For Cheap Mini Donuts

Grey eyes assess the bag clenched delicately. The silver orbs rake through the nutrition information and lips purse in thought. A frustrated sigh escapes from once tensed lips before the woman flippantly lets the bag of donuts fall into her handbasket. 

Those tired grey eyes sweep around the aisle, trying to decide if she needed anything else. The buzz of fluorescent lights clogged her already aching head, and the loud talking coming from other shoppers was downright debilitating. 

She had just left her job and was heading home in the middle of the night when she remembered her roommate had asked her to get some "needed" items. How cheap, tasteless mini doughnuts couldn't wait a few more days was beyond her. Pan was just ready to get home and sleep the pounding away.

Sluggish feet dragged on the floor as the girl propelled herself forward, deciding that she needed nothing else from the isle. Small squeaks erupted from the fatigued shuffle, irking her head even more. 

Pan stopped with a huff, and her grey eyes glared despairingly at the offending garments. The old and scruffed sneakers stared innocently back. She rolled her eyes and glared ahead, preparing to take a step so she could finish her shopping and go home to bed. 

But, the women froze with a foot hovering in the air, it was quite. The loud conversation happening just in the other aisle, the blaring buzz of light fixtures, the lousy shopping center music; it all stopped. 

Pan's foot quietly lowered, her hands hovered at her sides, she tensed. Her head swiveled around, cautiously trying to access what had happened from the only spot she knew was safe. Understanding that nothing could harm her at this minute, the girl straightened back to her full height. Her handbasket smacking innocently on her thigh, calculating eyes briskly appraised it, before deciding to come back for it if everything was alright. 

Making sure her scruffy shoes didn't make a single sound on the squeaky floor, Pan crept forward. Leaning with her body till her head just barely poked out of the aisle, just enough so she could see. Her body tense and frantic heart leaping out of her chest, screaming at her to get out of there. 

But, there was nothing. No one, no creepy figure, no shadow on the wall, Pan was alone in the middle of a perfectly normal shopping center. 

She couldn't pinpoint why she was shaking.

But there was absolutely no reason to be scared. The tired women figured that sleep deprivation could be a factor, she had been rather busy in the last few weeks, opting to work when she should have been snuggling up in bed. But, through the years with a poor sleep schedule, she had never once hallucinated. 

While tentatively moving towards the next aisle, the girl noticed that there was not a single worker in sight, and upon further inspection, the little TV with cameras on it had gone to static. 

Okay, maybe there is a reason for her fright because this was pretty terrifying. 

Planning to head home and lie to her roommate, Pan changed her route to the glass doors, only to freeze in horror once again. 

All she could see was pure white. 

On her way here it had barely been snowing, how she was already snowed in baffled Pan. 

Pan had to stop herself from screaming in frustration and decided to resume her original plan of finding something useful for the increasingly grim situation she found herself in. 

So, she headed further into the store, murder in her eyes, and a vow of revenge directed at her roommate infecting her thoughts. 

So, down she went, aisle to aisle. Attempting to come up with even the most rudimentary plan and failing miserably. Creeping, tiptoeing slowly down each aisle, hoping against hope for her eyes to land on a nice person, who knows what was happening and was more than willing to help her.

On and on she went, finding none of the above. She was almost done with all of the aisles and was rapidly losing any hope of getting any sleep until she heard something. 

A wail.

The wail of a baby, nonetheless. 

"Whaaaaaat?" Pan all but breathed. She quickly perked up though because, with a baby, there is sure to be an adult. So, silently and quickly, the women approached the sound of the weeping child. Slowing when she loomed closer.

They should be right past this corner. So, Pan once again peaked warily passed the shelf.

A small baby, swaddled in a yellow blanket was lying miserably on the cold floor. 

Quickly glancing around the tired women swiftly approached the whimpering child, picking them up in a soothing cradle, shushing them softly. 

"Hey there, how did you get here?" Pan was still looking around for the baby's guardian, and the baby was quickly calming. Babbling softly at her and playing with her hoodie strings.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, baby. My name is Pan." The baby briefly stopped their prattle to stare blankly at her face before carefully moving their stubby little hand to softly swat at her nose. Giggling fiercely when she spluttered away from his moving fingers, before shoving them in his mouth. 

She huffed and redoubled her efforts of trying to find a way out. She paced around the store but found that no equipment meant for shoveling snow. She checked the storage area of the store and the break room in the back, but again found nothing useful. 

Already weary when she arrived, she was downright exhausted by this point. So she settled in the baby food aisle and gave the infant some baby crackers, and he happily nibbled on them.

Anxiety was quickly filling Pan, and her heart nearly stopped when the lights suddenly turned off. 

After a few tense seconds of complete silence, Pan heard the baby's sweet little giggle turn into a deep, booming, cynical chuckle that echoed all around her. 

 "Hello, Pan" was whispered, starting in the baby's innocent gibberish and slowly transforming into that deeply harsh voice, right beside her ear. 

-

The next morning when the workers arrived to start their shifts, they saw a small car in the parking lot, a bottle of baby crackers lying open, and a handbasket with cheap mini donuts inside. 

They cleaned it up.