i like hearing the stoners laugh from behind the fence and wonder if i'll ever be that happy. i like watching the woman behind the counter sigh when her brother isn't looking and fumble over "6 dollars and 23 cents" with her kolkata metro accent. i like watching that one girl with the septum flirt with the cashiers and buy cigarettes half off. i like watching kids sitting on the curb with their toes curled inwards, i like the easiness of life when a smile is just an arizona tea and a pack of gum away. i like walking there with my friend and laughing about life when school seems so distant, a whole two blocks away. i like the bubblegum pop songs they play, i like buying too much, i like sugar and sweatpants and seven eleven. when i walk out the scratched door and over the scuffed threshold life gets that much heavier, that much sadder, that much more careful. life is good when the world hasn't really thought about taxing you on your food yet.
