I smiled at the cashier as she replaced the receipt paper.
“Sorry, these things just take a second to start up again!” She said with a nervous chuckle as she stood waiting for the machine to print off a throw-away section of the paper.
“No worries!” I said with a smile. “I’ve worked retail before and always hated changing out the receipt paper, so I totally get it.”
She nodded politely, her shoulders relaxing a little.
“There we go.” She said as she ripped my receipt from the printer and handed it to me.
“Have a nice day and enjoy those cookies!” She smiled, gesturing at one of my bags.
“You too!” I blushed a little realizing my error. “Well, you also have a nice day, I mean!”
She snorted a little and gave me a polite waive as I walked away from her register.
As my steps carried me toward the exit, I looked down at my receipt to check if all my items were accounted for. There wasn’t much in the 3 bags I carried, but ever since getting stopped at the door from the security scanners going off on me one time a few years ago, it had become a bit of a paranoia-driven habit. Continuing slowly toward the exit, my face remained transfixed on the small piece of paper while I mentally read off each product it listed. Once I verified everything was in order, my gaze shifted upward toward the exit.
But as my focus returned to my surroundings, I furrowed my brow in confusion and stopped dead in my tracks. I wasn’t looking at the exit/entrance area like I’d expected. Instead, a completely blank wall stood blocking the usual path out of the building. Staring stupidly at the empty wall for a moment, I attempted to wrap my head around what I was looking at. Had I taken a wrong turn while my attention was focused on the receipt? That seemed the only explanation. Unsure of what to do, I turned back toward the store checkout to get a better handle on my situation.
But the next sight was equally as unexpected. All of the checkout area was completely desolate. No customers in the self-checkout, no cashiers scanning products or politely speaking to customers, nothing. I turned my head toward the small coffee shop that sat to the left of the registers and saw that even though I could have sworn I heard coffee brewing and baristas working only a moment before, it too was now devoid of life.
A sense of dread began gnawing at the edges of my skull, but I did my best to ignore it. This must have been some kind of mistake, I thought. But, even if all the people that were only minutes ago standing at the cash registers or sitting in the coffee shop were collectively in on some elaborate prank, that still didn’t explain how the exit/entrance was now seemingly nonexistent.
The concerning paranoia hung heavily in my mind as I walked back over to the registers to inspect them. But despite checking around every last one, I still found absolutely no signs of life. I could now feel the heightening anxiety eat its way past the bone and begin sinking its gnarled teeth into the soft jello of my brain as I struggled not to let panic overcome me. With haste, I made my way to the security office where I was met with a thick, solid looking gray door. Hesitating for a moment, I looked behind me and scanned one last time for any other people. When I still failed to locate anyone, I turned back to the ominous door and knocked on it.
A long and uncomfortable silence was all the response I received for my tapping. So, I tried again, harder this time. Still nothing. One last time, I pounded rapidly against the door and yelled, “Hello?! Is someone there? Please?!” But still I received no reply.
My fears at last consumed my mind in its entirety and I frantically ran to the coffee shop and slammed on the bell that sat on its counter. “Hello?! HELLO?! Anyone?!”
When that too failed to yield results, I searched the bathrooms that were located nearby. But even after kicking in every last stall door and screaming for anyone to answer, I still didn’t find a single soul.
After exiting the bathrooms, I quietly walked over to the wall where the exit should have been and slumped against it with my back, slowly sliding down until I was sitting upon the scuffed, dirty floor. I stared absent-mindedly down the long and empty walkway that led to the clothing department, unsure of how next I should proceed. Something was clearly wrong here, that much was obvious. This was not simply some prank or mistake. Whatever was going on, wherever I was now, I was alone, and I was trapped.
I’m not ashamed to say I had a full on breakdown at that point. Just sitting on the hard epoxy, leaned against the wall, holding my knees and sobbing like a child. This situation should have been impossible. Things like this didn’t happen in real life, it just didn’t make any sense.
After a few minutes of crying and trying to wrap my head around the circumstances, I at last stood to my feet and wiped the remaining tears from my face, “Dammit, get it together my dude!” I told myself, slapping my cheek in an attempt to bring myself back to reality. For the moment, it seemed I had recovered at least some degree of sanity as I once again scanned my surroundings. I decided that there had to be some way out of whatever this was, even if the answer wasn’t obvious to me at that moment.
