groceries r us.

who; jenny.
where; several locations.
when; beginning at 8:30am.

Busy day today, Jenny thought as she dressed, buttoning her sweater. She'd woken up early, the sky barely painted pink with the sun's rays. She had rolled out of bed (literally, landing with a startled shriek on the carpet. She had lain there, blinking, for a moment until she was sure Lily wouldn't come investigate the noise) sometime after the sun had risen fully and took long shower, standing beneath the spray until the water had run cold.

Though the shower had woken her up, she dressed slowly, almost sleepily, stopping every now and then to yawn widely, feeling her jaw shift every time. Finally, dressed, she slipped out of her room, shutting the door behind her. Jenny glanced towards Lily's room, seeing it still shut. She smiled a little and walked towards the kitchen, opening the cabinet beside the sink and took a glass out. She turned on the faucet and filled the glass, shutting it off after a moment and took a long sip after a few moments. Once the glass was mostly drained, Jenny set it down with a gasp. She upturned the rest into the sink and rinsed it, placing the glass upside down on the towel that served as a drain board.

Jenny glanced at the clock. 8:46am. She swallowed another yawn and exited the kitchen, walking towards the front door. Bending over the table near it, she scribbled a note for Lily for when she woke up.

Gone shopping and things, she wrote in her thin script, will be home around noon. Love, JH

Her purse hung on a hook beside the table, along with her coat, both of which she removed. She put the coat on first, then hooked the purse around her shoulder and opened the door, stepping outside. She closed and locked it behind her. Down the hall, one of the other tenants, an older woman with curly white hair and missing teeth, smiled at Jenny and waved a greeting. Jenny returned them.

She exited the building after a minute, stepping out into the sunlight. The ground was still wet from last night's rain and the air felt damp with the evaporation, the sun peeking out from behind heavy clouds. They'd fade away or move before the end of the day, she knew. Good, she figured, she hoped today would be a good day.

Jenny walked down the side walk, dodging commuters on their way to work or other various locations. A man nearly crashed into her in his hurry, but they'd both managed to twist out of the way to avoid it. The man shot her an apologetic look as they passed each other. She forced a brief smile in his direction before they both carried on their paths.

She yawned suddenly and she hastily covered her mouth with her hand, dropping it to the side once she finished and blinked back sleepy tears. Her stomach was tightening with awakening hunger and she decided to stop by the bakery on her way towards the grocers.

The bakery was about a block away from her apartment, a nice and small place that always served fresh cakes and breads. The family who ran it always seemed to enjoy her near daily patronage, sneaking in an extra bagel whenever she had ducked her head to fish through her purse. She'd never noticed until she got home.

Coming up to the bakery, she noticed that it was just opening. The owner, a man in his fifties, glanced up from where he was standing behind a counter once she entered the bakery. He smiled at her and asked how she was. They exchanged pleasantries as she ordered, a plain bagel with butter, and left once she paid. As she left, she took a large bite into the warm bread, wiping at her mouth with her sleeve before she even realized it. She could almost hear her momma chastising her for it. She grinned behind the bagel.

The sun was out now, bright and hot in the humid air. She pushed away a lock of blonde hair from her eyes as she finished off the bagel in large bites. As she walked towards the grocers, she kept to the public areas, places where many other pedestrians traveled. Slipping off to side roads, where traveling was easier, though much, much less crowded had caused a severe problem for her years ago... but that was then and this was now and she'd forever stick with the crowd. Safety in numbers and all that.

After a while, the grocers came up, a small, though heavily stocked, store with a stand outside. She bypassed it, moving inside. She reached into her pocket where she had stored her grocery list and removed the paper. Jenny opened it and read it.

things to buy
sugar, flour, milk
eggs
soap
bread
butter??
other things

Wrinkling her nose, Jenny did some mental math. If the prices hadn't changed since she had last shopped, she'd be able to buy everything she needed with some money left over. Maybe enough for some sort of sweet.

Humming a quiet tune beneath her breath, the sound barely escaping her throat, she meandered down the aisles. Jenny glanced up; she was in the spices section. "Sugar should be around," she mused aloud, soft enough to be heard only by her own ears. Jenny didn't need to attract attention.

She walked down the aisle, finally spotting the sugar close by. Pleased, she picked up a bag, grunting a little at the weight. Spying a bag of flour nearby, she grabbed one, too, stacking the bags together for easier holding.

Jenny moved towards the middle of the store, grabbing the rest of her groceries as she wandered by. Soon, however, she realized that she wouldn't be able to carry a majority of them back to her apartment by herself. Frustrated at her shortsightedness, she replaced the milk, eggs and butter. Maybe I'll finish with Lily tomorrow or something, she figured, sighing to herself. Might as well get the heavier stuff out of the way. Finally, she headed towards the counter, setting her things down on top of it.

The man behind the counter blinked lazily at her, glancing down at the supplies and looked back up at her. He rattled off a price and she paid him, hoisting a bag up onto each shoulder for easier handling. The man briefly looked like he wanted to assist her, but decided against it at the last minute. Good, she didn't want, nor did she need help. She could shop by herself, thank you very much.

The commute back to her apartment was slower than her casual walk to the store. Twice as long, it felt, though surely it couldn't have been. Probably just felt like it because of the weight on her shoulders. She had to stop several times to shift the weight, spacing out the ache settling onto her slim shoulders.

By the time she reached the apartment complex, she was very nearly ready to drop. Jenny was pathetically grateful for one of the elder tenants who held the door open for her when she came to it. She grinned at hima and thanked him. The man simply nodded his head and shut the door behind her once she was safely inside.

Getting her apartment open was harder once she finally came to a stop outside it. She had to set the bags down on the floor once she got to it, digging into her purse for her keys. Jenny unlocked the door and picked up the lighter of the two bags - her sugar - and used her foot to push the flour inside of the apartment. A cursery glance told her that nothing had changed; Lily either hadn't woken up yet or barely moved around the apartment.

Setting the sugar down on the table beside the front door, she closed and locked the door, chaining it up behind her. Scooping up the sugar, she carried it to the kitchen, setting it down on the counter and returned for the flour, carrying it across the room and setting it next to the sugar. Jenny looked over towards the ticking clock in the room - 9:42am. She blinked, uttered a quiet "huh," and exited the kitchen, moving straight towards the living room, picking up an old quilt from a chair.

Jenny all but collapsed onto the couch, toeing off her shoes and settling horizontally across the couch, throwing the blanket down towards her feet and lifting it, covering her entire body. She snuggled down into the couch and into the warmth of the blanket.

Tired and still mildly irritated, Jennifer fell asleep, the sun's rays ghosting over her face from the window behind her.