New Order

Jerry Kragthorpe never ate a donut in his life; he always had at least two, often three, on special mornings four. So, Alexandria Jenkins—morning shift at Happy DoughNutty Coffee—was understandably stunned by his order one brisk Tuesday. “A small coffee, no cream, milk, or sugar, just black, to go.” Alexandria turned slightly away, shared a blank stare with Mary, whom she had already signaled to start making Jerry's usual triple caramel latte the second he stood in line. Mary poured the cup down the drain, shaking her head, eyes aghast. 

Alexandria turned back to find Jerry practically gawking at the glass display case. What’s wrong today?, Alexandria thought: his favorite double German chocolate crullers are right there.

“One small black coffee. Is that it?”

A startled Jerry snapped his mouth shut. 

“Uh, yep. That's it.” 

Jerry tongued a dollop of cold sweat from his upper lip, and Alexandria could plainly hear him tapping the toes of both feet. 

“That'll be a $1.79.” 

Jerry fished the cash out of his wallet with pudgy fingers shaking so feverishly he nearly dropped everything. An apologetic crookedness marked his face as he extended the money. In three years, Alexandria had never seen any customer act this way, much less loyal Jerry, six days a week and never fewer than $9 spent, plus tax. She felt genuine worry for him, and perhaps slight fear that she had done something incorrect the morning before. So she had to ask, “Is something wrong today, Jerry?”

He leaned in to whisper, “My mother is in town. She’s waiting in the car.”


**This is the first in a series of 300-word stories I will write over the remainder of this summer as a means of keeping the fingers flicking away at the keyboard: forced fiction. I plan to post one new piece of micro fiction each week, probably on Mondays.

You could call it my 300 Words of Summer Series. Or you could call it something catchier, more original, not so derivative, if you have a better idea.

Oh, if anyone has ideas for a prompt they'd like me to tackle, post them in the comment section below. Your words just might inspire more words.