Making my way past the registers, I looked down the main path to the grocery section. I took a deep breath to prepare myself, then began walking.
My plan was simple, the store wasn’t really all that big. So I reasoned that if I headed down the main walkway and glanced down every aisle, it wouldn’t take me long to have searched practically the entire place. It felt unlikely I’d actually find another person, but it was the only thing I could think to do. And if I didn’t want to go completely insane, I had to do something.
With that in mind, I slowly and methodically worked my way toward the grocery section. I walked by aisle after aisle, still finding no signs of life. In addition, I tried my best to listen for any sounds that might lead me to another person. After I’d gotten about halfway to the groceries, I yelled out, “Hello? Is anyone there?” hoping to get any kind of response. Sadly, my efforts were wasted. It truly seemed like the store was entirely deserted.
After a few minutes of keeping a slow pace, I finally found myself standing in the freezer area of the grocery department. That meant I’d made my way through about a third of the store and still didn’t see or hear another lifeform. My vision momentarily blurred from tears as I nearly let my fear consume me again, but I quickly wiped them away. I knew that if there was any chance of me figuring out what was going on, I couldn’t afford to lose myself again, not yet at least.
With a somewhat weak resolve, I steadied myself and kept moving forward. But as I walked by the last freezer aisle something caught my eye, causing me to doubletake. Quickly, I took a step back and poked my head around the edge of the freezers to see a figure. I nearly gasped in excitement.
“H-hey!” I shouted as I jogged down the cold aisle toward them.
“Thank goodness I found another person! I was just beginning to think I was alo-” my words caught in my throat as my legs suddenly refused to take me any closer to the shape.
Now standing just several feet from the figure, I could make them out clearly, and my heart sank as I realized what I was talking to. It was a mannequin. A fully dressed, white plastic, mannequin.
“What?” Is all the English I could muster as I studied the thing. Adorned in red basketball shorts and a black jersey, it looked as though the thing had walked straight here from the men’s athletic wear department. But as strange as it was to find it here, there was something more unnerving about the mannequin than just its presence. What really unsettled me, was what it was holding in its left hand. Meat. A package of shredded beef, to be exact.
“You making some tacos, buddy?” I asked with a nervous chuckle, almost expecting a reply.
When none came, I glanced around us to see that we were both standing in the meat section. I stared at the plastic figure for a moment, as if trying to catch some hidden, subtle movement. It didn’t shift in the slightest, but despite its lack of animation my nerves still got the better of me, and I found myself cautiously backing away from the unsettling sight and out of the aisle.
Now properly disturbed, I quickened my pace through the rest of the food department in an attempt to distance myself from its unusual customer. Finding myself back in the retail section of the store, I relaxed just a little. But only seconds after, I heard a loud clammer coming from only a few aisle down. It sounded like something fell off of a shelf. Believing that it had to be another person, I shouted, “Hey!” And ran toward the source of the abrupt sound.
When I turned the corner of the row the noise had come from I stopped. There, laying on the floor in the center of the aisle were a handful of action figures and other toys that had fallen from their place on a nearby fixture. As I approached the products, it was clear from a look at the disheveled shelf that these items didn’t just end up on the floor because of gravity. Someone, or something had swiped them out of place and onto the floor.
A chuckle escaped my lips. Then another. Soon I was full blown laughing. “O-okay!” I said, trying to catch my breath. “Holy shit, you got me! You got me good! You can come out now, prank’s over!”
After again receiving no reply my laughter quickly died. “Hey! Seriously?! How long are you going to keep this up?!” I yelled, now more angry than I was scared.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I grumbled to myself when I yet again got no response.
Shaking my head in frustration and turning my attention back to the toys scattered on the floor, I bent down to inspect them. Picking one up and looking it over, I was reminded of a fondness I used to have for this line of action figures when I was growing up. Despite my current situation, I let myself reminisce for a moment and a small smile formed at the corner of my mouth. But only a second later a quick scuffling noise from ahead of me pulled me cruelly back to the present day.
My eyes darted upward to see the source of the disruption, and the discovery brought me back to the peak of fear. Standing there, only about 20 feet or so away, was another horribly expressionless mannequin. I shot to my feet, dropping the toy back to the ground below. For a moment, I did nothing. My body stood as still as the lifeless figure before me and I gazed into the part of its smooth, shiny skull that its eyes would have been. Then, after some sense had come back to me, I began walking backwards away from it. But as I turned to sprint out of the aisle the way I’d entered, I nearly tripped at the sight before me. There on the opposite end of the row the mannequin stood on, was its equally as appalling twin.
