i work late nights,
and sometimes,
she comes into the store, scratching her eyebrows, searching for some item we may or may not have in stock

she wanders

aisle by aisle

waiting for it to jump out at her.

so i went, and said

"Hey there, something i could help you find?"

now,

she was just a customer, i was just doing my job

but the way those eyes met mine, i died.

on the inside
just a small amount,

but i could feel part of my frozen over heart
break off
and hit the pit of my stomach.

she was looking for a string of holiday lights,
i knew just where they were.

i pictured her hanging them from the molding over her living room window.

standing on a step stool on her tip toes.

i don't know about the holidays
or decorations
or muddling through a crawl space to find the last box of ornaments,

but i think it snows this time of year for people like her.