"Plant-like" Simon Hoover

Before I had full grasp of the situation, I already knew that I was running, but "where to?" you might ask? We don't know yet as this is the part where it intrigues you to hook you in, but didn't do a great job at it. The only thing you are supposed to know right now is that I, Simon Hoover, is running somewhere.

As a child, I had a normal upbringing. A normal family. A normal school. A normal body. Normal friends, except for that one kid in middle school who kept eating paper from his notebook. Who the hell raises a child to be like that. What I'm trying to say is that I'm plain and blank as it gets. I'm normal. After finishing high school, I decided to pursue college, but dropped off right after because it felt like a waste of time and money. So here I am now, 26, working a 9 to 12 job every week, with an average paycheck and living alone in a single bedroom apartment. Life is okay.

The ringing of a bell as the door creaked open broke the silence inside of a run down convenience store. A middle-aged man with a bomber jacket entered as if looking to buy something.

"Sorry sir, but we are closed for the night." I commented as the bell kept rattling.

"Oh is that so? I was just going to ask if you can- PUT THE FUCKING MONEY IN THE BAG!" He shouted as he pulled a gun and points it at me.

Without a hint of resist as my life was on the line, I panickly opened the cashier in front of me, revealing-

"Nothing?" The man said.

"Uh- y-yeah about that, umm I-." As I was trembling, he closed the gap between us as he glared at me with eyes that is filled with disdain and disappointment. He cocks the gun as a signal to threaten my life. "Where. Is. The. Safe." The man slowly recited.

"I-I don't know what to tell you sir, the manager probably co-couldn't even a-f-f-ford that." I stutter even more, but I kept the honorifics as there's a slim chance that he'll be swayed with the power of Customer Service which in turn could spare my life.

The man lowered the gun. "Don't tell anyone about this, you hear me? Or I will come back for you." He whispered.

"Oh my god did that actually work?!" I thought to myself as I nodded more than I could count. With the man gaining nothing from the escapade he just did, he was looking around the room as he was looking for another reason to rob this convenience store. Every nook and cranny, he walked around scanning every area. From the hole in the ceiling to the growing mold on the side of our refrigerator where we keep our vanilla ice cream. The man stopped at nothing and in return found nothing that interested him which led him back to the counter.

"Where's the fucking CCTV?" He asked.

"We couldn't afford to put one in our store sir."

I embarrassingly replied, but my honorifics was on point, enough that if the manager were here, he would have given me Employee of the Month.

Disappointed in every way imaginable, the man goes back to the alley where the chips are and grabs a handful of them. He walks back to me and places the chips to the counter. We just stare at each other and points at the chips. "I want to buy these." The man said in a sympathetic voice.

I froze for a second in utter disbelief, but soon move as I was scared that I was talking this man's time. "He probably has more convenience store to rob." I thought to myself.

"U-uh that'll be 5 dollars." I immediately regretted asking him that as he was the one who was robbing the store minutes ago. The sudden change in scenario boggled my mind so much to the point where I treated him like any other customer.

"Here." To my surprise, the man actually paid for the chips. He handed over 10 dollars then he immediately replaced one of the plain chips with a flavored one.

Looking through the cash register, there was nothing there to give the man change. "I'm sorry sir, but we don't have change." I bluntly said to his face as I was looking down.

"I'll come back next time, make sure you pay me back my change."

The man said as he was striding over the exit with the chips in hand.

As he was halfway through the door, I say farewell to the robber as he was still a customer in the end. "Th-thank you and have a good night."

As he disappeared into the night, I glanced over the 10 dollar he gave me, verifying if it was real and wouldn't you know it?

"It's real." I said to myself. I smirk as I place the dollar into the register.