Scott McGinnis bumped his head in the doorframe on his way out of work. He stopped his pace, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. He'd been too busy with his phone to see where he was going and whether or not he had to duck.
"You okay, Scott?" one of his co-workers asked, eyeing him slightly amused. Scott gave a faint laugh.
"Yeah." He replied. "Just, didn't see where I was going..."
His co-worker laughed too.
"Yeah." She said. "Be careful, Scott. There be some low branches around the path to the parking lot.
"Thanks for the warning. I'll keep my eyes open." Scott smiled, continuing on his way out of the building.
He worked support for a small company specializing in airconditioning and heat pumps. It was an alright job and one he did well, but Scott was concerned. He'd heard whispers recently that the company had fallen into hard times. He wasn't high up enough to know whether or not the rumors were true, but if they were he'd have to consider looking for a new job soon.
Avoiding the low-hanging branches his coworker had warned him of he arrived at his car and got into the driver's seat. On his way out of the parking lot he turned on the radio and it came on to a popular song, which Scott neither knew the name of or who sang it, but he'd heard it enough times to hum along to the tune. By the time he'd reached one of the major roads in town the song had ended and been replaced with that channel's news jingle. Scott turned up the volume a little. He liked to stay up to date with the news. His heart skipped a beat when his town's name was mentioned among the top subjects and he upped the volume a little more.
Behind him someone honked their horn aggressively, obviously thinking Scott was going a little too slow, and Scott sped up, wishing he was able to signal an apology to the guy behind him.
The news about his town came on and Scott listened intently, an expression of mixed shock and terror on his face. Apparently a body had been found earlier today, horribly mutilated in a back-alley by the harbor. Scott shuddered. It was true crime rates were up where he lived, and murder was sadly common in certain parts of town but usually you didn't hear about it on national radio.
A culprit had been caught, but not a lot of information was given on the case. Apparently the police didn't want to share any details. Scott felt a little bit
unsettled. On his way home he stopped for gas and groceries. The gas station attendant greeted him heartily and Scott smiled and waved back. He didn't know the guy, but he liked to keep friendly conversation whenever he stopped for gas, and the guy seemed to appreciate it.
"Hey pal, you hear the news?" He asked, heading over to Scott to help him fill gas and clean his hubcaps and plates.
"The body?" Scott said, once again shuddering. "Yeah. Terrible, isn't it?"
The guy, his nametag reading Gary nodded, bending down to clean Scott's license plate.
"Oh, yes!" Gary exclaimed poking his head up over the hood of the car. "Must've been a particularly gruesome lunatic too... Good thing they caught him."
Scott agreed, pulling the gas nozzle out of his car and replacing it onto the pump.
"I mean, man! I know this place isn't what you'd call heaven on Earth, but recently things just seem to be even worse than before! What's this town coming to?"
"I don't know, Gary..." Scott replied feeling dejected at the thought alone.
"Hey pal..." Gary continued, apparently realizing it was best to switch the subject. "I noticed your one headlight was busted. You want me to fix that for you? It'll just be a few minutes, and it's gonna save you from a hefty fine if you get pulled over."
Scott smiled.
"That'd be nice. Thank you." He said and Gary returned the smile.
"Just give me a minute and I'll have it working good as new."
"Thanks." Scott said, looking over at the grocery store across the street.
"Would you mind if I head over to do some shopping while I wait?" he asked.
Gary barely even looked up from the rundown old filing cabinets he was rummaging through. From the sound of it it seemed like they used the cabinet to store their tools and maybe spare parts, Scott thought. Not a bad idea. Tools were probably frequently stolen and the cabinet could be locked.
"Hm? Oh! No, man. Take your time." He said, before adding as a joke: "Hey, do me a favour and get me a chocolate bar, huh? I haven't eaten since breakfast." He chuckled and continued going through the cabinet drawers in search for the right tools to change the light bulb.