All he wanted was a candy bar.

It didn't seem like a difficult request to

comprehend, but the clerk remained frozen and didn't seem to want to honor the
request. It might have had something to do with the gun pointed at his face.
He knew what he was supposed to do. That had been apparent from the beginning. That
was what made the choice so difficult. What he was supposed to do and what he would
do were not the same. This would have been fine if he were willing to face the
inevitable consequences, but he wasn't.
He hid under the covers hoping that nobody would notice him there. It really didn't
make much sense since it would be obvious to anyone who walked into the room there
was someone hiding there, but he still held out hope. He heard footsteps coming
down the hall and stop in front in front of the bedroom door. He heard the squeak
of the door hinges and someone opened the bedroom door. He held his breath waiting
for whoever was about to discover him, but they never did.
I recollect that my first exploit in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall
walnut-trees that shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at
noontime, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my
own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and
reverberated by the angry echoes.
They needed to find a place to eat. The kids were beginning to get grumpy in the
back seat and if they didn't find them food soon, it was just a matter of time
before they were faced with a complete meltdown. Even knowing this, the solution
wasn't easy. Everyone in the car had a different opinion on where the best place to
eat would be with nobody agreeing with the suggestions of the others. It seemed to
be an impossible no-win situation where not everyone would be happy no matter where
they decided to eat which in itself would lead to a meltdown. Yet a decision needed
to be made and it needed to be made quickly.
She didn't like the food. She never did. She made the usual complaints and started
the tantrum he knew was coming. But this time was different. Instead of trying to
placate her and her unreasonable demands, he just stared at her and watched her
meltdown without saying a word.
As she sat watching the world go by, something caught her eye. It wasn't so much
its color or shape, but the way it was moving. She squinted to see if she could
better understand what it was and where it was going, but it didn't help. As she
continued to stare into the distance, she didn't understand why this uneasiness was
building inside her body. She felt like she should get up and run. If only she
could make out what it was. At that moment, she comprehended what it was and where
it was heading, and she knew her life would never be the same.
The blinking light caught her attention. She thought about it a bit and couldn't
remember ever noticing it before. That was strange since it was obvious the
flashing light had been there for years. Now she wondered how she missed it for
that amount of time and what other things in her small town she had failed to
notice.