Linda

…carved a line across the Kwik Trip floor like a Patton tank through the battlefields of WWII France. Her hips lumbered from one side of the aisle to the other grazing a can of Dinty Moore beef stew to her right and a jar of Planters Honey Roasted peanuts on her left. She paid no attention to the jar of peanuts that rattled precariously in her wake as it returned to its previous steady state. Her quarry was in sight and she would not allow anything, noise or otherwise, distract her from her objective. At the end of the aisle and against the back wall of the store the do-it-yourself soda fountain beckoned to Linda; begging her to indulge in a carbonated, sugar laced beverage.

Linda Guildson was not a delicate female by any stretch and, in early morning sun, cast an imposing shadow. A soda pop was most likely not on her physician endorsed diet. But her doctor would just have to wait another day – what’s another day? Anyway, this was her afternoon ritual – one of only 250 vices that she has developed over her 25 years on this planet.