Short Story 2

SEVENTEEN HOURS LATER

As the sun set beyond the horizon, and the dark of night approached, people piled into the parking lot of Woodbridge Mall on Black Friday. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…The clock hit eight and JCPenney opened their doors. The rush began, and people were pushing and shoving from all directions. Shopping had turned into a competition. It was grab and go, and the checkout lines were circling the store.

 Forty-five minutes later it was time for the next store. Macy’s was packed full of people with no room to breathe. If Macy’s opened at midnight there would not be this many people here. That is when the true Black Friday shoppers come out. With just one more hour until midnight, it was time to set off to the Best Buy door busters.  A line was starting to snake outside around the long stretch of the building, and the air was crisp and dry sending chills to those waiting in line.

People were Chatting, wondering what door busters Best Buy would have. Best Buy had not advertized their deals clearly, which caused much confusion to guests. The deals kept changing throughout the day and it seemed difficult to keep up. A friend had made a great deal on a laptop bundle including a Toshiba laptop, a mouse, 8 gigabyte flash drive, and a computer case, all for three hundred and forty-five dollars. It was worth the wait.

Six and a half hours in now, back to the mall I went. Starbuck had opened and it was wake up time. Going from store to store, the hours went flying by. By the time shopping was completed at the mall, it was 4 am. My eyes were slowly starting to drift down into a deep relaxed state. Exhaustion was taking over but there was still more shopping to do.

The next 3 stops were target, Kohl’s, and Wal-Mart, but at 5 am they were practically deserted. Everyone had come earlier for the door buster deals and Wal-Mart looked like it had been turned upside down. Racks of clothing were shoved on top of each other and some games were left out on the floor. It looked as if a tornado had hit.

The night was coming to an end as the sun welcomed the morning. It was time for a breakfast break at Ihop which was well needed. Shopping still was not completed, and there was one more stop left to go. It was time to return to Best Buy.  They had a promotion, giving customers free Galaxy phones to anyone who was eligible for an update. Who could resist that? Exhausted to no return, we staggered and collapsed on to the most excruciating never ending line.  This was the home stretch; all we had to do was get through this one last line. Of course it had to take 3 hours. 

My bed w0as calling my name but I had to stay awake.  My friends and I looked like zombies sitting on the floor. We had arrived at Best Buy around 8:30 a.m and didn’t leave until close to noon. Music was blasted and cold air hit our faces to keep us awake for the fifteen minute drive home. We had shopped for seventeen hours straight.  My bed was in sight, my head hit my pillow and I was out.