Excerpt: Emyrson Bland

At the store he noticed his friend Margie at her register wiping the conveyor belt clean and spraying some sort of blue liquid on it. She looked up and smiled when she saw him come in. He pretended not to notice her but was glad to see her face.

He grabbed a shopping cart and got through his short list pretty quickly. Soup, instant Folger’s coffee, bread, apple juice, and a few other things. He had totaled the exact price together including the tax and knew exactly what the total should be. He might be bad in Algebra class but that didn't mean he was bad with numbers. He started towards Margie's check out counter and realized he'd forgotten something. That is when he felt it happen again...

It started with a feeling that gravity was somehow messed up, he felt a little bit weightless but it seemed to be lifting him this time. He could still feel the rung of the shopping cart under his foot so he knew it was just a sensation that he was floating. The voice on the store loudspeaker seemed exaggerated and unreal.

Instead of a wind going through him he felt as though the loudspeaker was using his internal organs as a soundboard. There were all of these sickening vibrations that worked his way through him and up through his head, he could feel, hear and taste himself vomiting and could see above the store aisles. At the same time it occurred to him that he could feel the rung of the shopping cart rigidly supporting his left foot. He also felt the shiny plastic handle in his hands.

From his view above the shopping aisles he could see Margie at her counter, she seemed to be glowing as if she was the light source for the entire store. He saw some other shapes moving in the store but they seemed shadowy and dark. All of this happened in a flash, an instant, all while the loudspeaker voice was saying the word "manager."

"...needed at the front of the store." Crash, he fell to the floor, his head barely missing the metal display shelf but taking the cardboard sale sign with him. The flash of red from the cardboard made him think for an instant that he was bleeding.
He lay there wet in his vomit, the sounds and colors all blending into each other in a dizzying swirl of motion. The sound and light faded as he saw Margie's face hover over him. She was the only thing he could see that seemed normal.