Short story: Halloween: The Store

Halloween: The Store

As the cashier stared out the window, raindrops formed very slowly. It was starting to get dark, the light fading. Along with his desire to be here. And the amount of caring about the job. He just wanted to be free and act more like his fursona. It was now impossible to tell if time had stopped, or if it was moving more slowly, or if it was just a small amount of rain. His state of mind was boredom. He kept drifting towards dreaming about running and dancing outside in the rain. All he knew was that this was a boring job. God, he wanted to go for a walk. Feel the rain on his face. To play and be free. To be the person he wanted to be. Sighing, he slumped over.

A cough by a customer woke him up. Turning, the customer in question had a few items. One of which they were eating. It was the very same pack he had been munching on. “Be the animal of your dreams” was written on the side of it. Halloween candy that was on offer. Scanning them with the beeping sound, followed by is that cash or card. He scanned the half-eaten pack. And what looked like a collar, dog treats.

“Have fun tonight and have a good evening.”

The customer struggled to hold the card with a very hairy hand. Wagging their ass on the way out. Loose clothing and very fluffy hair now. Without thinking, he began to eat the same thing. A trickle of people would come and go for the next couple of hours until closing time. Buying similar items, but always the same candy. Always half-eaten and always leaving looking more rough. Hairy hands and hair too long. It wasn’t just hairy, some people’s skin looked rough. One tattooed woman he swore seemed to snake out of the store.

The store was empty, and he had to lock up this evening. Yet the store did smell like wet dog. A pile of empty packs he needed to tidy away. Thing was, the store was littered with the rubbish. His coworkers were busy moving cardboard boxes and cleaning up the empty wrappings. Getting up from the chair, he took a look around to see what stock needed moving. He checked the piece of paper with the new stock. Every sound echoed on the shop floor. They seemed to be playing with boxes, and one was getting inside the bigger boxes. But they snapped out of it when he turned up.

“What time do you finish tonight?”

“Oh that would be 7pm, you?”

“Oh I have 9pm.”

“I’m 11pm, locking up this evening.”

“You should try some of this.”

“How many have you eaten?”

“I don’t know but I feel great.”

“How about later tonight, will you be okay heading home?”

“Sure that is safe?”

“Yes it’s perfectly safe and we have that security company and guard.”

“Cameras and street lights mean I’ll be fine.”

“You mean Darren? He got fired the other day.”

“No replacement yet.”

“Fired for eating stock.”

“Something you’re doing right now.”

“I did pay for this you know.”

“You need a haircut you know, do love the hair, looks like a wet dog.”

The chat carried on as they threw boxes into the cage.

“Alright we can handle this now, go shutdown the self-checkouts and come back.”

“Don’t eat everything now and leave some for me.”

As he walked over he noticed puddles of water. Followed by the sound of barking. Must have been a dog or something.

“No dogs in the store,” he shouted, only hearing giggles. And more barking with woofing.

Somebody had come in and was doing their shopping. Turning each machine off and shutting the gate, plus locking it. He grabbed a mop and followed the water around. Nobody was at the end of it. Must have been somebody earlier. Still, he wanted to chase the mop and felt uncomfortable in his clothes. Snacking on the biscuit. His skin was itchy, he looked at his hand and could see hair. A small pain on his spine. He went to the bathroom to take a look. His legs seemed more hairy and he looked at a red spot on his spine. Oh well, but letting air hit his skin felt so good. His socks and shoes were feeling loose and awkward.

“Alright it’s 6:45pm I’m going now, I’ve done what I can. I’ll leave you two good boys to sort the rest out.”

Both of them barked and woofed.

He liked the sound of that. Thing was, being a furry, he wanted to be a good boy. Go back to how he was at the weekend. With his fursuit on having fun. Acting like a dog.

“Have a good weekend now.”

As she left the store he noticed she was shorter, clothes were a bit loose. Hair was longer and she was wiggling her butt like she had a tail. Acting more like a dog than a human. Panting as she walked out. Shaking the rain as it soaked her. He could swear she was getting smaller as she snacked on something. Her face looked weird now as lightning happened and was now gone. Another flash, just a pile of clothes. For whatever reason, this excited him.

Outside was dark and rain was coating the windows. You could barely see the lights outside. Inside, the lights flickered every now and again. With the clock ticking down until 9pm, both of them passed each other, moving stock cages in and out. Restocking the shelves with new items of the week. New fresh stock would be done in the morning. Snacking on things. Nobody said anything but clothes looked loose. Hands more hairy with each bite.

Every now and again people would come in. They looked strange or tired or something. All acted slow and weird. Piles of clothes were being put into lost and found. Everybody including them was snacking on this candy. Very hairy and unshaved. Some smelling like wet dog, others did not. All he knew was something was catching his nose and he wanted to smell more.

“Okay it’s 8:50pm I’m going to clock off now, sure you’re going to be okay walking home in that weather?”

“Yeah I’ll be fine, got my coat,” he said whilst looking in the other direction. Eating more of the snacks. It made him feel so good. Yet he was feeling shorter and hairy.

All he heard was shoes and the door opening up. He looked over and saw another pile of clothes leading to the exit. Grabbing them, he wondered who they belonged to. He moved the last cage with candy into place. After putting more stock on the shelf, he grabbed more candy. Everything was done now, and he had to wait until 11pm and close up. The morning crew would open up the store, he would come in midday and put the keys back. Work for a few hours and the cycle repeating. He stretched his feet, and his shoes felt loose. He could not wait until he got home and took everything off.

As he walked around the empty store, he went and picked up a few beers. Got something going out of date for breakfast tomorrow and some food for this evening that otherwise would be thrown out. He also picked up a collar and some dog treats. Cleaning up the water again and serving people again. It was now 10:45pm and with that he started closing up. Turning everything off that needed to be off. Checking every single section of the store after closing the door. It took about 10 minutes for everything to be done. He grabbed some candy and left.

Locking up the last door he looked in. No lights, just a reflection. He needed a haircut. As he walked home, his clothes became loose. They were uncomfortable. Each step something felt odd. Feeling too hot, he pulled off his t-shirt. As the rain carried on he found himself covered in a fur coat. Much better for the rain. He unlocked the door and took the treats to his roommate who would love them too. Who knows, maybe he was a dog person after all and would be up to play. It felt good to convert a non furry to the cause after all. He looked in the mirror. Wow, I look good. Oh, I have a tail now. And strong legs, looking like an anthro dog that walks.