An Inconvenience at a convenience store

It was a bright, beautiful day. Two teenage girls, Elle and Valeria, were wandering off in a park. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Everything was going perfectly well on this day, or so they thought. As the girls were exploring the surroundings of this park they got a little too carried away. Within a short period of time, without even realizing it, they found themselves in a stranded area.

 “ How did we end up here?” asked Valeria.

 “ Just go with it.” responded Elle,

 and so she did. As they continued walking around, everything was so unfamiliar to them. It was completely abandoned. Graffiti on the sidewalk, trash bins layed everywhere, and rusty chains all surrounded this area.

 “ I don’t know if we should keep walking.” Valeria said

 while Elle, so fascinated  and full of curiosity for this place, didn't care and kept walking. The sun wasn’t shining anymore and dark clouds began to form in the sky. Finally, they both reached a stopping point. It was a convenience store, abandoned in the middle of nowhere. The parking lot was empty, not a single vehicle was in sight. Old chains were all over the door but quite frankly there was a bright sign that said “OPEN”. Valeria turned to look at Elle, 

“ You’re not actually planning for us to go inside, right?” asked Valeria. 

“ Are you kidding?” responded Elle.

 “ We walked all the way here just to not actually go inside and explore this cool place? 

“ Yeah right” 

 “ We’re definitely going inside,” said Elle proudly.

 Valeria swallowed her fear and followed Elle inside as she took off the chains. The store was completely empty and the lights were dimmed. Elle seemed so oddly intrigued by the deserted place it was almost frightening. As Elle was looking at what she’d consider buying, Valeria was behind her as if she were a knight and she was the princess he was protecting. But finally, Valeria got the courage to walk to the freezer section and looked at all the drinks. After picking up a Red bull from the freezer she turned around and took a glimpse of the clear windows. The sky was completely dark as if a bad storm was coming. That’s when Valeria realized, there, standing over the door was a tall old man staring at her and Elle. It’s like he was gatekeeping the door. Valeria’s heart skipped a beat, but not in a good way. Her immediate instinct was to look over at Elle but when she did Elle was already staring into her soul with a look of terror, a look that was screaming ‘Let’s get the hell out of here!” Valeria looked at the man again. He was like a statue but with moving eyes. One minute he would look at Elle and the next minute he would look at Valeria. Were they really seconds from being trapped in a convenience store?, or even worse,

kidnapped? The intentions of this scary looking old man were uncertain. All they knew was that the sooner they found out how to escape this place, the better. Time was ticking, seconds felt like hours. The tension of all three was unreal. His glare towards them was terrifying. Finally, Elle lifted up her shirt slightly. There, tucked in her jeans was a shiny pocket knife. Elle stared back at the old man as if she was in a staring competition with him. Valeria couldn’t believe Elle’s courage. It even made her want to stand up for them both. She marched over to Elle, took her by her wrist and walked towards the door. She didn’t care about the old man anymore, she didn’t care about the possibility of getting hurt. All Valeria wanted to do was get her and Elle far from this place. The old man saw them walking up to him. Valeria and Elle were prepared for the worst, but just as they were mere inches from him he let them pass. They couldn’t believe it. There in disbelief they both reached for the door and ran out. 

“ What on Earth just happened!” Screamed Elle.

“ I don’t know” Valeria responded

She continued, “ All I know is that the intentions of that scary old man are uncertain and we’re never doing or talking about this again.” 

“ Agreed” Responded Elle

And just like that they went on about their lives, knowing that whatever could’ve happened in that convenience store will forever be unknown.