By the time Maya stepped out of work, the sky had already begun changing from bright afternoon blue to the softer colors of early evening.
She adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and stretched her arms for a moment before heading toward Mils Supermarket, only a short stop away. Her light-blue hair was tied into two neat braids, though after a full day at work a few stubborn strands had escaped around her face.
She was dressed comfortably in a simple T-shirt, a light cardigan, casual skirt, and her favorite platform flip-flops.
Her feet were tired.
Not I have crossed a desert barefoot tired, but definitely tired enough for Maya to look down at them while walking and mutter, "You two have done enough work for today."
A woman passing nearby glanced at her.
Maya immediately pretended she had been talking on the phone.
There was no phone in her hand.
"Perfect," she whispered. "Very convincing."
The automatic doors of Mils opened with a soft whoosh, and a wave of cool supermarket air greeted her.
Inside, the store had that familiar evening feeling. Shopping carts rattled over the tile. Somewhere near the bakery, an employee was stacking fresh bread. A child was trying very hard to convince his mother that a family-sized bag of chocolate candy counted as groceries.
Maya grabbed a small basket.
She had originally planned to buy only three things.
Milk.
Tomatoes.
And something sweet.
She knew perfectly well that "three things" usually became eight things whenever she entered a supermarket, but tonight she was determined.
"Three," she told herself.
She held up three fingers for emphasis.
Then she spotted a display of strawberry cookies.
Maya slowly lowered one finger.
"Four."
She dropped the cookies into her basket.
The produce section was fairly quiet, which Maya liked.
She was inspecting a row of avocados with the seriousness of someone evaluating rare gemstones when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Maya?"
She turned around.
It was Lena, one of her coworkers.
"Hey!"
Lena pushed her cart closer. "I thought that was you. I recognized the braids."
"Not my extremely sophisticated avocado-inspection technique?"
"That too."
Maya held up one avocado.
"This one has potential."
Lena squeezed it gently.
"This one could probably survive being hit by a truck."
Maya put it back.
"Rejected."
They both laughed.
For the next few minutes, they stood near the produce section talking about work.
Lena leaned against her cart. "Did you see what happened to the coffee machine after lunch?"
Maya groaned.
"Don't remind me."
"It made my coffee without the coffee."
"So...water?"
"Hot brown water."
Maya nodded solemnly. "Our machine has entered its minimalist phase."
Lena burst out laughing.
Maya continued, "Tomorrow it may simply hand you an empty cup and ask you to imagine coffee."
"Honestly, that's probably coming."
They talked about the rest of the workday, a customer who had called the wrong department three times, and the strange mystery of how someone kept leaving exactly one paper towel on the roll instead of replacing it.
Nothing important.
But that was what Maya liked about conversations like this.
Not every conversation needed to solve life's biggest problems.
Sometimes complaining about a coffee machine was enough.
Eventually they wandered toward the tomatoes.
Maya picked up a particularly round one and examined it.
"This one's nice."
Lena looked at her.
"You've been judging vegetables for ten minutes."
"I have standards."
"For tomatoes?"
"Especially tomatoes."
As Maya reached toward another one, something shifted in the display.
A tomato near the top began to roll.
Neither woman noticed.
It traveled slowly downward.
Then faster.
Then—
Plop.
It landed directly beside Maya's foot.
Maya froze.
Lena froze.
They both looked down.
The tomato had survived.
Maya stared at it for several seconds.
Then she looked back at the display.
Then at Lena.
"I think it chose me."
Lena started laughing.
"I'm serious," Maya said. "Out of every person in this supermarket, this tomato made a decision."
An older man shopping nearby smiled as he passed.
"Better take that one home," he said. "It already likes you."
Maya pointed at him.
"See? Witness confirmation."
She bent down and picked up the runaway tomato.
"Fine. You're coming with me."
She placed it carefully into her basket.
Lena shook her head. "You just adopted a tomato."
"I've made worse decisions."
"Recently?"
Maya thought about it.
"Next question."
They continued through the store together.
Maya picked up some milk, bananas, crackers, yogurt, and another package of cookies she absolutely had not planned to buy.
She looked into her basket.
Lena looked into the basket.
"I thought you came here for three things."
"Plans change."
"You have nine."
Maya frowned.
"You're counting?"
"I had time."
Maya picked up the second package of cookies.
"These were an emergency."
"What emergency?"
"They were on sale."
"That's not an emergency."
"It is financially irresponsible not to buy them."
Lena laughed again.
"That is not how saving money works."
"I don't appreciate this negativity."
They slowly worked their way toward the checkout while talking about the weekend.
Lena planned to sleep late Saturday morning and possibly visit her sister.
Maya hadn't decided what she wanted to do yet.
"Maybe I'll stay home," Maya said. "Watch something. Cook something."
"You're going to start a project."
"I am not."
"You always start a project."
Maya opened her mouth to argue.
Then stopped.
"Okay. Probably."
"Last weekend?"
"I reorganized half my closet."
"The weekend before?"
"I tried making homemade bread."
"And how did that go?"
Maya became quiet.
Lena smiled.
"Maya?"
"It became...something."
"Bread?"
"Technically."
"What does technically mean?"
"It could hold its own shape."
Lena laughed so loudly that the cashier at the nearest register looked over.
Maya crossed her arms.
"The birds liked it."
"Did they eat it?"
"No."
That only made Lena laugh harder.
When they finally reached the checkout, Maya placed her groceries on the conveyor belt.
Milk.
Fruit.
Crackers.
Yogurt.
Cookies.
More cookies.
And finally, the runaway tomato.
She placed it down carefully.
Lena pointed to it.
"Take care of him."
Maya nodded.
"He has been through a lot."
The cashier glanced between them but wisely decided not to ask.
A few minutes later, Maya stepped back outside carrying her grocery bags.
The evening air felt warmer after the cold supermarket.
Lena waved goodbye from the parking lot.
"See you tomorrow!"
"See you!"
Maya started toward home.
Her feet were still tired. Her workday hadn't magically become shorter. The coffee machine would probably still be broken tomorrow.
But somehow she felt better than she had when she'd walked into the store.
Maybe it was seeing a friend.
Maybe it was laughing about absolutely nothing important.
Or maybe it was simply difficult to remain in a bad mood after being personally selected by a tomato.
Maya glanced down at the grocery bag.
"Don't get comfortable," she told it. "You're part of dinner."
Then she smiled and continued home.
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