Town

She had never liked aimless wandering. It made both her feet and mind weary from hours of thoughtless plodding. Eventually, they had made it through Costco and had almost gotten out of the clothes and books section. Her mother gesticulated her over, holding up a sweater. She appeared to be telling the girl how soft it was, and how green would look excellent with her red hair. The girl smiled a little and nodded, consenting to try it on. Her mother smiled and pulled her around to go show her father. The girl wandered off soon after that and spotted that Costco had pants of the same material. She smiled guiltily, knowing that she did not have the money to pay for the outfit, and picked up the pants, running the material through her hands. She grimaced for a second, looking at the price tag, then went over and dropped them in the cart. Finally, the family made their way to the checkout aisle, already swarmed with late Christmas shoppers. The girl looked around, her eyes alighting on a big screen TV that a woman with two kids was purchasing. She looked around at her own father, remembering when he had bought his big screen. They had rarely ate a meal in the dining room since. Her mother tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she would please grab the cinnamon from the cart, as she had forgotten to. The girl obliged, squeezing between the checkout stand and the customer that was right behind them, whom was already unloading their groceries. She snatched the cinnamon from the cart and placed it on the stand, then squeezed back through to join her mother and father. The three digit price tag on their groceries shocked the girl, though she should have expected it, this was Costco after all, land of the twelve packs of ketchup. Her mother tiredly pulled out her card and slid it through the machine, which prompted her for her pin number. The girls smile lessened a little, she did not like pin numbers. Personal Identification Numbers are pointless, she reasoned. We are individuals! Not Cattle that needs to be tagged and numbered. Isn't that what social security was for anyway? The girl knew that the numbers were needed so as to protect from identity theft, but she did not need to like them to use them. Once they had cleared the checkers at the stand, and the checkers at the exit, they made it to their car and unloaded their cart. What with dog food, cat litter and an antique picture frame, it was quite a lot of stuff to fit in the back of an Element. Finally, the cart was returned, the car was loaded and everyone was buckled up and ready to go. They had to go to the post office to drop a letter for the girls cousin. Then they ran over to the dollar store, where they bought tin foil pans for the cinnamon rolls that are soon to come. The girl had happy memories plastered all over her face in anticipation. She licked her lips and grinned at the mother, who rolled her eyes and turned to pay for the pans. After that, they headed for their last stop, Fred Meyers and the Notorious Wine Selection! or so it seemed to the girl, when they were another hour in the wine section, antagonizing over what ones to choose. Eventually they settled with six small bottles, that way if they did not like them, it wouldn't take such a horrible bite out of their budget. The family got to the checkout stand, and were either handed the obviousness of their age on a silver platter, or the checker was simply incompetent when the mother was not asked for ID. Once out of the store for good, the family walked back to the car, cracking jokes and having a generally good time. Pointless wandering sometimes may be aimless but still fun, reflected the girl, listening to her parents continued laughter up in the front seat. A good time for laughter, after a full and tiring day, is perhaps in the front seat of the car, waiting for a light to turn green so that they can go home.

An Intro

Today, you shall meet a girl। Not a very special one, but in her own way, irreplaceable. Her life has many twists and turns, many of which are not recorded here. Such as her parents decision to remove her and her brother from school. This decision has many impacts, most of them positive. As you will soon come to understand, this girl is both ordinary, and exemplary. Do you wish to know more? I could tell you many bits of her life up to this point, most of which involve her family and close friends. But she does not wish me to, thus her life starts from now. Beginning with a venture into town that occurred earlier in the day.