This is a #storygram (mini-stories) from my Instagram, which you can get to via the social media links at the top of this site. I do my best to make them a daily thing for you to enjoy and share with your friends! I really love making them, as they allow me to simultaneously scratch my photography and writing itches while I’m busy with filmmaking. Thank you very much for reading and sharing them! Don’t forget to check out my film Portfolio too!
The Story:
A loaf of bread: $1.85. It was even on sale. The woman next to her who was clothed in jewelry was obviously excited about it.
“Yeah, there’s a sale on it, honey! You want me to get you a loaf or two?”
The woman put her cell phone down on her purse and grabbed four loaves, throwing them onto the food mountain in her basket. The woman strolled away.
Almost two dollars seemed like such a small thing to most people, but it was not small to her. She might be a little better off if he would actually pay the child support, or if she could get a better job, or if she didn’t have to drive as far. But he will never pay, no one would ever give her a salary, this job was the best she could find within 50 miles, and she knew all of it with a defeating certainty.
She picked up the bread, giving it a light squeeze. It was so soft. She could smell the freshness of the wheat coming from the bag. Her children would love it so much that she wouldn’t be able to keep them out of it. Pulling it from the grocery bag would reveal the biggest smiles on their little faces. When was the last time she had smiled like that?
But it was $1.85, and they still had a little more stale bread at home. She would have to make that last until her paycheck next Thursday. So, she put the loaf back on the shelf.
“Customer assistance on aisle 7. Customer assistance, aisle 7,” the intercom echoed through the store.
Aisle 7 was the next one over. She straightened her branded vest and turned the corner to see the bread woman.
“Oh, thank goodness. Can you get a couple of these sodas down for me, baby?”
She smiled. It wasn’t her real smile. It was just the smile she was told she had to wear.
“I’d be happy to, ma’am.”