The end. That was the only thing that concerned Rob Anderson. He constantly sought the end of class, the end of the workday, the end of the year. At this instant, he was focusing on the end of the line. The line at the grocery store he was standing in. The line of people monotonously going about their business, cashing out at 9:00 at night. The girl at the end of the line was young yet completely lifeless. She stood at the register stolidly, her blonde hair drooping lifelessly down her unwashed uniform. The line moved slowly, each person receiving a soft click from the bar code scanner, a bell noise from the cash register, and finally the rustle of shopping bags. Eventually Rob reached the end of the conveyor belt.

“Hello.” Rob said casually.

“How many apples in the bag?”

“Twelve I think”

“Do you know?”

“Don’t you charge by the pound anyway?”

“Yes.”

“Then what does it matter.”

“I’m supposed to ask.”

“So you do this every time?”

“4.99”

Rob handed her a five and said the words, “have a good night”, but the girl didn’t hear him, she’d already moved on to the next person in line. Rob didn’t really care. His end was to go home, not make conversation. As he went to start his car, he noticed the bag of apples on the seat next to him. The ends were bruised and brown, as if they’d fallen out of the tree without being picked.

“Next.” The girl at customer service was no less methodical.

“Hello.”

“Do you need something?”

“These apples are bruised.”

“They don’t look bad.”

“Look at the ends.”

“You picked them out didn’t you?”

“Yeah?”

“Well there’s no return on fruit, can’t you read?” The sign clearly did read “No returns on fruit.”

“I didn’t even leave the parking lot.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t accept the return. Next.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Next.”

“I’m not moving either.”

“I’m going to call security.”

“Go ahead.”

“Just get out of here, please.”

“Didn’t your shift end five minutes ago?”

“I’m not allowed to leave until the queue is empty.”

“I suggest you empty it then.“

“Just leave.”

“Let me return the apples.”

“Security?” The girl pronounced into the intercom, questioningly.

“Are they even coming?”

“I’m closing.”

“I thought you had to wait for the queue?”

“They can’t keep me here all night just because some bastard won’t leave. Security?!” The girl said it louder this time.

“You know what, forget it. I’m going.”

“Have a nice night.” The girl’s sarcastic tone didn’t bother Rob, he knew what he was going to do next.

Rob calmly walked toward the exit and then made a wide corner toward the produce section. His plan was simple, he would empty the bag of apples as he filled a second one. As he approached the end of the apple bin, he searched around for employees. They seemed to be all gone. The apples themselves were beautiful. Their red and green patterns mimicked the glow of thousands of Christmas mornings. Rob searched the sporadic pattern of cameras on the ceiling and tried to find a blind spot. Unsuccessful, he hoped his motion would be awkward enough that the person at the other end wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. If there was a person at the other end. He did his work as quickly as possible, trying to finish without being late out of the store.

“The store closed five minutes ago.” The security guard in the parking lot was a little nicer.

“I’m sorry, I just had to return something, took me a minute to cross.” Rob answered, smoothly enough. The apples were hidden in the ends of his jacket.

“Oh I see. What were you returning?”

“Milk, it spoiled early.”

“You didn’t replace it?”

“I decided to go without.”

“Have a good night.”

“Hopefully it ends well.”