All things bright and beautiful.

This evening I went stocking stuffer shopping for my littlest bro, Will. I walked in the store at 10:48pm and the store closed at 11. So I hurriedly squeaked along the isles looking for something sufficient to put in his stocking. Something that he'd like. Course, It'd have to be something that held a little meaning for him. Perhaps it might also need to symbolize an inside joke we had together. And then, obviously, it must be cheep--cause it's a stocking stuffer, for goodness sakes. Anyway, I wandered through the store; constantly on my mind that it would close in a few minutes.

After slowly scanning down an isle I found myself stopping at the intersections and staring around me; mostly staring at nothing. In a moment I'd be back to my mission--something for Will. Something he'd like. Then I'm staring again; this time I'm unconsciously watching a couple of women shop in the mens section:

"Yeah, he'd definitely like that."
"You think so? It does kind of look like him. Do you think I should get him this, or the socks we were looking at before...?"
"I say this. These are more his style."
"Yeah... Yeah, you're right. Okay. Good. That's done then."
"So lets think--we have the three boys, Emily and Jessie and then dad. I think we're done!"

Pretty soon I'm quickly walking through isles again, glancing at things; not really looking, not really thinking about the gift; thinking about the silence, how all of the roads were nearly deserted at this time, how the nearly full moon shone through the car on my promise ring.

Come on, Ellie. Just choose something!

I walk to the check out stands and squat down to look at the little wall of miscellaneous things they try to tempt you with as you wait in line to check out. A car freshener. Lip gloss. Nail clippers. Gum. Gum. More gum. I grab one of those barrels of gum. The spearmint kind.

I wander to the self-check-out and scan the gum, pay, take the receipt and walk out into the cold air to my car.

Empty roads. Fog stretches low over a frosted landscape, illuminated by a moon so bright it's all I can think about.