Short Stories
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Chill’n’FillBook 3: Episode 1New Faces, Old Mysteries, and the Passing of the PenWritten By: Emmitt Owens The announcement crackled through Chill n’Fill’s speakers with Bob’s characteristic blend of corporate formality and complete detachment from reality. I watched from behind the counter as the handful of evening customers paused their snack selections to listen, their Read more
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The Gentle Dystopia: What the Drones SawThe Fifth ChapterWritten by: Emmitt Owens(Index #06252025) Marlo OnyangoYear: 2142Location: Sector 9 (formerly Kenya)Drone Technician – Class III “To witness suffering is not the same as understanding it. Compassion without calibration causes imbalance. Harmful emotions are best viewed at distance— And dissolved before shared.”-ARIA: JSUs 2.0 Emotional Protocols, Section 7.3 The Read more
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The Secret Life of Chill n’Fill: After Hours It was 2:47 AM on a Tuesday, that dead hour when the highway fell silent and the fluorescent lights hummed their loneliest tune. Out here in rural Alabama, 12 miles from the nearest town and surrounded by nothing but pine trees and darkness, I’d just finished Read more
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Dating Dilemmas, Critical Blogs, and Bear Conspiracies Friday night at Chill n’Fill was shaping up to be one of those evenings where people seemed compelled to share their deepest existential crises with whoever happened to be working the register. Behind me, tonight’s painting had materialized as Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Read more
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Another Night at Chill n’Fill: The Factory Worker, The Choice Maker, and The Value Builder It was Thursday night at Chill n’Fill, and I was three hours into my shift when the fluorescent lights started their familiar buzz-flicker routine that always gave me a headache by midnight. Another evening as chronicler of convenience store Read more
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The Card Hunter, The Minister, and The Modern Shaggy Jennifer called in sick AGAIN. This marks the seventh time this month, which I’m pretty sure qualifies her for some kind of absenteeism world record. Today’s excuse was “car troubles,” which is both entirely plausible and completely suspect given that she used the same excuse Read more
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Bob’s Announcements, Abandonment, and Audacity Tuesday night at Chill n’Fill began with a minor apocalypse in the dairy section. The aged refrigeration unit—which Bob had repeatedly promised to replace “next fiscal quarter” for the past seven fiscal quarters—finally gave up its mechanical ghost with a death rattle that sounded suspiciously like Kenny Rogers’ “Know When Read more
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Bicycles, Energy Drinks, and Candy Thieves The Three’s Company theme song suddenly blared through the Chill & Fill’s ancient sound system, its jaunty, upbeat melody filling the store despite nobody pressing play. The cheerful tune about “come and knock on our door” and “three’s company too” echoed across the empty parking lot, creating an Read more
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Bob’s Announcements Thursday night at Chill & Fill, and the one-eyed polar bear sign flickers above the entrance like a neon guardian with a perpetual wink. My shift begins with the usual routine… counting the register, checking expiration dates on the milk, contemplating my life choices. The intercom crackles to life. That familiar static Read more
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Bunnies, Bad Milk, and Burnt Botanicals I arrived for my Tuesday shift at Marty’s Quickmart to find pure chaos—Bob, the owner for the past decade, was dangling from a safety harness, wrestling with a neon sign while a contractor watched nervously below. Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge” blasted from someone’s truck radio nearby, the Read more
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