In January, my friend Kelley and I stopped to get Chinese food to take back to my house to eat. I found someone's grocery list lying on the ground. I remembered one year at Sanibel Island Writers Conference learning about a website that published people's actual grocery lists as fodder for stories. This is why I picked up the list. It took a while to figure out what the story could be, and I've worked on it for a week. It helped me recall how much I love writing fiction.
She had decided to improve her health. Enough of the fast food and convenience items she has been depending on. Stop being lazy, Sara, she told herself. You aren’t getting any younger. Full-on veganism was the plan. Anything else would be halfway.
She was committed. While making her list, she decided she’d take her doctor’s advice and give up caffeine. She added decaf coffee.Yes! One trip to the grocery store she could start down an entirely new path to health and wellness. She was itching to get started. No time like the present!
Sara made her list on an odd-shaped piece of recycled cardboard, and attached a coupon for Gold Bond Lotion she had cut out of the back of People magazine. Her skin has been getting dry and itchy now that she has entered her fifties. It was time to start taking care of her skin as well.
She was going to be a whole new person.
Excited about her plan, she headed off to the local Publix, convinced their vegetables would be superior, although she couldn’t recall the last time she had purchased a vegetable from Publix or any other store. Yes, it has been a while. This is why the plan was so vitally needed. A whole new life awaits.
After parking, Sara looked at herself in the rear view mirror. She saw a woman with an aging, sallow face. All this changes today, she told herself. Just do it!
The store was fairly crowded, but she made her way through the produce section, picking up the items on her list: pears, bananas, cherries, squash, walnuts. She found a bag of already prepped slaw and picked up the ingredients in the condiments aisle for a mayonnaise free dressing: apple cider vinegar, honey, and stone ground mustard. With each item placed carefully into the cart, her enthusiasm for this project grew.
After grabbing the Grevalia decaf in the coffee aisle, Sara headed to the cashiers. Yikes. Only two opened, and each with long lines of customers with loaded carts. She realized a trip to the bathroom was in order, so she slid her cart out of the way in the wine section, and headed to the restroom. While washing her hands she looked in the mirror again and thought, hmmm, I’m looking better already! My skin looks fresh. Amazing what a new attitude can do!
She left the ladies room and found herself walking out the electric door. In a short distance she was pulling open the door to #1 Wok Chinese food. Without another thought of her vegan commitment, she got her usual: boneless spare ribs appetizer, three shrimp egg rolls, and an order of General Tso’s Chicken. Carrying her parcel to her car, she didn’t give a thought to the cart she left behind. Her grocery list, loose in her pocket, dropped out onto the pavement. She didn’t notice a thing. All she could think of was the hot food waiting to be eaten, and she rushed home. She poured herself a hefty glass of wine, dished out her food until the plate was overflowing with meat-heavy items, and feasted while watching the new season of Virgin River on Netflix. She fell asleep in front of the television.
Around 11:00 p.m., Sara woke. Her arms and legs and belly were itchy. She was still tipsy from the wine. It was then she remembered she had not picked up the Gold Bond Lotion. I’ll have to find that coupon, she thought, as she flipped over to go back to sleep.
