Supermarket Stories

By Hank Fredo

A collection of stories, and a tale of the everyday lives of people within the aisles of Coleman's Supermarket, and amongst staff. A place where desires, dreams, love, and careers are being thought of, born, and chased, and flirtations are made to those in need of love, but all leading to unfulfillment, skepticism, doubt, and regrets.

Reality speaks, the past is seen, and the future, like the vapour of longings, is within sight, drifting like mist in the air, but never within grasp. Relating sadness and loneliness, hopes and wishes, dreams and more dreams, only leading to what the mind sees, but sadly, somewhat hard to be reached.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seagull Editions
• Release date: May 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223930754

Book preview

Matt

She was an actress. He knew that much. She never came into the grocery store with the same outfit twice. She always looked like someone else, with a different hair color and different makeup. The way she carried herself, with a high head, was with full confidence. She’d always walk through the store with what she needed to buy set in her mind. She’d find them quickly and then leave in less than a half hour.

Matt admired that of her. He was indecisive as people get. He had a hard time making decisions, more or less, what he should eat for dinner most nights. He didn’t like things that were set in stone. He didn’t trust himself enough for that.

So instead, he marveled at the actress that he often saw shopping on Monday nights at 11PM. He didn’t used to shop so late. He used to shop quite early, actually—usually at one or two PM. But one night—after failing to focus on writing his screenplay—he had a rare itch for wine. There was none in the fridge, leaving him to drive to the store at 11PM on a Monday. He saw the actress there doing her shopping, and he was entranced by her shiny red hair and black shimmering dress. She had been sifting through the fruits. He went over, pretending to be browsing the bananas. The woman turned towards him, tilting her head. She held up an apple. Do you know if they have gala apples here?

He was taken aback by her speaking to him. Matt quickly forced himself calm, shaking his head. Sorry, I have no idea. I honestly just choose a random apple each time, whichever looks the most appealing that day.

He was too indecisive to choose one type of apple.

She smiled. It brightened her whole face. He was amazed by how it made her more beautiful than before, if that was even possible. I suppose that makes it easier to shop, doesn’t it?

If it does, he smiled back. He could feel his palms becoming sweaty.

There was a pause of silence between them. The actress glanced around. He tried to think of something to say, to continue the conversation, but he couldn’t. Instead, his mouth remained closed. I ought to be going, she told him with the wave of her hand. Thank you for helping.

Of course. He watched as she walked away.

Matt came to the store the same day next week in hopes that he’d see her again. And she did. Every single time.

...

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The great thing about people is that they love habits. If they do a task in a certain way and it works, chances are they’re going to continue to do that task the same way. It’s easy. It’s convenient. No one wants to waste their time learning someone new when they already have a method that works.

Luckily for Matt, the actress was very much a person of habit. She came into the grocery store at the same time and same day every week. He assumed that it was because there were less people shopping at such an hour. In that way, he enjoyed shopping on the same day as well. It definitely saved him time waiting in line.

It was a bit inconvenient in the time department, but it wasn’t like he didn’t have time to spare. He was a screenplay writer with slight insomnia. He had had the entire night to do whatever he liked. He usually spent it writing—so he’d lie to himself, claiming that going shopping was part of his writing. It was research. On the odd people he’d see while shopping during the late hours.

The grocery store at 11PM made for a great place to people-watch. Matt found himself looking forward to his nightly trips there. Not only because he’d see the actress and perhaps get to talk to her, but because there was never a boring day there.

There was the drunk and stumbling punk singer who claimed he had an album coming out soon but was too intoxicated to finish it. The model who was bare-faced and wearing yoga pants, using the late hours to avoid fans and photographers. The Youtuber who shoved his camera into customers’ faces without their permission and then laughed when they got mad (Matt made sure to avoid that guy like that plague). And, of course, there was the beautiful actress...

All in all, it was safe to say that there were more than enough reasons for Matt to go shopping at such an odd hour. He may even look forward to it— but that may be more due to the fact that he had nothing else interesting going on in his daily life.

He had his rejected screenplays, piling up by the weeks; and he had his day job at a used bookstore. He didn’t hate the job, but he didn’t love it either. He only worked there to pay the bills—until his screenplay writing took off. Which seemed to happen less and less by the day.

But this one, he told himself, parking in front of the grocery store. This screenplay I’m working on now...I have something here.

It was about a poor artist who becomes infatuated with an actress he meets at a grocery store. Yes, it was definitely about him. It was purely a self-inserted story. However, he did exaggerate the story a bit. The actress would fall in love with the artist. His career would take off. The ending would be sweet.

And entirely fictional.

This would never happen to him in a million years. He was an introverted man who lacked any sort of confidence; he spoke much too softly, and cowered when anyone raised their voice at him. His career was already failing and he had barely even started. He was a failure on all accounts. Whereas the actress...

She had it made. Beautiful and talented. Kind. She was beyond his league. She probably felt bad for him, if anything. A woman like that would never fall to his level. She didn’t deserve it.

Which was why he was purely content with watching her. Admiring her. Writing a story where his fictional self could live the life he wished he had, but didn’t—and never will.

He was fine with that.

He was. Right? I am, he told himself, despite feeling the lie boiling in his soul. The yearning was hard to ignore. He knew that he wanted that life, as impossible as it seemed. But he was no idiot. He knew the things he could realistically achieve.

And it wasn’t that.

He walked into the store feeling somewhat depleted. He looked for the beautiful actress, hoping that seeing her would lighten his mood. It always did, after all. He was certain she had been some angelic being in her past life. It only made sense. She seemed to be too good to be true in this world. She didn’t deserve this terrible world.

She deserved everything.

All the things I never could give her, he thought. All the things another man will most certainly grant her. He felt a bitter turning inside his stomach. He was growing jealous for a man that didn’t exist—or perhaps he did. Matt was uncertain if the actress had a boyfriend. She probably did, as a woman like her most definitely didn’t stay single long. She probably had a long-string of past relationships.

Unlike himself, who had a mere three relationships that all ended with bitter ends. He did admit that they failed mostly due to his own inadequacies, but that was neither here nor there. It was in the past and he wished to no longer return to those memories.

You’ve decided to get a gala apple this time, a sweet voice said next to him. Matt turned in surprise. The actress giggled, with a hand over her mouth. Oh, sorry. Did I surprise you?

She had bleached her hair blonde. It was cut into a bob. The hair made her pale skin look like porcelain. She looked even more angelic than she had with red hair. He gulped. His chest pounded. He glanced