Panic rose in my chest as I began hyperventilating. “O-okay! You fucking got me again! Please, I can’t take it anymore!” I cried to whomever must be pulling the strings of this elaborate and terrible joke. Only a second after the words left my lips, however, I heard another scuffling sound from behind me. Jerking my head over my shoulder, I saw that the first mannequin had gotten a few feet closer. No sooner than I’d registered this, another scuffle came from the opposite end of the aisle. My head twisted like it was on a swivel back to the second plastic figure to see that it too was now a step closer. Then, more noise from the other end and a quick, bone snapping twist of my neck showed the first awful mannequin was even closer now.
The two of them were getting nearer with every turn of my head, but I dared not to take the time to try and understand how it was happening. Before I could even think, my hands shot for the shelves. Knocking aside dozens of products, I climbed as fast as my frantic limbs would carry me up the cluttered fixtures. As I did, I could hear the familiar scuffling from both sides of the aisle growing closer. In my panic I carelessly misplaced a foot on top of a toy, causing it to slide out from underneath me, nearly taking me down with it. Letting out a small whimper of panic, I scrambled to recover and scurried up the highest shelf. Any sooner and I may have been a dead man, because just as I began pulling my dangling leg up to the top shelf I could swear I felt cold, plastic fingers just graze against my ankle.
I didn’t look back to see my pursuers. Instead, I jumped across the next aisle to the top of more shelves, kicking aside more useless objects as I landed. Then, I hopped one more aisle after that. Thinking it might finally be safe to get down, I did so. After hopping down and nearly breaking my leg in the process, I wasted no time, going into a full sprint almost as soon as my feet touched the ground. Making a split-second decision, I ran straight to the nearest section with the most cover, the clothing department, and leapt inside a rack of low hanging clearance shirts to hide.
Carefully steadying the shaking hangers as they swung from the force of my entry, I made myself as small as possible. Every ounce of my being prayed that the mannequins hadn’t seen me duck into the clothes. I couldn’t stop myself from picturing a cold, plastic arm reaching into my hiding space and wrapping its icy hands around my neck. So after a moment, my own hands quietly spread some of the shirts apart to give me at least a thin slit of sight. Looking down the main walkway from which I came, I saw no movement. But still my nerves wouldn’t settle, and I decided to wait in my cramped cotton sanctuary for just a few more minutes.
After what I’d estimate was about five minutes, it was time to try my luck. Slowly and silently, I crept out from the clearance rack. My eyes darted in every direction to make sure I wasn’t seen. For now at least, it appeared to be safe. Despite not spotting any immediate threats, I kept low to the ground and maneuvered behind shelves and clothes in a semi-crouched fashion, looking over my shoulder with nearly every step.
What the hell do I do now? I thought to myself. Tears fogged my vision as terror began to strangle my psyche again, but once again I rubbed them away with my shirt sleeve. There had to be some way out, there just had to be.
With that thought, I surveyed my surroundings from my position near the back of the men’s clothing department. It wasn’t long before something caught my eye. Just beyond the counter where an employee usually sat was a short hallway with several small dressing rooms. But while the dressing rooms themselves didn’t interest me, what lay at the back of the narrow hallway did.
A set of large, red double doors stood tucked beyond the tiny rooms. That’s when I remembered that this was a retail store, and retail stores always had backrooms where they store overflow of goods and take in shipments. I thought maybe that was my ticket out of this nightmare. If I could make it through those doors, I’d at least have a shot at another exit of some kind.
With the decision made, I stealthily crawled behind clothing display after clothing display as I headed for the dressing rooms. Every small noise I created made me cringe. As my feet slowly stepped closer and closer to the dressing rooms, the feeling that something was watching me got stronger and stronger. It had been a little bit since I’d seen any plastic figures, but I knew there would be more of them. To make matters worse, the constant checking of my surroundings was making my progress painfully slow. But it felt necessary. The last thing I wanted was to be caught off guard by one of those things again.
Despite my increasing paranoia and snail pace, I eventually made it to the hallway of dressing rooms with no incident. Slipping behind the counter, I carefully looked over it from my crouching position. When I still didn’t see anything following me, I half-stood and swiftly walked to the red doors at the back of the hall. Upon reaching them, I placed a hand against one and stared at its intimidating color. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever may lay ahead, and pushed the door open.
