A VERY DARK tale (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 18

     I tried not to gape and keep my awe in check, but my fascination with modern world overwhelmed me. The town where we've arrived at didn't look too different from what I used to see. Maybe the buildings were larger and the streets broader, but the main image stayed the same.

What really exploded my mind was the amount of cars outside, that thingy they called a phone that didn't need to be connected to the wires or have an operator to match the calls. Almost, everything was automatic: the doors in the shops, the car locks. People wore clothes that were hardly appropriate for outside, more like for a gym. Actually, I felt a little irritated that people were so casual about their outfits. Back in the sixties, it was simply rude to appear in your sports suit without actually doing any kind of sports activities. Saying that, I realized that the clothes I was wearing were similar to what people had nowadays, and despite my absolute shock, I found them really comfortable.

Chris parked the car in front of a red building with a huge sign "Pharmacy", and with a jerk of his head, he signaled me to get out of the car. Our ride wasn't awkward; there was a certain tension in the air between us, but other than that we stayed silent busy with our own thoughts. Once, I found my feet touching the ground, on instinct, my nose drew in the smell of the street. Not detecting any metallic scent, something inside of me relaxed, and my suspiciousness eased. I made a quick survey of my surrounding and finally let go of the car door shutting it with a thud.

Chris was already making his way into the pharmacy. I lingered on the sidewalk in taking the view of the building and followed Chris inside. As expected, once I stepped behind the automatic doors, my gaze scattered around the hall that was filled with rows of shelves with different goods. Everything looked bright and attractive. I didn't even notice that Chris was telling me something, leading me to a particular part of the pharmacy. My eyes were jumping from one thing to another, and my fingers were tracing every single thing that was in my reach.

"Stacy," Chris called me.

"What?" I stopped looking around, and my head snapped up to meet his gaze.

"Were you even listening?" he snapped.

"No, sorry. I got distracted by everything here," I replied casually.

He rolled his eyes clearly annoyed. "I asked you what kind of medicine do you need?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not familiar with modern medications."

He groaned in frustration pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just...just tell me what symptoms do you have, so I can match it to the medicine," he said trying not to raise his voice.

"I have a fever. I need vitamins and more food. And water. Lots of water," I listed and my gaze slipped to the bright colors again.

"Alright, come on. Stop stalling. It's just a pharmacy, for crying out loud," he hissed and spun around, walking away.

As much as I wanted to explore and see new exciting things, like those packs with the outlines of dancing women on the covers, I tore myself away from the spot and went after grumpy Chris. I didn't find his tone offensive. Not at all. I could care less, actually. The nature of our relationship was strictly businesslike. I wasn't his friend to take his snappiness close to my heart.

At the aisle with the jars of different sizes and colors, Chris paused and began searching through the row of bottles on a top shelf. On a little sticking out a tag, it said "Cold/Flu", and being curious, I stepped behind Chris, and started reading the names and descriptions of each medicine. He picked two and waved me to come with him. I gave my farewell full of wonder stare to the shelf, to memorize the names on the jars and forced myself to follow Chris.