Don't Stop Believin' (COMPLETED)

3. I Will Survive

I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR

Author's Note

Here U go! :D Hope you enjoy. Please fan/vote/comment if you like it

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It was just a silly magazine but I stared at it for, probably, several minutes. The newspaper carrier was standing on the sidewalk, maybe a little silly located, but if it hadn’t been there, I hadn’t noticed it. At the end of his blue and white shorts, just above the knees there were some black and bold letters who said “Touchdown! And Downhill is back!". I didn’t understand. Why was he on the front of a silly sports magazine? Slowly, I woke to life again and glanced down at my feet. One of the bags lay in a puddle of water and swallowed up the water from the pavement and the tomato had been joined by a few potatoes and garlic. I sighed, leaned down to pick up the food from the ground and took the opportunity to breathe.

The air was almost stuck in my throat and I couldn’t keep the breathing under control. It was barely possible to see through the transparent mist that covered my eyes and dazed I dragged my groceries into the small shop as the newspaper filled windows belonged to. After about a minute, the fog lifted and I got back to my otherwise regular breathing. Behind the checkout there was a young girl, probably about my age and she was looking at her phone at the same time she was blowing big pink bubbles with her gum. She didn’t even look up when the little bell sounded from above the door when I opened it. The shop was quite small and elongated. All along the right wall was a long counter with cash back and the left wall was covered with candy in various shapes and colors. It hang fluorescent lamps in the roof and gave the little shop is a little fishy impressions and the light shone in the covers of the newspapers on the front of the counter. The sudden headache I got outside the door was gone and everything was back to normal. Almost. It felt like a big empty hole in my stomach.

I put down my bags next to the door and went to the bar to look closer at the many newspapers that stood there. After I’d rooted around in them for a while and had got several dirty looks from the cashier, I found the magazine I was looking for; Detroit High Sport with my prince on the front. His smile dazzled me once again and my breathing sped away again. In black tiny letters below the "Touchdown!"-headline the text read: "exclusive interview on page 7-10."

"How much for this?" I asked the girl at the counter and she examined the magazine a long time. The sound of her disgusting, flabby gum made it to go shivers up my spine and her face wore so much makeup that it made her look like some sort of Halloween Mask.

"$ 7.30 ..." she replied, cocky, and I just stood and stared at her. $ 7.3 for a newspaper?

"Do you take credit?" She looked at me as if I was an idiot.

"Do I look like I do ...?" Wow...! Calm down, bitch!

"Excuse me, then..." I turned away from the office in order to start looking in the pockets for cash and to my relief I heard the sound of coins in the right pocket. Abraham Lincoln looked back at me from the five dollar bill I got up and I tried to straighten the wrinkled bill as best as I could. Two gold coins fell out of my open palm when I shook the last coins out from my pocket and I put them on the counter. A five dollar bill, two dollar coin and a quarter dollars. Damn it! I missed five cents!

"I have $ 7.25 ...” I said imploringly but she just looked at me.

"Well? You know how to count? It's not enough..." I sighed. People couldn’t show a little compassion these days, couldn’t they?!

"Please ...? Okay, if we do like this, then? I'll give you $ 7.25 today and I’ll come by tomorrow morning with five cents...?"

"And if you don’t...?" she replied doubtfully looking at me with raised, painted eyebrows.