At the dinner table

The afternoon sun was blinking between the trees. My shoulders were aching because of the heavy backpack. I breathed over the bike on the rough country road. A car came behind and squeezed itself between me and a meeting car.

Outside work

I worked myself out of the office and out of work. I looked up. Blue. Spring afternoon.
-So, you`re cycling today as well?
I turned around. The colleague who came out of the door was smiling at me.
-Yes, it must be nice to cycle today, he said.
-Yes, today it`s fine, I said and smiled back to him.
I climbed on to the bike and rolled down towards the shop. I thought I should buy some food that was missing at home. The spring air was playing around my face.
A beggar was standing by the door to the store. I could not avoid his glance. -I don`t have any cash, I said and put up a smiling excuse. He just looked at me.
The store inside was sterile, angular and cold. It was not the place I went because I wanted to. But because I had to. Some sterile customers searched with their eyes after food. I opened the door to a big cooler and found some milk. And some mackerel in tomato sauce on tube. And some cheese. Behind me I found a cluster of bananas.
The shop man behind the cash register said a sterile "hello", when it beeped against the goods. "Do you want a plastic bag"? "No thanks". "Do you want your receipt, then?" "No thanks", I replied and gave him a sterile smile.
I put the goods into my bag. I noted that the bag was heavy behind my back when I stepped up the first uphill on the road home.