July 23, 2023.

Every week we post six lines of a work of ours, a work-in-progress or a work of someone else’s we recommend that has LGBT characters at Rainbow Snippets, here https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974

This week, a couple of snippets from my Friday Flash Fiction story “Cleanup on Aisle Two.” https://authorjeffbaker.com/2023/07/07/cleanup-on-aisle-two-friday-flash-fics-may-get-messy-from-jeff-baker-july7-2023/ I set it marginally in the future but I hope the characters and emotions come off as real and contemporary. Enjoy!

Arnie Gilman shifted the loaf of bread in his arms, real bread, he thought, not that processed stuff they grow in sheets. He should have probably gotten a cart, but hell, sixty-four wasn’t old, he could carry the big bottle of juice in one hand, the bread in the other and the spatula under his arm.

He glanced out the big grocery store windows as he walked up front to the checkout. Maybe he’d catch a glimpse of the Mars Shuttle that was leaving from the airport. He smiled. He and Mark had always talked about taking one to Mars for a vacation. But now…

Here’s another snippet, as Arnie wanders over to the new “Slow Checkout” and a young checker named Carlos.

“The idea was for there to be a lane for checkers to take their time and talk to the customers because a lot of older people are just lonely and come into stores for conversation.” Gilman said.

“Yeah, that’s the idea,” Carlos said. “It’s just been a week but I have some regulars who come by here. One lady comes in every day and just buys a bag of M & M’s. Talks for five minutes.” He grinned. “But I don’t mind.”

Yeah, I like sweet stories too. Next week, something a bit more edgy (if I remember to do it!)

—–jeff