A mimicry of Mike Scully
The sun was rising on the building this morning, the sign on the front of the building hidden in the morning shadows. No one came into work this early, only the manager Carl cared enough about his job to try. Carl unlocked the door and tore a paper off the window. He didn’t bother reading it, it was probably another letter of resignation from his associates. The rooms were dark and empty with a strong hint of humidity–when was it ever this humid? Flipping the lights on, one by one, the building lit up. Merchandise lined the windows and walls, small paths lined the floor for people to walk through. Carl walked quickly around the merchandise, almost tripping and saying “that’s meant to happen” in a soft whisper. Even Carl knew it wasn’t meant to happen, but he had several rules about keeping this mess in check.
The sun rose further as the first few letter on the sign grew visible: “A Salt–”. Carl flipped the open sign around, hoping that his associates wouldn’t call off for the third month in a row. He wasn’t sure why he could never keep his associates, he gave them the best opportunities in this line of work and free purchases every other week. His golden rule was to wait a mere 6 months with pay before firing them. A small black cat was slowly traversing the sidewalk out front. Carl cracked open the register and prepared the drawer for the inevitable flood of customers today, as was the average flow each day. It was another reason bags of salt lined the sales floor, because how else do you save a store from a flood? The weather outside was hot, dry, and drier as the cat walked by, drenched with water. A flood of salt fell in front of the store, burying the cat in a foot of salt.
The sun, rising ever so slowly, gave light to more of the front of the building: “A Salt & Bat–”. The humidity was exceedingly strong, Carl thought. He searched the store for any leaks in the heating. Carl had duct taped a pipe once, so he knew what he was doing. The doorbell rang as a customer entered the store. “Welc–” Carl started as the customer immediately left the store. “Oh, I thought this was that one store down on Mon…” The door closed as Carl stood still for a moment. “I think I left the humidifier off last night.” Carl continued about his grazing as the sun blanketed the full front of the store. He grabbed a bat and headed into the back to fix the humidifier once more. The cat, now dry, continued walking past the store after digging its way back out of the salt pile. Nothing more than the average day at “A Salt & Battery”.
Carl headed out with a large broom to push the salt into Main Street, a normal occurrence on Monday afternoons. The black cat returned, walking slowly past the front of the store in the opposite direction. Carl heard something shaking before feeling the same beneath his feet. The cat jumped on Carl’s head and covered his face with it’s puffed up tail as a loud crash loomed in front of them. A strong breeze blew past them, with a small hint of salt as it slowly settled down. The cat, after a few minutes, calmed down and hopped back onto the sidewalk to continue its daily walk. Carl, as unfazed as the cat, looked at the space where his shop once stood and began walking down the street to the shop on Monty Street.