hopeless purpose (dreamnotfound)

comfort

tw:// brief depiction of poor eating habits

the world as a whole seems much dimmer when you're alone. like everything loses its vibrancy and all lust for life is depleted. the closest way to describe it in an everyday scenario would be when you're in the shower;  you've just turned the water off. the once warm, comforting droplets cascade down your skin, leaving cold chills in their wake. your temperature drops as you hug your body to desperately cling to any last bit of the past that kept you satisfied, but it's useless. that last trail of water trickles down the metallic drain and you're left with nothing but an empty void of baron cold. and if you're really unlucky, then you'll catch your reflection in the drainage plug and hate what you see. that is what being utterly alone feels like.

so on his line path to the supermarket george did his best to blatantly ignore the incessant vibrations of his phone in his pocket. he'd glanced down the first time, being met with a text message from his dad along the lines of "be prepared to discuss when you get back", followed by multiple deliveries of creative scolding and cussing.

with each word he read his heart ripped just a little bit more, so he ultimately decided it'd be most beneficial to just ignore them and deal with the wrath of his father only when absolutely necessary.

so here he was- a lone skinny boy, walking sadly into a store with only a small pet cat to keep him company.

he got some odd, judgmental looks thrown his way upon walking inside the busy automatic doors, but other than that, all seemed to be going fine. that was until a tap on his shoulder had george's body spinning around in his heels; stopping him in his tracks.

"uhh- sir you can't have pets in here", a man informed. he only appeared to be around george's age, no older, with a pale face of pubescent acne, black vans, and a pierced left ear that adorned a sparkling cubic diamond.

george sighed, biting numbly at his lip and feeling so entirely drained in all senses of the word. "please-", he exasperated, trying to appeal to the worker's teenage side by embellishing their similarities. "i really just need to get cat food and there's nowhere else i can leave him. i'll be quick, promise."

the teenager that george noticed went by 'camden' (courtesy to the peeling white name tag hanging from the hem of his shirt) huffed a nervous breath and scanned around the store guiltily, rocking back and forth on his toes to truly consider the proposal. his eyes flickered back over to george's and with a look of sympathetic understanding he finally gave in, nodding along. "okay fine, but don't get me in trouble dude."

george's face flooded with honest relief as he hugged his cat tighter to his chest and flashed a grateful half smile. "thank you!", he breathed, quickly spinning around and bolting towards the 'pet care' aisle.

there were heaps of multicolored bags littered all down the aisle that george scanned tentatively for cheap deals. a small bag tucked in behind the front row of boujee foods caught his eye as he stretched his arm blindly out to the back of the shelf. just on budget- 11 dollars for a decent amount of food.

a quiet, dorky squeal of victory emitted from george's mouth as he dashed out of the aisle, whispering little coos to his pet. he didn't dare try his luck at normal checkout, assuming that surely he'd get yelled at and subsequently get that other worker in trouble. so per usual, george avoided human contact and made his way to self checkout.

the short strip of shops in the parking lot formed a sort of quaint market square that originally, george had intended to breeze past. but now exiting the store he couldn't help but waft in the savory smells of chinese takeout. he rooted around in his back pocket to gauge his money situation, concluding he had only 10 dollars plus some change. it would have to do though because his neglected stomach was grumbling embarrassingly loudly, screaming at him to fulfill its cravings.