Cereal Aisle Novels & Stories

Morgan POV "Mom, mom, mom... can we get this for me?" Timothy squeaked, holding up a box of chocolate cereal with a cartoon character on the front. "And this!" Tanner added, grabbing an identical box. "We need two!" I glanced at the nutrition label and winced. Basically sugar with a side of artificial coloring. "How about we get the one with the berries instead?" I suggested, reaching for a healthier option. Twin groans echoed through the cereal aisle.

Because life still requires small, ordinary things even when the universe feels unstable. The store smells like cleaning solution and overripe fruit. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead. Carts rattle across tile. Normal. Until it isn’t. I see her in the cereal aisle. She’s leaning forward slightly, one hand braced on the cart like she needs the support. Dark circles hollow her eyes. Her hair is pulled back too tightly, rushed and careless. Two children cling to her. A girl, seven maybe, carefully comparing boxes. A younger boy perched on the cart, legs swinging.

The supermarket was an absurdly mundane place. I had already visited infernal dimensions, negotiated with ancient demons, and survived centuries of hunts and persecutions. But nothing — nothing in a thousand years of existence — had prepared me for the experience of choosing cereal brands on a supermarket shelf at ten in the morning on a Tuesday. “This is ridiculous.” I murmured, examining a box of artisanal granola that cost eighteen dollars. “Eighteen dollars for compressed oats?” “Welcome to the real world.” Evelyn replied beside me, tossing a package of rice into the cart. “Where normal people don’t have a pocket dimension that materializes food out of nowhere.”

Evidence...more proof that she was living in an alternate reality. It has to be it. What else would explain the boxes of Cookie Crisp and Cap’n Crunch sitting next to her raisin bran? She’d never buy that kind of cereal. The calories alone would send her from a size seven to a...a twenty. And on a shelf under the cereal, more items jumbled up the wide space, declaring that another person lived her. Among other things, there were protein bars, protein powders, energy bars, energy drinks, bottles of Gatorade, canisters of Gatorade powders, a giant bag of Cheetos and three boxes of full-sized Snickers bars...not to mention the Twinkies, the Ding Dongs, the honey buns, the peanut butter cr

By the end of my shopping hassle, I had already bought a bag of carrots, cabbage, because it was versatile, it can be a vegetable or a filling, bananas, canned tuna, a carton of eggs and peanut butter. As I walked to the cashier, I saw a snack aisle. I glanced at the chips and cookies, but then I remembered they weren't in my budget, and I had no fancy life to actually enjoy them, so I decided to settle for a big bag of oats. Breakfast for the whole week!. I reached the cashier counter and started checking out. My basket was full, but the items inside were cheap. I held my breath as I waited for the cashier to scan everything because when I was busy choosing items, I didn't exactly count eve