The Graveyard Shift

 

Right away she hated the place.  It was a small, creepy building, in a not so great neighborhood.  She had no idea they were going to stick her on graveyard.  She wasn’t even sure this was legal.  By 12:45 she had worked herself into a frenzy.  Every little sound was foreign to her and even though she had every light in the place on, she just knew something was going to jump out at her.

Where were the customers, she thought.  Cindy had told her she would be a few minutes late.  She was the one who was going to show her everything.  Two people to a shift, that’s what they said, but so far – no Cindy.  Just these creepy machines, strange noises and a wall clock that didn’t seem to be in any hurry.

She pulled a clipboard from the side of a cabinet.  It was a check list.  Whatever transpired had to be documented.  The following day the owner would bounce that checklist against the cash register, and they had better match.  They had emphasized that.  Everything had to be accounted for.

At 19 minutes to 2 she heard a car.  Maybe it was finally Cindy.  She hoped it was Cindy, but what she hadn’t yet heard was a car door closing.  It was just the sound of a running car.  Maybe it’s a police car doing their check of things.  That would be fine with her.  It sounded close, like it was right next to the building.  Maybe the owner had come back in to check on her.  If that were the case, she was ready to tell her she quit.  She wasn’t going to put herself in this position again, not for minimum wage.  She would try again to find a job at the mall, with normal hours and lots of people around.

Suddenly a different sound made her jump.  Someone was knocking.

It stopped for a few seconds but then the knocking got louder and she thought she heard somebody yelling.  She scooted back to the cabinet, where she had gotten the clipboard and quietly opened it.  She took out a pair of scissors and clutched them like a weapon.  She would put up a fight if she had to.

Sneaking around the side of the machine, she worked her way over to the side window.  Maybe she could see if it was the police.  As she got closer she could see the car was in fact, right up against the building.  Moving the scissors behind her back she leaned up to the window and looked out.  Some man was right there looking back at her.  His driver’s window was already rolled down, which must have been how he reached out and knocked on the glass.

As soon as he saw her at the window he yelled, “Your speaker isn’t working.  Can we get two double Frosties, dipped in chocolate?”