Member-only story
The Green Coup De Ville
I wrote this short story in the early spring of 2020 when the incoming pandemic filled our communities with fear. It is a piece of fiction based on real events. Not a piece of hard reportage, this is a short attempt to capture the mood and tension of a society teetering on the edge.
Riley, a senior in high school, stood at her cash register at the locally owned market in Nettleton on Good Friday at high noon.
“I am sorry for the delay,” she nodded towards the next customer in line through her mask as she spread Germ-X across her hands, a ritual she performs between each patron.
The customer, a 72-year-old man, didn’t hear what Riley said. His gaze was fixed through the window to the parking lot, where a Wonder Bread truck was screeching to a halt.
The truck driver, a man in his early 40s following his weekly route down Highway 45, switched off the ignition and glanced into his rearview mirror as he stepped out of the vehicle. Typically, he would see a mostly empty parking lot. But these weren’t typical times.
Crowded at the back of the truck was a mob of people, banging on the latched container door and yelling at the driver to open it up.
“People are just going crazy,” the elderly customer told Riley. She gave an exasperated laugh and scanned the man’s groceries: a jar of…