This excerpt is about a grocery store employee that is stuck in the store after cleaning up one night. All of the doors are locked, so he decides to just wait out the night. I mean what could go wrong?

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My job sucks.  Rude customers surrounding me, constantly asking questions, my boss literally breathing down my back, and the creepy cashier, Jenny who always stares at me, even when I look at her. Let me tell you this, do NOT be a clerk when you grow up. Regardless of how penniless you are, get a job at Dandy David's Daycare or something; anywhere other than Freshie's. This supermarket is weird. Like ballet dancing mice weird. Like Jenny the cashier weird. That's weird on a whole other level. Anyways, the store itself is just falling apart, literally. The store is older than me, I'm 20 mind you, my boss is corrupt and basically refuses to pay us, and there are less customers coming in everyday. People have made multiple offers to buy the store and turn it into an electronic's store, more specifically, Eddie's Electronic's, the biggest superstore within miles of Springset. 

Now, Springset is a very small town so this store could make all the difference in this city's revenue, more importantly, my paycheck. I keep telling Bob to take the deal while he's ahead, I mean, half a million dollars for this dump? Hell yes! But he keeps refusing because my boss is too attached to his shitty food market.

"You could never understand the value of this place Dylan. It means more to me than anyone could ever know. There are things about this place that people should appreciate, but they can't, they'd never come back here."

Quite honestly, I wouldn't blame anyone if they never came back to this store. When a grocery store has a grumpy old man with anger issues, a rat infestation, and groceries that don't even taste good, its a wonder we still get customers.

But the craziest part are my co workers. Not Jenny, she's just pure crazy, but folks like Joe, Henry, and Isabel give me the shivers. They were the nicest people ever, the odd ones out, always questioning prices and Bob's orders, and one day the just disappeared. When I asked Bob about it, he just said "They were fired." and when I asked why, Bob responded, "Their reasons are confidential" and that was that. Such a friendly work place, am I right?

That's not it either! Bob is incredibly superstitious. There are no mirrors in the store, we have to warn him before using a ladder, and don't even get me started on the time he freaked out because a lady brought her black cat into the store. That means that every night, he asks someone to clean the store because he's afraid the Boogeyman is going to get him, although he can't admit it. Luckily, I've never had the job but people tell me it's worse than cleaning the bathrooms. Strangely, they are always fired the morning after, therefore, we just accept it as Bob's way of firing people. Once, someone emptied out the entire aisle of condiments a sprayed ketchup throughout the store. I had to clean it up but can I just say, that did not look like ketchup.

Now, Bob wants me to stay overnight because "we need to make sure our products stay safe in a time of unrest and instability". What type of bullshit is that? The only product I'm concerned for is my paycheck, which of course means I can't turn this down. And what do I get for being the idiot I am and accepting the night-shift? A pat on the back and a thank you! Honestly, a pay raise and an extra vacation week, which by the way we don't get, would've been much more appropriate.

When 8:00 came around, Bob patted me on the back and thanked me for staying.

"This will be a great experience for you! Be careful to not damage anything because if anything happens, it's on you. Alrighty, hopefully I'll see you in the morning!"

Excuse me?! Hopefully?

Bob left, locked the door behind me, and waved a joyful goodbye as I watched him get into his car and drive away. 

Well, time to get to work! I grabbed a stack of magazines from a checkout line and sat in my office. Well, technically its the break room, but its an office no less. I mean, how hard could this be? The worst possible thing would be the infestation of rats, but as long as there's no loud sounds, I'll be okay. 

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It's half way through the night and the most troubling thing that's happened is seeing the Kardashian's newest plastic surgery job. Occasionally, there's a rustling across the store and something rattles, but in a creaky old store like this, its nothing to worry about. I was a quarter way through a National Geographic magazine when something shattered. I looked up from my magazine, not really fazed but slightly curious. I looked out the window, into the store but didn't really see anything worth investigating. The usual broken light over Aisle 13 was blinking again (in part because Bob is too cheap to replace it), but I'm definitely not getting up for a fallen tomato jar.

I sat down  and began to continue reading up about some scientist's huge discovery in cancer treatment when a figure in the window caught my eye. Now, this job is dumb and annoying, but it hasn't driven me to insanity.

But dude, that's what all crazy people say!

Thanks for the comfort. I knew I could rely on you. If you didn't get it, that was sarcasm. I actually deeply despise you and this job.

Now that we've made our feelings clear, I must admit, I am afraid of the dark. I am not a baby! It's a rational fear when you are stuck in a creepy, partially broken building with legends behind people disappearing, therefore, my fear of not seeing is highly valid.

By the time I looked up, the silhouette was gone. As a good night guard, i should probably walk around the store and make sure everything is secure, but that's part of the Employee-of-the-Year Package and I'm afraid I don't get paid enough. Unless Bob wants to wire me some money in the next 15 minutes, I'm sitting my butt down and learning the latest news in Oncology. For you non-science people out there, that's the study of cancer. The more you know right?!

So as I said, I hate this town. Especially the stupid teenagers that think they're funny and break into the store. Now I actually have to do my job. Thanks juvenile delinquents! 

I pushed myself out of my chair, cracking my back in the process, and trudged to the door. Honestly, I was half expecting a teenager to be standing there with a squirt gun or something, but to my surprise, there wasn't. I walked out into the dark hallway. Just as I closed the door to the break room, a loud, blood curdling scream echoed through the store. I had no idea what it was, but it wouldn't surprise me if its some mutant pest. I flicked on my flashlight, just in case a rat decided to jump at me. Also, there is no way I am walking around this place blind. I made my way up and down the aisles and, surprisingly, all seemed well. I found some graffiti on the front window, but I could easily clean that off before Bob came back tomorrow morning. 

Just as I was about to turn around and go back to my magazines, I remembered the last aisle. I was so distracted, I forgot to check Aisle 13! I turned back, waving my flashlight through the shelves and aisles, praying that something didn't scurry across my path. Turnign down Ailse 13, I found something much worse; no it wasn't a glowing green rat like I previously thought. It turns out, it was a teenager that snuck into the store. Now, he was hanging from the top of the shelf of beef, a large bread knife protruding from his chest, and blood sliding down the wall. 

I couldn't breathe. This was completely and totally unexpected! I thought the worst thing that could happen tonight would be me eating all the candy bars from the checkout lines, but I was way off! I pulled the knife out of the poor kid's chest. He feel to the floor with a sickening slip, landing with a loud thump. 

He opened his eyes, bright blue, and whispered, "Help me". Tears shone on his cheeks, his face stricken with pain.

You know how watching videos of people falling off trampolines and diving boards is really funny and you laugh so hard you cry? I never could've imagined the horror of the real thing. I picked him up in a fireman's carry and dragged his heavy butt back to the break room. I burst through the door, seating him softly on my chair. I ran to my desk and grabbed the landline. I lifted the telephone to my ear only to hear the beeping of a dead line. The medical aisle! I need to get there! This kid is going to bleed out by morning if I don't bandage him up! Just as I was about to leave the room, the loudspeaker rang out, "Attention Freshie's employee, clean up on Aisle 13." The worst thing is, the office with the controls for the loudspeaker is on the other side of this wall; I'm the only person supposed to be in this building.

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