Lynn

2023-05-12 09:46 pm

Dear [insert name of co-worker or supervisor here],

It was [insert positive noun or adjective here] to work with you. I always admired your [insert dubiously positive quality here, be snitty or passive-aggressive if you so wish]. My favorite memory here was the time when [insert vaguely positive memory here; if none, insert successful venture here; if none, indicate that there were too many positive memories to choose just one; or if that even feels too disingenuous, skip directly to next paragraph].

I wish you [circle one or more: prosperity / health / joy / all the best].
Sincerely,
[sign name here]

[remember: be POSITIVE! your time here was WONDERFUL! you gained SO MUCH experience! you made TONS of friends! you leave on GREAT terms! the BEST! ]

Lynn

2023-05-12 09:32 pm

Sitting outside the shop on a cloudy May afternoon, my hand scrawls on the back of a receipt
a list of the aspects of myself:

- the moles in morse code down the side of my face ($4.99)
- the scars on my leg in bumpy braille ($12.76)
- the skin covering my knuckles, shining where it has split so many times over ($29.97, sale price)
- the soul filled with self-loathing, boiling, bubbling over the rim ($10.19)
- my spine, doubled over and bent backward ($17.22, CLEARANCE)
- the effort I put into eject all but the smallest parts of myself
as a collection of trinkets, an amalgamation of dust bunnies ($0.99)

I must have picked these up, absentmindedly, through my time in the shop. Where can I put these back? I didn't want them. Why did I pay for them, pulling out my wallet in a daze? I never knew they existed. I must have entered a girl and left a much older woman. How long was I standing underneath the humming lights?

I crumple up the scratch paper and toss it in the bin as the sun waves from the overcast.