BY BEETLEJUICE

 

Claire knew the only thing that would make her feel better was a trip to the bookstore. She loved the solitude there. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t find solitude at home or at work. It was being alone but surrounded by people that she liked.

Today she went to Emerald’s bookstore before she had even eaten breakfast. 

When Claire got to the Hobbies section, she saw that there were two other people in the aisle. Normally she would try to avoid them, but today she didn’t care.

She walked past a woman, who was looking at knitting books and was hit by the potent smell of cats. When Claire glanced at her, she saw that the woman looked like she was wearing a cat hair fur coat. 

The other customer, a tall man, was looking at the gardening books. He didn’t look up as Claire perused right beside him. 

Claire had grabbed a book on flower gardens when she heard a most distinct, and out of place noise.

“Meeeeeeooooowww”

Claire’s head whipped up and she stared at the cat lady, who acted like she hadn’t heard anything. So, she turned to look at the man next to her. 

He had a shocked look on his face and was also looking at Cat Lady. The lady glanced at Claire and the man, then walked away guiltily. 

As Claire stared with disbelief at the retreating woman (and passenger?) she heard the sound of uncontrollable laughter coming from the man behind her.