idney beans, corn, Campbell's Tomato Soup. The cans clinked as her slender fingers dropped them into her bag. She ran her fingernails over the labels - the tin cans reminded her of late nights with her grandmother. They would chat when she came home from college, a wooden spoon swirling the veggies and beans back and forth, as they spoke of boys and classes.
That was a life ago. Yet her grandmother's voice was clear, even within the empty store, the empty streets, the empty...
"Evie, take your time. You've no need to rush. Look around you, take it all in. Think."
And now she had all the time in the world to think. The wind blew through the open doors and down the aisle Evie stood in. She saw black streaks fly across the storefront windows. A shudder ran down her spine.
"The world moves quickly - but you've got to take your time." The soup always felt so warm and filling all the way down. "Look, and you'll see things no one else has eyes for."
Her bag was full and she swung it over her back. She closed her eyes, sighed, and walked to the entrance. There was no sign of the crows. She looked again, this time focusing on the small things around her. Her breath caught. Under a car across the street she found a child's shoe, and with it a child cold and still.
Evie wept. The birds had left her alone, the car protecting her somehow. She pulled the body of a girl out and carried her to a group of trees around the corner. She would bury her. Yes, she would dig a grave here.
The crows will not have her. Evie began to dig.
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Check out the rest of the A-Z crew here! And come by tomorrow for 2.6 of "Dystopolis."
Jump to 2.4, or start at the beginning!
Read the idea behind the story.
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