Fiction: The Blizzard in Aisle Thirteen

Fiction: The Blizzard in Aisle ThirteenLilly Beans strolled down the aisles of The Food Palace with a thought of only getting the necessities and going home to a nice, quiet evening. The slow music playing throughout the store gave her an urge to drink hot chocolate and take a nap. She shook her head and wiped that thought away. Around her, the mansion-size supermarket appeared crowded on this Saturday afternoon.
    The market had opened nine months ago but Lily had hesitated coming here until this week. She was all for small businesses and this giant market had swallowed a few of her favorites in the neighborhood but at last, she had to give in as shopping for groceries at the convenience store wasn't so convenient. The week-old fruits alone would drive anyone away. The cat food she needed for her cat, Toto, was no longer available there and not to mention the weird checkout teenager with the scent of dirty laundry kept asking her out even though she was twice his age and twice his height.
    Down aisle thirteen, Lilly passed along the shelves of pet food. So many varieties, so many choices. But Toto only liked the one brand which cost more than most. Lilly picked up the hefty bag of Nine and A Half Lives and dumped it into her cart. That will last about a month.
    At the end of the aisle, there was a tall man all bundled up in winter gear behind one of those temporary stalls they had for sales and promotions. The hand-drawn sign above him with crooked lines said: Bliz Kit for all your survival needs. $5 each. All proceeds go to saving Catmermaids from homelessness and extinction. On the stall table were kits that looked like roll-up blankets tied with red ribbons. Behind the kits was a large digital clock.
    Lilly set her cart to the side and walked up to the stall. The man's boney face told of someone who had not eaten much. He looked like he couldn't move all bundled up with a large scarf wrapped once around his neck. Lily had disliked the Food Palace for keeping the temperature low but she was glad of it when she entered the market. The heatwave had been around far too long this summer.
    Lilly smiled and peered down at the 'Bliz Kit' kits. Then she looked up and asked, "What does the kit contained?"
    The man peered at her with narrowed eyes. "A blanket and a chisel," he said. His voice was quiet but firm.
    Lilly nodded. What kind of kit is that? she thought but she didn't voice it. "Nice," she said, still smiling. "But do we need this? It's the middle of the summer."
    "Can't you see?" He pointed a mittened finger above.
    Lilly looked up. Along with the usual painting of the blue sky, the ceiling had additional dark clouds and they looked real. Lilly blinked to adjust her eyes but the clouds were still there. She looked down.
    The man continued on, "We don't have much time left. Look!" He turned his head toward his left at the digital clock. The numbers for the seconds went up once, then went down a few numeral. "In twenty-five minutes or an hour or even in ten seconds, the blizzard will come. We need to prepare. Buy a kit, it will save your life."
    "But why does the countdown keeps going up and down?" Lilly wanted to understand even if the man was nuts.
    "Because you can never know with blizzards. They come suddenly or they can take hours to get here. But it will get here soon. Or later." The man pressed his lips into a tight line and gazed at her.
    Lilly wanted to argue with him that there are meteorologist who predicted these things. They would had notice if a blizzard was coming. But she smiled again and marveled at his belief.
    He let out a long sigh. "Never mind. Look, lady, either buy a kit or move on. I have other customers." He crossed his arms over his chest but with that many layers of clothing, his arms barely reached each other.
    Lilly looked behind her but there was no one. But she turned away and back toward her cart and moved on toward aisle nine - she needed some snacks.
    But as she strolled along, she thought she should buy a kit. After all, it was for charity and she had always wanted to give to charity even if she had no idea if catmermaids are real or even what they were. But as she looked up and across toward aisle thirteen, there were the clouds. Even if it was special effects, it couldn't have been that good.
    Slowly she made her way back toward aisle thirteen. She stopped now and then to pick up items off the shelf, pretend to read the labels, put them back and move on.   
    At aisle thirteen, people passed the man by without a glance. Had nobody noticed the ceiling or perhaps he had not pointed out to anyone else?
    Lilly set her cart aside and approached him again. She smiled. He gazed at her while slowly blinking as if to say, 'What do you want now?' But she kept smiling. It amused her to annoy him a bit.
    "I'll take a kit," she said. She pulled out her wallet from her handbag and took out a bill and held it out.
    He grabbed the bill and tossed a kit toward her. She caught it and laughed lightly.
    Then he said with a somehow of a droning voice, "Thank you for purchasing our Bliz Kit. You have, not only saved a life of a catmermaid, but your own life too. We, at Sunny Sky Shelter, thank you and hope you will survive the blizzard." He crossed his arms again.
    "You're welcome," said Lilly. Even with her sweater, a chill went through her.
    The man merely glanced her. His slow blinking seemed to say, 'Okay, then, move along.'
    Lilly dropped the kit into her cart and moved along but as she turned away from aisle thirteen, another chill went through her. A cry swept passed her ears. No, it wasn't a cry, it was the wind howling. Her sweater was too thin now. The chill didn't come within, it was all around her. She looked around her. Other people had stopped and was looking around with some having wrapped their arms around themselves.
    Lilly soon found herself turning around. Above, the clouds shifted and darkened. What's going on? Something light and small fell down from those clouds. Lilly held her hand out and a few snowflakes landed on her palm. It couldn't be! Was she dreaming? If so, other people were dreaming too. Around her, there were cries of surprises.
    Lilly left her cart and picked up her kit. The skinny man was untying a kit. "What did you I tell ya?" he said with a voice somewhat filled with a quiet glee.
