The laundromat on 1st Street

She had never seen anything so magnificent in her life. Right there. Just sitting there in the laundromat, next to the cart they give you to keep your freshly washed clothes in. An apple. Just sitting there. On the little table next to the plastic bench, only a small circle about two feet wide, with a pastel yellow tabletop and little white stumps for legs. There was nobody in the laundromat as far as she could see. She wanted to go in there and grab it. So badly. She should’ve. It could’ve helped her solve at least one of her many problems. 

The apple was a bright green, almost neon, with a perfect stem and a little leaf hanging off the end. If you imagined a picture-perfect apple, almost cartoon-like, that would be it. She tried not to think about what could have been if she had gotten up and picked up the apple from where it sat. It’s hard to ignore something that could have made your day ten times better. It’s sad to say that the next day the apple was gone. One of the janitors must’ve come in and cleaned up the small building, taking it, and throwing it in the trash. 

She still regrets leaving the apple there. It might’ve changed her life. But she can’t think about what could’ve been. She can’t go back and change anything and she can’t spend any more time thinking about that big green apple in the laundromat on 1st Street.

ilona.russell

VT

17 years old

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