Read Online Z Children (Book 1): Awakening by Eli Constant, B.V. Barr - Free Book Online Page A

because I liked the familiar.
Everyone in town knew Baby Bliss and what it carried. It just didn’t seem that
important. Not really.
    What I should be
concentrating on was… my stomach; my body interrupted my brain, rumbling madly and urging me fully
into the store and back towards my office. All I could think of now was
chugging down a full can of the slightly-gritty chocolate shake that would shut
my stomach up.
    I had about a
half hour before officially opening, but I didn’t bother locking the door
again. Sometimes people showed up a tad early, trying to make a quick purchase
before their own nine to five shifts began. I didn’t mind. Above and beyond to
make a sale, that’s what you had to do when you owned a small business. I’d
just have to quickly swipe away the cocoa milk-stache from my upper lip before
putting on my ‘welcome’ smile and ringing up whatever purchase was too
important to wait until the customer’s lunch break.
    Kicking off my
kitten heels, I grabbed a cold can of Slim Up and sat down in my old tufted
chair. It had been my father’s and the cushioning had worn thin enough to make
my butt rely on its own fat padding to be comfortable. If I shifted just so
though, I’d feel the hard outline of a spring press against my right or left
ass cheek. The sensation (as uncomfortable as it was) always made me smile,
made me think of my dad, and the whopper spankings I’d get for sitting in this
chair as a little kid. I’d spin around and around until I was mad dizzy,
tumbling to the floor- the chair almost always falling with me.
    My dad was normally
a calm man, caring and loving. But when he’d first purchased the chair, it had
been the most expensive thing in our little trailer on the outskirts of town.
He didn’t take too kindly to me playing spin-the-child in it… especially when
I’d make myself so sick with silly that I’d toss up dinner on the burnt orange,
shag carpet.
     
    Slurping down
the only-mildly-satisfying drink, I dug my cell out of my oversized hobo bag
and started texting one of my closest friends, Susan. I was having one of those
‘friend-tuitions’ I got ever so often, the one that nudged at my brain and
center-belly until I picked up some mode of contact and sent out a quick
‘how’re ya doing?’ message.
    I was nearly
done typing, when I heard the front door bell jingle.
    “I’ll be right
up!” I called loudly, dropping my phone on my desk reflexively and quickly
drinking the last dregs of chocolate diet drink. I crumpled the empty can and
dropped it into the wastebasket on my way out of my office. I gave the trash a
forlorn look… if only they made those cans twice as big with half the calories.
Then, maybe my belly would feel slightly satisfied instead of still-hollow and
sloshing uncomfortably.
    Coming into the
merchandise area, my eyes found Deb Vincent and her eight year old fraternal twin
son, Marty. The boy’s shirt was covered in foamy vomit. I could make out little
chunks in the fluid… cereal fragments maybe?
    “Sorry to stop
in before opening, but Mart got sick on the way to school and I don’t have time
to rush home for clothes. He says he feels okay now, thank goodness. I’m all
out of leave from work and can’t afford to take time without pay. We’re all
going to be late no matter what.” Deb sucked in a breath and I opened my mouth
to speak, but before I could, she started rambling again. “Izzy threw a fit,
because I was supposed to have her at school even earlier today for her field
trip to the sheriff’s station. It’s dumb to plan a school trip before school
even starts!”
    Deb looked
exhausted, rubbing at her eyes roughly and making the dark purple half-moons
beneath them worse.
    “It’s no—” Two
words. I’d been able to speak two words before Deb had interrupted me. The
woman was always a talker, but this was ridiculous.
    “I’ve got Sam
and Izzy in the car with a movie on. She’s not feeling well either, which has
made