The Shopping List

By Rich Cole

It is just another ordinary weekend. All Tom wants to do is hit the road, visit his friend, grab some bottles of beer, and watch baseball.

However, when his loving wife Sera pleads with him to get the groceries at Foodies and Co-op, a local supermarket, things take an unexpected turn.

Terror soon begins to seep into his bones when ten minutes of shopping becomes an endless loop that lasts for a lifetime. He finds himself returning endlessly to the supermarket like a bad, lucid dream.

He discovers he is dead and is part of an experiment for a world of virtual reality.

He must get out, but all his escape attempts are futile. Time is running out. What if he gets stuck in the VR forever? What if the looming sinister things crash down hard on him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seagull Editions
• Release date: May 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215785287

Book preview

THE SHOPPING LIST

© 2021 Seagull Editions s.r.l.

www.seagulleditions.com

CHAPTER 1

Ten minutes and he would be out of there. It would take just ten minutes. He would make it in time to catch the baseball match and down some bottles of beer. Like most humans, Tom loved the weekend. What was there not to love? Freedom from work, sleeping in, watching a match, and spending time with his kid. He adjusted his leather jacket and walked through the doors of Foodies and Co-op. He tucked his car keys in the pocket of his pants as he proceeded to take a basket.

Turning clockwise, his eyes scanned for some fresh tomatoes; the only produce Sera trusted him enough to buy. He knew he was horrible at telling the difference between fresh and stale but Sera definitely made the habit of exaggerating his weakness. He walked towards the counter as he pulled the shopping list from his pocket. Straightening it, he thinned his eyes to read. He paused. The words seemed a little blurry.  He shook his head slightly and looked again, thinning his eyes even more. The words still seemed almost invincible on the page. Lifting the paper towards his face, he made one more attempt to see the items on the shopping list. There were six in number, at least Sera had said so. Strange. Why did the words appear so indistinct?

Reaching for his phone, he lifted his head and that was when he finally noticed it. The aisle seemed to have extended. The counter where he stood seemed to enlarge and stretch wider than before. His eyes darted this way and that. This must be a dream.

He shook his head once again but only in time to see the aisle unmistakably stretch even further. He took two steps back and shut his eyes. He wasn't going mad. He wasn't going mad. He took a couple of deep breaths and counted to ten. Opening his eyes, he could see that the crowd within the store had increased. More and more people flooded the store as it extended.

His white knuckles gripped tighter around the handle of his basket. His heart slammed loudly against his green sweatshirt. The number of people doubled, then tripled almost to the point where an unknown person stood awfully close to him. His eyes rolled back and he felt a pounding headache at the right side of his head. He had to leave here. He had to leave this place.

Taking long and hasty strides, he pushed through the ever-increasing swarm of people and aimed for the entrance but the further he went, the further the entrance seemed. The shop continued to extend and the entrance seemed farther and farther away. Beads of sweat formed on his temples. His breathing became irregular and his eyes darted all around for a means of escape. He must call Sera.

He felt his pocket for his mobile phone but it was no longer there. His eyes widened in alarm. His hands dug in and out, slamming against his thigh in a frantic effort to find the phone. His eyes lifted to the shelves and he froze.  The store and the people around him seemed to shift out of his vision. Every single product on every shelf had one name written on them.

Tom.

The basket fell from his grip and clattered loudly on the tiled floor. His throat tightened and his airways seemed blocked. His heart pounded wilder. It couldn't be. What on earth was happening?

Why? Why did all the products have his name? This was a bad dream. A nightmare he had to wake up from and quickly. He turned around. It wasn't just the shelf before him, the one behind him also screamed his name at him, Tom.

He turned to run down the elongating aisle. He had to run away from this place. He exerted energy into his legs and pushed his chest forward. He bumped into someone at every interval. The crowd continued to increase. The people surrounded him till there was no space left on the supermarket floor to place his feet. Fear slammed against his chest. He feared he would have a panic attack. He must be running mad. He looked around and felt claustrophobic. Different scents and perfumes blasted against his nostrils. He was trapped, there was no escape.

He couldn't move forward, nor could he retreat. The extending supermarket provided even more ground for the ever-increasing crowd. This wasn't happening. He shut his eyes tightly and counted to ten. Letting each number twirl on his tongue and soothe his nerves. He steadied himself and tried to breathe slowly. With each count, he tried to remind himself that he was completely sane and this was probably a very bad dream. No, not just a bad dream, a nightmare!

When he flung his eyes open, the crowd had tripled. The flesh of others met him and pressed against him tightly. He was going to die. His mind unfurled and the panic took the reins. He dug his hands into his hair and shutting his eyes, he let out a loud wail.

Flinging his eyes open, he let out a sigh. The crowd was gone but he no longer stood within the supermarket. Strange. He turned around and tried to adjust to his surroundings. It was a long dark corridor, similar to a Foodie's aisle but longer and darker. He pursed his lips and stretched his neck further into the darkness. His neck movement was brought to a halt by a sharp stinging pain against his neck. He let out a loud grunt and moved his hand towards his shoulder. His fingers met with a cold item and the flesh of another palm. The liquid in the syringe flowed through his veins and the world around him began to spin. Soon enough, the darkness enveloped him. His legs buckled and he fell, his head hit the ground in a bounce and everything went black.

* * *

He couldn't tell if it was the cold seeping through his clothes or the splitting headache from the side of his head that roused him to consciousness. He squeezed his eyes and opening them, saw the pale skin of his fingers and the tiled floor. His eyes brows deepened in confusion.  What was he doing on the floor? What had happened to his red Persian rug?

Sitting up, his dark blue eyes scanned his surroundings and sheer panic gripped him. His eyes widened. He wasn't at home. There was no bed, no Sera, and no red Persian rug. He rubbed his palm across his face. Nothing changed. He did it again and again. He stood up hurriedly and tried to grasp his surroundings. He stood within a back office, surrounded by tons of desks with laptops placed on them. He swirled around. There was no one in sight. His heartbeat quickened and he raced through the office, making feverish calls for anyone else that could be stuck in the office.

Hello. Is anyone here?

But his voice returned in lonely silence. He walked around the office, seeking an exit. He first went clockwise then anticlockwise but there was none. Panic set in, his eyes darted around and his palms grew moist. He walked even faster. There had to be an exit.

Nevertheless, each turn only led to another and he became caught in the maze of endless desks and corridors. His heart slammed so loudly he could hear