ANNE

by Ethan Rodriguez 

CHAPTER 1

Anne woke up covered in sweat, profusely from the overload of clothes he was wearing including his uniform. After school, he liked to go straight to bed with no regrets (sometimes). During school, in his last period, he liked to imagine what he would eat once he went home. 

He enjoyed his time with his thoughts since most of his friends wouldn’t pay attention to what he had to say and additionally thinking of how better his life would be, had his mom agreed to let him go out with friends once in a while. He was lying in bed thinking to himself and glanced towards his phone, “9:33 PM”, it read. Curiosity got the best of him and he went outside his room and peeked down the hallway. His mother was getting the things necessary for her Friday night shopping. Rarely, he would join her so today he wasn't planning on going. His mom then looked across and glanced towards him. 

“Hey… look who’s up”

He suddenly remembered what had happened before he drifted off. His mom had called him to wash the dishes but instead slept. Feeling guilty in the span of two seconds, he responded quickly:

“I didn’t mean to sleep, I can help with groceries today.”

He glanced at the dining room and saw the empty porcelain collection on the shelves. They were positioned exactly the same way he had entered this house. Despite his feminine name, it was significant to him, because his name were the initials of his father who had passed away. Anthony N. Emanuel. The two N’s for Nelson. 

“Hurry up, I’ll wait for you in the car”

~~~

Arriving in the parking lot, the fluorescent LED “Supermarket” sign lit up. Anne noticed how empty the entire parking lot was. This was normal considering the time and the town’s population. Everyone would normally shop around 5 PM. Perfect time to have the market all to yourself. He remembered his last trip to the supermarket, 2 years ago, and forgot how nostalgic it all felt to be in this exact parking lot with the powerful lights the sign brought. Carrying plastic grocery bags for the shopping trip, Anne slowly opened the car door and went outside. The rewarding cold and timid air hitting his face made him sigh of relief from the hot and stuffy air inside the car. Following behind was his mom as they entered the store.

CHAPTER 2

Inside the supermarket were arranged shelves of goodies for anyone. First section needed to be covered was the food section. As Anne and his mom made their way here, he noticed how empty it actually was inside and took notice of the background music playing on the speakers. As his mom was searching through the cans of soup, he reached his pocket for his phone. He had forgotten it. 

“Can you find mozzarella cheese for me please?”

He quickly went to do this since he didn’t have anything to do. Right now, he wasn’t worried about people judging him or silently staring at him as he went to search the aisles. He searched almost the whole aisle, the next one and the one after. Reaching his arm towards the container, his arm started to illuminate. Looking next to the window beside him, seeing the car driving into the parking lot. The shiny, red, convertible took up the darkness of the street. Anne saw in the reflection of the window as the engine turned off. His mother started to go towards Anne when she took note of the car.

“Look, you found it!”

Anne didn’t pay attention to his mom, though. Instead he kept looking at the man staring right back at him through the car. His jarring eyes looked right through them.

~~~

Fifteen minutes had passed, Anne and his mom were almost finished completing their list in the same old notebook she would always bring. The man still did not get out of his car, and just kept staring. While searching through the aisles, his mom also started to note the man and could only tell him not to stare back. They started to hurry up, but he was still inside of the car. Staring directly at them.

“Lets wrap things up here,” Anne's mom assured. She walked around the store checking every counter for at least one employer. It wasn’t until she noticed that there were no employees in the store that she actually started to panic and sweat with lots of thoughts flowing through her head, all mushing up and creating a hopeless feel of anxiety. She looked towards the sign outside the window that announced whether the shop was closed or open. If it was open facing their direction, it meant it was closed, and that was exactly how it looked when she saw the sign. The man took advantage of their anxious manner and started to make his way out of the car with a pin in hand. Anne turned back at the man through the windows as he made his way to their car. The man took the pin and, with maximum force, struck it into each tire. With each pop, Anne and his mother jumped, it wasn’t until Anne noticed the gun the man was hiding underneath his coat.