It took longer than I’d like to admit for me to fully recognize what sat on the other side of the swinging doors. But when I did, my knees buckled and I fell hard upon them. Standing on the other side of the ominous red doors was not a safe-haven, nor was it a storage area or a place to take in shipment. What stood mockingly on the other side of the doors was nothing but a barren, dull brick wall.
This was a joke. A sick, twisted joke. The door opened up into what stood past it with just enough space to not bump into the brick wall, and that was it. I was looking at nothing but a closet with fancy doors.
Despair momentarily overtook my common sense and my eyes welled with tears once more. The hopelessness of my circumstances strangling me, I let out an involuntary sob which echoed loudly down and out of the dressing room hallway. By the time I realized my mistake and my hands shot to my mouth to muffle the noise, it was too late. Then, suddenly, a quick scuffling sound reverberated from behind me. I immediately jerked my head to the start of the hall only to see what I had most feared, another, horrible mannequin. It simply stood at the opposite end of the hall, staring back at me with an eyeless gaze.
Instinctively rising to my feet, I engaged in the most horrifying staring contest of my life. For a moment, the two of us just stayed there like that. I thought the thing might be waiting for me to make a move, but then something hit me. All the mannequins that I’d seen seemed to only move when I wasn’t looking at them. Did that mean they couldn’t move while I kept my eyes on them?
Cautiously, I took a step toward the awful thing. When it did nothing, I took another. Still, no reaction. A small, hopeful smirk formed on my face. I didn’t know much about these plastic beings, but it seemed this was their weakness. Pressing myself against the wall, I began making my way toward the thing in hopes of moving past it. All the while, I kept my eyes firmly upon its horrible, faceless head. The distance between us grew smaller and smaller until after an excruciating minute, I was nearly past it. My heart pounded like a drum in my chest as I inched forward, still not taking my eyes off the figure. Finally, after another seemingly eternal stretch of time, I had gotten nearly my entire body beyond it. My heart-rate began to slow just a little as I took the final step. Realizing I’d been holding my breath, I let it out shakily. Then, just as I began to let my guard down, the thing’s horrible arm twisted rapidly at an impossible speed and grabbed my wrist.
An involuntary gasp choked its way free from my lips as the realization of my miscalculation washed cruelly over me. With a single, swift motion, the mannequin then spun its head nearly 360 degrees to face me. Through blurry, wet eyes I gazed back at it in abject horror as I watched a small, vertical black line form up its entire face. Confused and terrified, I wrestled with the cold, plastic hand in an attempt to pull myself from its grip, all the while keeping my eyes locked on the odd blemish upon its face. The monster’s body began twisting and convulsing awkwardly like a character in a stop-motion film as the dark slit grew wider and wider. Then, with one final, awful snap, its face split open entirely.
Sat within the now gaping facial cavity, was an impossible number of short, jagged teeth. Shiny red gums reflected the bright, buzzing lights that sat above us, and a disgustingly large tongue snaked its way out of a throat hole that appeared far too small to fit such a large muscle.
Consciously, I knew it was a mistake, but my brain simply could not handle the level of uncanny horror that my eyes registered, and a scream of deep, utter fear clawed its way painfully out of my throat. Seemingly in response, the horrible mannequin creature squeezed my wrist, causing my scream to turn into a whimper of agony.
“W-what the fuck do you want from me?!” I found myself asking as the abomination’s hard white fingers pressed into my bone. Its answer shouldn’t have surprised me, but I still felt shell shocked when a scratchy, inhuman voice replied simply with, “Flessshhhh!”
Suddenly the memory of the first entity I’d seen came flooding back to me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now staring into the red, swollen mouth of one of these monstrosities, I at last understood why the first mannequin had been holding a package of raw beef.
No sooner than the realization came to me, I observed my fist planting itself hard into the plastic face of the mannequin. It seemed my fight or flight instinct had kicked in, and with no way to run, my body reacted with what it thought best. Surprisingly, the solid right hook to the thing’s plastic shell sent it stumbling backwards, causing it to release my wrist in the process.
