Our Subconscious Love Song
A Short Story By
Andrew Bartsch
First Draft 8-8-13
Proofread 8-10-13
He really just wanted to get this day over with. He had been doing real good lately with keeping himself in good spirits, but lately his fits of depression and anxiety came out of no where and felt like they were hitting him like the font of a speeding train. He still had three and a half more hours of his shift left, and then shortly after he had to see his therapist. He wanted to get better, but lately, it just felt like a chore.
It was really slow today, which only made the day feel longer. He already alphabetized half of the store. The children's section was the easiest. Big thick books with little to no text on those giant pages. It seemed like children's authors specialized in doing two dozen books a year. Maybe he should look into that field of work.
Well, it could be worse. They could be overwhelmingly busy today. Unfortunately, it seems like people aren't reading as much as they used to. At least, they don't buy in book stores anymore. He could sympathize. Driving fifteen miles to a bookstore in hope of finding a single book that was only released two years by a fairly popular writer, hoping you're looking in the right genre, and wishing they would just put the books in order of the name of the book, not the author, only to find the book in question isn't in stock. It was so much easier looking for it online or on some kind of e-reader.
That seemed to be what the big thing was nowadays. It was much cheaper, seeing as how there was no use of ink or paper, simpler, and a lot of older folks were fans of being able to control the size of the text. But to Sam, nothing is better than being able to turn to whatever page you like, not running out of battery life, and the smell! Oh god, that smell of an good, old book. The smell of literature. Sam was always afraid if someone asked why he wanted to work in a book store, he might accidentally answer, "the smell".
He checked his watch again. Dear god, it's only been seven minutes since he checked it last! This is impossible. It was getting to him. He thought about faking having to go to the bathroom again, just so he can get out of being on the sales floor and doing nothing for just a few minutes.
He was saved though. A young woman in a black apron similar to Sam's (why did they have to wear aprons?) leaned on the shelf next to him. The girl stretched her arms up and yawned.
"Just a heads up," Ashley began. "You might want to leave now. I'm thinking of shooting everyone in here."
His heart skipped a beat. His lips curved into a smirk as he took in everything he both loved about her. Her eyes were naturally dark with full lashes. She never opened them all the way. She has an incredible singing voice. Her taste in music is questionable. She loves to share her knowledge of strange food. She chews with her mouth open. Sam once heard the phrase, "You like someone for their perks, but you love someone for their faults". He thought that was pretty silly, but all changed when he started working with Ashley.
He stopped organizing, and just started putting books on the shelves...slowly.
"Why? You don't want to shoot me?" He asked.
"Oh, I'll shoot you," she smirked. "I'd rather not, but I'm just saying I'm so bored, I'm willing to commit murder in order for something to happen today."
"I hear ya," Sam responded, forcing books into whatever space is available. "If we were allowed, I could probably read every book in here before my shift's over."
