Etia woke up. Lonely as always.
Recently, she stated having many nightmares about her past.
The most terrifying ones were taking place in her early childhood because she wasn't used to getting shunned yet.
But you can't live off crying, so she quickly got dressed and left for work.
----------------------------------------
Not many people came to the store, and even if they came, they would rather talk with someone normal.
That makes it possible for Etia to stand around and do whatever she wants. For example, she can watch the TV that hangs near the entrance,
— Tailless! Mass has to take care of something, so go on the register! — Her boss always called her with that insult, and no one had a problem with that.
Zharian society was very straightforward, so it wasn't weird to hear insults flying around, and that was not the only effect.
Oftentimes, Etia would experience what humans call “sexual molestation”, but for zharians, it was nothing special.
Of course, any advances some romantic made would stop not long after they started, for a very obvious reason.
Only today, two people tried to hit on her, and everyone knows how it went.
— Good morning! What do you want to buy? — Etia greeted the customer, but he, instead of answering, just put a few products on the counter.
— That will be 14 cin and 13kam.
The man pulled out his card and paid for the products. Just when he wanted to leave, an important message came up on the TV.
URGENT NEWS! AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT WAS SPOTTED IN THE AIR! THE MILITARY SAYS NOT TO WORRY!
A streamed video conference appeared and the person on the screen started talking.
— A UFO appeared in the air, but there is nothing to worry about. The government will take care of this problem, so there is no reason for anyone to panic. — Even though he said that, it was easy to see how stressed he was.
Then, a photo of the object was shown.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Yup. That's a UFO” The cashier thought.
Apparently not caring about the man's advice, everyone started screaming and panicking. Everyone except Etia, that is.
She didn't have anything to care about. Etia didn't love anyone, and her colleagues didn't like her, so even if some aliens attacked Zhar, she wouldn't lose anything.
People in the store took food and other articles, but the security stopped them from stealing. They got insulted a lot, but still didn't let anyone who didn't pay through.
The desperate customers flocked to the registers. There were 12 people in the store, two families of four, a couple, and four individual buyers.
Cash registers 1 and 3 were hurrying to scan every product and get paid. Once these people would leave, they could go back home themselves.
But Etia was not rushing.
— Good morning! What can I get you? — Once again, she got no answer, but this time the family screamed at her.
— What are you doing! Scan our stuff and let us go! — The man, probably in his thirties, was very loud.
— Right, hurry up! — A pre-teen child criticized her.
It changed nothing. Etia was still scanning at her regular speed.
The people were getting louder and louder, and yet, she still worked at her regular pace.
— That will be 63 cin and 76 kam.
A woman, probably the wife of the unnecessarily rude man, used her card to pay.
— I'm sorry, but your card was declined. — Etia declared. — Please check your account status and come with products you can afford.
— What the hell are you talking about?! — the father screamed, and the children started crying.
Before they could say anything more, the next person already put 2.5 kg of pasta made from orkell on the counter.
----------------------------------------
After getting screamed at for some time, everyone in the shop left. Seeing as there wasn't anyone coming, she stopped pretending like nothing is happening and turned around to look at the alcohol.
— Ah, I can't let all the beer go to waste, can I? — She wanted to pack a few bottles, but then came up with a brilliant idea. — No one will miss them, right?
Etia took a super expensive bottle of well-aged blue wine. One bottle costs over 50 cin. She could never afford it, but now there was a chance to drink it.
The alarm sounded, and the entry door closed, but she had a key for the backdoor for employees, so that wasn't a problem for her.
Then she slowly made her way home. On her way, she saw a person running with a full shopping cart of supplies, and one woman crying on a bench.
There was even an orgy made up of 4 women and 3 men, but even in the heat, everyone avoided her.
She finally managed to open the bottle with a pocket knife and looked up. Etia saw a very small dot, the spaceship, and sighted.
“I live sad, and I die sad. What a life.” She thought and kept looking at the reason for everyone's panic.
But then it flashed bright orange and transformed into a giant firework, illuminating the city.
— Huh? Is that it? — Etia thought that this was her end, so she was quite surprised when The Ship blew up.
— I guess that's it. Better go back to work.
She wanted to head back, but a falling object hit the building next to her.
Her daily dose of giving a damn already run out, so she just looked.
Once the dust settled, A weird-looking man walked out from the rubble.