I winced as the feeling began coming back to my left hand, but wasted no time in getting the hell away from the monster that now lay sprawled upon the carpet. Not bothering to hide, I began running toward the women’s clothing department. But before I couldn’t even get two steps out of the men’s section, 3 mannequins darted from behind dress displays and ran in an almost cartoony fashion toward me.
“Shit!” I hissed, turning away from them and sprinting toward the shoe department instead. But almost as soon as I was about to turn into an aisle, a shiny white arm swung from around the corner and tried to grab me. I managed to dodge it, only barely stopping myself from falling over in the process. Quickly changing my direction again, I headed for the electronics this time. But it was no good. As I approached the display cell phones I spotted at least 5 more figures scattered throughout the section waiting for me.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I panted in desperation. With no other choice I ran full speed back toward the grocery department. As I did, a series of mangled, plastic limbs shot out from various aisles attempting to catch me. A few managed to grab loose sections of my shirt, but thankfully slipped off from the velocity of my sprinting. Unsure of where to go, I continued down toward the freezer section where I’d seen the first mannequin hungrily eyeing shredded beef. As soon as I remembered it again, an idea came to me, and I turned into the meat aisle.
Not slowing down in time for the sudden change in direction, I slammed my right shoulder into the corner freezer. Doing my best to ignore the pain, I began opening each freezer door I could get my hands on as quickly as possible. I began grabbing and pulling at various raw meat products, throwing them to the floor and moving down the aisle as I did. By the time I reached the opposite end of it, the floor was absolutely covered in meat.
Only a second after I looked back, I saw a crowd of over a dozen plastic bodies hurl themselves into the aisle. To my surprise, most of them had spotted the meat strewn across the floor and almost immediately pounced on it. Horrified, I watched in disgust as the multitude of mannequins split their faces open and began devouring the raw products like a pack of starved wolves. An assortment of plastic, red stained limbs clawed at the packaging. Awful, twisted bodies stumbled and tripped over one another in a rabid attempt to consume as much meat as possible before the others could get to it. The desperation in the air was thick as teeth ripped away at plastic and product alike with almost no discrimination.
For the briefest of moments as I watched the nightmarish scene, I nearly let myself believe my half-baked plan was successful. But when my eyes met the cracked, dented face of a lone mannequin standing at the other end of the aisle, the small relief I’d felt dissolved instantly. Without further hesitation, I ran. My gaze shot to the opposite end of each aisle I passed only to see the angry creature keeping pace with me. It was obvious that it wasn’t happy with me for punching it square in the face earlier, and now it seemed only the meat on my bones would satiate its enraged appetite.
Completely unaware of where my panicked feet were taking me, I looked forward and spotted a desk with a set of caged windows. It didn’t take me but a second to understand we were heading for the pharmacy. As soon as I laid my eyes on it I knew what my next course of action would be. If I could get behind the counter, I might be able to block the door from the other side, then I would be completely protected from the mannequins at least. But it was risky. The door that led behind the counter could have been locked, and if it was, I was as good as dead.
Deciding to throw all my cards on the table, I slammed straight into the pharmacy door with all my weight. Looking down to the other end of that last aisle filled with pills and ointments I could see the broken face of the mannequin staring daggers into me, as if daring me to try. I hesitated for just a second, gazing back at the thing’s vertical mouth as its edges curved into what I assume was a sinister smile. As soon as its feet began moving toward me, however, my hand twisted the knob, hoping against all odds that the door was unlocked. To my great relief, it was, and I threw myself into the small, secure pill bottle packing room.
No sooner than I slammed the door, there was a loud pound from the other side. Then another, and another, all the while I pressed my full weight into it and held the doorknob firmly in a tight grip to keep it from moving. As the pounding continued, I reached up above the knob and locked the deadbolt, then, I quickly grabbed a large fixture filled with pill bottles and pushed it against the door with all my strength.
Relatively confident that the door would hold for now, I backed away from it and pressed myself against the opposite wall. I’d thought that the mannequin would give up after a moment, but the pouding never stopped. That thing was determined to get in here, and I had no idea how long the door could resist. To make matters worse, a loud metal scraping sound echoed through the room as another one of the horrible creatures slammed against one of the caged off windows. Soon after another joined it, then another. It didn’t take long for every window to be covered in ravenous, blood-cloaked bodies.
Collectively, they gnawed and pulled at the cages over the windows, their mouths now dripping with meat and blood from my diversion only minutes ago. It seemed they’d made short work of the appetizers I’d thrown on the floor and were now ready for the main course.
