Member-only story
Apples & Oranges
Heliocentric XXl
While she had on occasion gone full parrot, she had two standard colors for her hair — dark red during the colder seasons, orange in the warmer ones.
At the convenience store where she worked the nicknames changed accordingly. Sunkist in summer, and now in October — Macintosh.
Occasionally some regular would express how they liked one better than the other and she’d get to joke about how you shouldn’t compare apples with oranges.
Today a man came in excitedly, holding a lottery ticket in his hand. It was obvious he had checked somewhere and had won, but the anticipation of having the machine confirm it and get the payout had him shuffling like a small child needing to pee.
The heraldry chime that the gizmo makes when a winning ticket is inserted echoed in the small store. Congratulations, she said — twenty five dollars!
With his winnings in hand, heading out he turned with a smile on his face and said — you look like a crisp autumn apple with that hair.
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© AleXander Hirka 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Heliocentric Redux 2019
Heliocentric. October 2018 writing project — one short sketch a day, under 250 words each, circling like a planet around The Sun.