    "Don't you think a blanket and a chisel is not quite the tools for surviving a blizzard?" Lilly asked though she regretted it the moment she said it. The countdown clock was at 00:17:07. "Is that clock correct? Do we only have 17 minutes?"
    "And 7, no, 6 seconds." He wrapped the blanket around him. It was twice his size. The chisel in his hand was the size of a notebook.
    Lilly couldn't believe her eyes. "How—?"
    The man glanced at her and shrugged. "Use it or lose it, lady." He sat down on the floor.
    Something told her she must use the kit. She untied it and unfolded the blanket. In the middle was a chisel. The blanket grew large as she wrapped it around her. She joined the man on the floor. "Do we just sit here?"
    "What do you propose we do?" The man widened his eyes. He had the blanket wrapped around him with only his face showing. "Fight the blizzard? Just surviving is all you can do unless you have some sort of super power to control the weather. Do you?"
    Lilly laughed lightly. "Of course not. It's just that, I've never been in a blizzard before."
    "There's not much to do, really. Just sit tight and wait it out." He reached out a hand to rubbed his nose. "It's coming. My nose is chilled, that's how I know."   
    Snow was falling and melting onto the wooden floor but some had settled in several piles here and there. Some of the can foods were covered with snow. Lilly still thought she was dreaming and yet, she couldn't deny what she was seeing or feeling. There was a certain chill all around her. Other people were huddled together. A few even had the same blankets she had.
    "By the way, name's Lucky Beefstew. Just thought you should know in case we don't survive," he said and smiled. It made his boney face less haggard and less depressed. He held out a hand.
    She shook it. "Lilly Beans, nice to meet you," Lilly said and smiled. 
    "Same here, Lilly Beans," he replied. A beeping sound started and then ended abruptly. His eyes widened. "It's time! Best to hunker down and keep your keister on. Now, if you'll excuse me." Lucky sank under his blanket with only the top of his head showing.
    Lilly wasn't sure what he meant but she held her blanket tight and kept it wrapped around with only part of her face showing. She needed to see what was going on. The chisel she held against her chest. She was freezing to her bones but in a few moments, she became warmer. Around her, it was getting a bit hazy. The bright lights above started to grow dim. A wild wind was chasing her stray hairs about. She pulled the blanket over her head and closed her eyes and kept her head as low as possible. Then she had a thought: why didn't she just leave the market? But the sudden dead silence swept that thought away. Something shoved against her, above her and all around her. The wind started having conversations with itself, sometimes loud, sometimes low, sometimes in whispers. Lilly kept her head down and her eyes closed. The blanket was still keeping her warm.
    Then the wind lost its voice and there was an absolute silence again in which she thought she must had died and was now somewhere where the dead lived. But a chinking noise interrupted the silence and she knew she was still alive. She tried to move the blanket but it was struck. She shifted about but she couldn't move in that small space and the blanket was struck to something. Little by little, she pulled at the blanket until it came off but all there was was a white wall of ice and snow. It was as if she was inside a small igloo. Gently, she pressed a hand against the surface of the wall. It was cold and hard.
    "Lilly, if you can hear me, use your chisel. This snow is not going to melt itself." It was Lucky's voice.
    The chisel was still in her hand. She lifted it and struck the ceiling. Snow fell easily. Some landed on her but she swept it aside. Soon, she had made a small crack. She could make out the bright lights of the market. Her arm started to ache but she kept on. She wasn't going to let a little snow kept her trapped. The small area of wooden floor beneath her that was cleared was soon covered in fallen ice and snow. The crack increased and soon, it was large enough that she crawled out, still holding onto the blanket.
    All around her were mountains of snow. Some of the children were throwing snowballs at each other. Most people were merely standing about with some working away at some of the snow piles with chisels in their hands.
    Lucky sat crossed-legged above a pile of frozen snow. "Took you long enough," he said with a smile. He was pouring something red from a thermos into a cup. "Tomato soup. Great after a blizzard." He held the cup toward her.
    She tucked the chisel into her jean's pocket and took the cup from him. Then she took a sip of the hot liquid. It warmed her. It was still cold in the store but it was not freezing. "Did anyone got hurt? I mean, it's odd and all but I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."
    Lucky grinned. "Always worrying about other people, eh? Don't worry, the blizzard did no harm although I'm thinking we really must prepare better than this."   
    Lilly nodded as if to agree with him. "Did I dream all this?"
    "Look around you, is this a dream? And if it is, then we're all dreaming," he said. He turned his head to look around him. There were other people sitting or standing on piles of snow. Farther down, there were areas that had not been touched by snow. Some of the bags and canned food were loitering above and below the snow.
    Lilly shook her head. "But it couldn't have happened. We're indoor!"
    Lucky laughed. "All things are possible. We don't have to imagine them." He winked. And then he took off his coat and shook it where snowflakes fell on the wet floor. "Will you excuse me? I have to get back to work." He stated to walk away but then leaned toward her and said, "Just between you and me, stay away from aisle two next week. See ya!" He walked away.
    Aisle two? Household goods? What could happen there? Lilly didn't want to think about it but she mentally kept a note to stay away from aisle two until next month.
    There was an announcement above: "Clean up in Aisle 13. Clean up in Aisle 13." It was Lucky's voice. He worked here? Lilly smiled. Was it hours or merely minutes that the blizzard had came and went? She had no certainty about time at that moment. It still bewildered her to see all this snow inside a market on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of a summer heatwave. Dream or not, at least she survived it.

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This week's Words for Wednesday prompts are: seventeen (17), seven (7), six (6), ten (10), nine (9), thirteen (13), twenty-five (25). More Words for Wednesday over here.