Hopelessly, I sank to the floor, sobbing and screaming. I knew it was only a matter of time before the mannequins got in. Despite all my efforts, it felt like I had lost this twisted game I found myself playing. But in a last ditch effort to survive, my eyes searched through tears for something I could use as a weapon. Instead, however, they met the red glow of an electronic sign. Wiping some of the wet from my face I read, “EXIT” in large, neon letters. Shakily I stood and walked over to it, gazing at the red door that sat ominously beneath the words.
It couldn’t be. It had to be another trick like before. I would open it and be met with another brick wall or something and my fate would be sealed. But what if it wasn’t a trick? What if it really was my ticket out of here?
Just as I began to consider my options, a loud crash suddenly erupted from behind me and I turned to see that one of the cages over the windows had been ripped clean off. I looked back to the door, its surface glowing beneath the gentle hum of the exit sign. Then, I glanced over my shoulder at the mannequins once more. Their fists slammed hard against the window, and from my vantage point I could make out cracks beginning to form in the glass. Anxiously I twisted my head back to the door, terrified of the possibility that it was a trap. But then the sound of splintering glass grew louder and louder. Frantically, I looked behind me again to now see the mannequin I’d decked earlier punching the weakest section of the window, and I knew I had little time to make my choice.
A second later the sound of shattering glass erupted through the small room and the decision was made for me. My hands pressed against the push bar of the emergency exit with all the strength I could muster.
As I pressed it open, a thin ray of light poured into the room. I didn’t even have time to register relief as I practically fell through the door and onto hard concrete. I quickly twisted onto my back and looked back into the room I’d come from. Led by an indented face, the flood of mannequins spilled over the counter and into the small pharmacy. With no hesitation, I pressed my foot against the slowly shutting emergency door, forcing it to shut faster as a single phrase screeched angrily from the other side, “Don’t leave, flesh! Don’t lea-” The scream abruptly cut off as the door slammed shut.
I sat there for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. Vacantly, I studied my surroundings to realize I was outside, sitting on a sidewalk. It was night now, and the spot where I sat was illuminated by a white, buzzing street light. After realizing this, I simply stood and ran from the building as fast as my aching legs would take me.
I don’t think the true nature of what happened really hit me until I got back home. Ever since, I’ve started getting my groceries delivered, and I avoid retail stores like the plague. Mannequins have always creeped me out a little, but now I find myself distrusting even the most mundane looking ones. As terrifying as they are, however, the thing that disturbs me the most about my experience is how it happened in the first place. One minute I was checking out at the register and the next it was like I was in another world entirely. It doesn’t make any sense.
In my journey to find answers, I started sitting in the store’s parking lot, trying to keep watch on certain individuals that come in the store to see if they leave after some time. Thinking the bizarre events couldn’t have just happened to me, I thought I might eventually see someone else go into the store and maybe not return. It became an obsession of mine for months, but even sitting there on the opposite end of the parking lot and watching people go in, I always saw them come back out again within an hour or two, until yesterday, that is.
I was sitting in my usual spot, keeping an eye on as many customers as my brain could register at once. Then, someone got my attention. Maybe it was because he kind of looked like me, wearing similar clothes and even with the same hair color and similar style. Or maybe it was because his mannerisms appeared similar to mine. I don’t really know why he drew my attention. But I watched him walk into the store before noon. I waited there for him to come out for hours, but by the time the sun started setting, I began to get worried. I supposed that he could have been an employee, but he wasn’t wearing the uniform of the store so I kind of doubt it. Either way, I waited until the store closed, an hour after that, even, and he never came out of the store.
I’m convinced now that whatever happened to me, happened to him. Sadly, I don’t think he made it out. The whole situation has me racked with horrible guilt. Maybe if I’d said something, or tried to stop him somehow, I could’ve saved him. But when I think about it, what could I have done? He probably would have believed me crazy and just ignored my warnings anyway.
I guess I’ll never really know. But what I believe to be his fate is the reason I decided to share this experience in the first place. It’s to warn all of you. I understand how insane it might all sound and I get that even if you believe me, you still need to get groceries, right? Well, take my advice and play it safe. Order your damn groceries from now on. Don’t go to large retail stores unless it’s to pick up your items in the parking lot. And most importantly, stay the hell away from any mannequins.