That Retail Rush

My body laid between aisles of unsold clearance items. I stare blankly at the fluorescent lights above. A few flickered. They were dying. Like me.

“Leena?” A voice called out. “Leena!”

Josh sprinted over to me, skidding on his knees halfway down the aisle. He scooped up my head in his hands. “Leena! Can you hear me! We made it, Leena!” He sobbed. “Leena, don’t you dare give up on me!”

The sounds of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ died down over the store’s speakers. One of his tears fell on my cheek. “Leena, come on! The Christmas rush is over!”

“Can we go home now?”

“No!” He cried. “We have to work overtime to fix up the mess.”

“Dammit.”