“Grocery Shopping”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “A big can of tuna.” — suggested by Bob

Sammy wrinkles her nose. “Another can of tuna?” she asks. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” I reply, rummaging through the shelves. “Mom wants it for dinner tonight.”

“Well, what if we just told her we couldn’t find any?” Sammy asks, giving me a small smirk.

I sigh as I continue looking through the shelves. “Just because you don’t like tuna salad doesn’t mean that the rest of us won’t ever eat it again.”

“Didn’t hurt to try,” Sammy grumbles. She falls silent as she watches me tear the shelves apart to try to find the tuna.

“Are you going to help?” I finally snap.

“Hmm, no,” she decides. She walks to the other side of the aisle and starts picking up the cans. “I think I’ll just look at the icing.”

I let out an exasperation sigh. “Seriously? Come on, it’s the last thing on the list. Then we can go and get ice cream or something.”

“I’m looking at ice cream,” she replies smugly. “Aren’t you supposed to be looking for tuna?”

I turn back to the shelf with a scowl. It’s got to be here somewhere…

Five minutes later, after scouring the entire row of shelves in the aisle, I give up.

“They don’t have any tuna,” I say, my voice short.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Sammy says, not sounding at all apologetic. “Let’s go!”

Just before I turn to leave, I see her slip something out of her shopping basket and putting it back on the shelf.

“Wait, what did you just put back?” I ask, walking back to the shelf.

“Uh, nothing!” Sammy squeaks. She tries pulling the can away, but I grab her arm and yank it out of her grasp.

“The tuna!” I gasp. “You had it all along! I can’t believe you made me waste all that time looking for it!”

She screws up her nose. “Great. Now Mom’s going to make tuna salad for dinner.”

“Serves you right,” I snicker. “Now come on, let’s go help Mom prepare your favourite meal.”

Final Comments: I feel like the characters became more developed as I wrote.

Overall Rating: 🙂