate enough because passing out on the job is a bad idea.”
She’s not satisfied. Of course she’s not satisfied.
“What did you get out of the fridge?”
“A small package of blueberries and a bagel.”
Her eyes widen at my reply.
“That’s…That’s barely anything! …It’s almost 3, I assume you’ve had a break for lunch by now. What did you eat then?”
Jesus Christ she won’t stop.
“I’m not going to respond to you shifting goalposts. I answered your question, now please stop bothering me.”
She leans into my face.
“It’s my job to bother people about their health. Now tell me what you had for lunch.”
Now I’m starting to get pissed.
“This isn’t the clinic. You’re not on shift. Stop bothering me or I’ll report you as a problematic customer to Mildred.”
“Well, I’ve met with Mildred several times before and she’s told me that I’m one of her favorite customers, so good luck with that.”
Blanche gets into my face, undeterred by my threat. My small experience with Blanche back when I was dealing with Marisa has taught me that she’s not the kind of person to lie. Which means that Blanche has managed to wedge her way into Mildred’s mostly misanthropic heart. Which means that Mildred wouldn’t accept me reporting Blanche as a problematic customer…Son of a bitch.
I sigh as the realization sets in.
“…I went to the café across the street.”
I have no choice but to give in to her demands.
“…And? What did you eat there?”
“…I got a mocha.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. What did you eat there?”
I already know how this conversation is going to end.
“…I didn’t eat anything. I wasn’t hungry. Now stop bothering me.”
I say that with the full knowledge that she’s not going to stop bothering me. I should’ve just made something up. But it’s too late and now I know I’m going to have to deal with more bullshit from Blanche.
“…So yes, you’re not eating well at all and may potentially have an eating disorder.”
At least she’s no longer in my face. Still, I can barely contain my desire to tell her to fuck off.
“Yeah, I’m not always hungry. I probably feel hunger less often than the average person does. That’s not an eating disorder. I don’t have any anxiety around food, and I don’t make myself puke after eating. If I’m feeling bad, I’ll go to the clinic. Stop putting your nose in places where it doesn’t belong.”
Despite phrasing it as politely as possible, she’s still mad. As if I should be apologizing to her for having the audacity to not like nosy people.
“…I’ll be seeing you again soon Gray. Even if it’s not while you’re at work. Goodbye.”
She leaves the store with a huff. I lean back against the wall and sigh heavily. “I’ll be seeing you again soon”. Fantastic, she wants to keep pestering me about my health. If I knew Blanche was the kind of person who enjoys annoying people like this, I never would’ve been friendly with her in the first place. I look at the counter and notice that the copy of The Long Journey Blanche bought is still here. Apparently, she was so caught up in interrogating me about my dietary habits that she forgot to take the movie with her. The rest of my shift passes with no further incident and soon enough it’s time for me to leave. I see one of my co-workers enter in the form of a blond guy with a shitty haircut. It’s Liam. He doesn’t work full time, so I don’t see him too often. I don’t know much about him because he barely ever speaks. According to Mildred, he likes to take classes at the local rec center and helps out with his parents at their bar. I’m not sure how Mildred managed to get this scant information out of him given that her own social skills aren’t that great, but I guess being the boss can cure mutism.
“It’s been a pretty slow day today. I don’t think anything too crazy should happen tonight. Oh, and uh, a customer bought a DVD but forgot to take it with her, so that’s why it’s on the counter.”
I inform Liam, who gives no response outside of a nod. With that, my shift is done. My home isn’t too far from the store, about a twenty-minute walk or so if I don’t have to stop off to for groceries on the way back. That said, it’s March and the weather’s good, so I feel like making a stop at Marisa’s grave. Well, it’s not a “grave” in the traditional sense. After the fall of the old world, a lot of what would be considered “common decency” was culturally thrown out the window. This includes the idea of “respecting the dead”. Hooligans started defacing various graveyards, cemeteries, and destroying all gravestones that they could. This would lead to people’s graves at best being pissed on and at worst being smashed to bits. It doesn’t help that the crypto currency groups running the infrastructure of the territories tend to not give a shit about graves. I know the PearlCoin Organization, really couldn’t give less of a shit.
As such people either just keep urns or small boxes of their loved ones. Because even if proper traditional old world graves are something only the extremely lucky can afford to have, humans still cling to the idea of having a proper place for others after death. I’m not family of Marisa and our relationship wasn’t close, but when she died, I was the only person available to take care of her body. I put her ashes in a small box but fearing it would get lost in the clutter that is my apartment, I felt the need to place it somewhere else. With Mildred’s help, I managed to find an abandoned house that I could dig a hole in and bury the box right near the entrance. Ever since then, I make it habit to visit her grave, however I neglected to do so during the winter simply because it was too cold out. When I arrive at the abandoned house, I squat down right by where I buried Marisa’s ashes. I feel like an idiot just staring into space and loitering around this dilapidated house thinking about random nothings. But again, I have this weird since of duty towards Marisa despite not having a close relationship with her.
I’ll probably go home after about an hour or so.
Author’s Notes: I don’t have much to say about this chapter. It’s merely an introduction to the characters and world. And well, that’s basically what the whole arc will be about. But I’ll probably have more to talk about in later chapters. I plan on having a page for character profiles once I’m done with this arc.
