08-04-2009

Exercise: 3rd POV clash between clerk and customer from customer POV.

Start Fiction:


     Wanda walked up to the counter and the clerk simply ignored her, standing there picking at her fingernails.
     She is probably picking flesh out from under her nails as a result of attacking someone, Wanda thought.
     She waited a few seconds to let her gather her twiggy, dog collar wearing ass and get to work. Apparently she needed some motivation.
     "Hello?" She said. The clerk didn't acknowledge Wanda.      "Excuse me," she said louder. She slowly turned her head and stared at Wanda.
     "What?" she said.
     "I am ready to checkout," Wanda said as she set her items on the counter.
     The clerk sighed and moved towards the cash register. She zipped the items over the scanner and threw them, literally, in a bag. She rang up the total and mumbled it to Wanda.
     "Ok, two things," Wanda said. "One, you are mumbling and non one can understand you, so pronounce you words." The clerk just stared at her. It almost seemed to Wanda that "fuck off" was slowly appearing on her forehead.      "Second," she continued, "you don't need to be treating the stuff I am buying like garbage and just throw it around."
     "They're shirts," she smarted back.
     "It don't matter, little girl," Wanda said. "You need to remember that every person that you face pays your wages with every item you touch." she tried to not get mad, to not completely go off on the freaky looking clerk.
     "If you don't come in and buy this shit," the clerk said as she put the bag on the counter, "some other lonely housewife will be in here ten minutes from now to suck it up just as fast."
     "Who in the hell do you think you are thinking you know a damn thing about me?" Wanda said. She leaned towards the clerk and took a deep breath. "You're just a child who doesn't know shit about shit. You need to learn your place and learn to respect people." Their faces were inches apart; Wanda could smell the incense on the clerk and her bubble gum flavored gum.
     "And I suppose you're just the one to teach me?" the clerk said. She blew a bubble, almost hitting Wanda on the nose.
     Wanda raised he hand and popped the bubble with her index finger. She pointed her finger at the clerk, her arm shaking, her breathing became rapid, her teeth grinding. The clerk's eyes widened, bubble gum hanging from her mouth.
     Hearing her teeth grind, Wanda slowly stood up and stepped back. She put her wallet back in her purse and walked out of the store. No purchase today, or any more from this store.
     Wanda was embarrassed she had let that punk ass bitch get to her, but she was sick of working with kids like the clerk who not only don't have respect for anyone else, they don't have respect for themselves. It weighed heavy on her mind, her heart, but most days she just didn't know what to do to help these kids.


End Fiction.