I stood at the counter watching the clock.
The day drags along like snails on concrete.
I look down and count the cigarette brands.
This store has a knack for being boring.
The little bell rung as the door opened.
A tall man wearing a hoodie walked in.
I couldn't get a good look at his face.
With any luck, I will get robbed today.
He walked over to the slushy machine.
His hand slowly pulled a Styrofoam cup.
The cup was soon filled with red sugar slush.
As it filled, the man turned his head to me.
My eyes widened from shock at the man's face.
It was not a face, but a galaxy.
Hundreds of stars stretching out into space.
Shimmering stars in fields of black and blue.
The universe is wearing a hoodie.
The universe is buying a slushy.
Should I cry or laugh at the sheer madness?
He stepped to the counter and said nothing.
My hand shook as I worked the register.
He reached into his pocket for money.
He gently set the bills inside my hand.
He put the cup to where his lips should be.
The cup fell into his face instantly.
I watched it fall out of sight passed the stars.
He then opened the door for a woman.
He walked passed her without a reaction.
The woman wore a lovely pink hijab.
Her eyes had a smoldering quality.
She glanced at the magazines on the wrack.
As she stared at them, they started to melt.
One by one, the pages plopped to the ground.
Just globs of multicolored nothingness.
Soon she began walking through the store aisles.
Her eyes had a curious hunger now.
She looked at every item in the store.
They all melted before her scorching gaze.
Soon all had been melted except for us.
Then, her eyes looked closely into my own.
Yet, I did not dissolve like the products.
I felt a warm heat within my stomach.
It grew until it filled my arms and legs.
This warm vapor clouded up my head and brain.
My mind could formulate no thoughts or words.
All I could do was let this warmth take me.
It seemed like only the warmth existed.
It was all that ever was or will be.
