Hi everyone! This is my entry for the contest created by @steemfluencer. It's a great project and I encourage you to go check it out :) For this task we had to make a story that included certain items in a grocery list so that they are easier to remember. I hope you like it and leave me your thoughts about it in the comments! (Normally I'd leave more pictures but I've been without internet since yesterday and I'm using my phone's plan megabytes to post this).
He was sore all over, his body dripping with ripe tomatoes. Andrew couldn't decide what was worse, the sticky mess or the smell; not to mention the embarrassment that flooded him. He didn't even like tomatoes; it was ironic how this was the perfect end to a horrible day.
It all started as soon as he got up. A toy from his dog was lying on the kitchen and he tripped over it; while his arms were flailing around trying to grab onto something to stop the fall, he managed to grab the bananas he bought yesterday and fell on top of them. Andrew winced at the pain and grimaced when he saw the ruined bananas, which were part of his breakfast. These days he was low on cash, so the only thing he had for breakfast were the bananas, a tub of Greek yogurt and some oranges. When he grabbed the oranges, they were sticky and smelt badly. 'Great ' he thought 'No orange juice for me'. Since he had no other option, the blonde ate the Greek yogurt and washed the taste away with water. He wasn't a big fan of the taste on its own but with fruit it tasted great, sadly he smashed the bananas to bits. This is what happens when you leave college to be a full time comedian that has no shows ever.
A couple of hours later he got a call from a friend that knew a local bar owner. Turns out the man who was supposed to entertain tonight quit and they were in need of a comedian. Thinking his luck had improved Andrew readily agreed to fill in and started thinking about what jokes to use and in which direction take the show. He was so immersed in his work that Charlie, his dog, had to nudge him with his toy bone several times before he noticed. Since the blonde was inspired he grabbed the bone and tossed it away without looking. A big clash startled him and when he looked back an expensive bottle of white wine was broken on the floor. 'Crap ' he got up like a flash before Charlie could hurt himself and started cleaning the mess. A black cloud formed over his head, that bottle was a gift from his ex-girlfriend. It seemed his misfortune wouldn't end so easily. Even though they ended in bad terms, he kept it because it was the favorite wine of his deceased grandfather and they stopped making it a couple of years ago. Tears of frustration teased his eyes but Andrew clenched his jaw and finished cleaning before continuing to work.
A couple of hours before he was due to leave for the bar he took a break and decided to eat lunch. A coke and a grilled cheese sandwich was what he could afford. To wind down and relax before the show Andrew got out his worn out copy of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. He didn't know what was about this book that he liked, maybe the tragic life of Scarlett, the protagonist. Whenever he felt down, reading this lifted his spirits because it reminded him that amidst his misfortunes, he was luckier than many people in the world. The man put the book on the table and decided to open up the coke. Before he knew what happened, coke covered his face and precious book. It seemed it was shaken and exploded when he opened it. At this point he wanted to shout out to the heavens and give up. But there was no time to waste, he needed to see if his book had salvation. Hundreds of paper towels later, the book was semi dry and hanging on the sun. Some pages had blurred words on them and were very wrinkled but it seemed the book would live to see another day.
After taking a shower and grabbing a button up and his only tie, Andrew was ready to go. This had to go well, he really needed the money and reputation. If not he would probably die from starvation, thankfully his house was already paid for. Dark thoughts swam through his mind and his confidence was shredded to nothing after such an awful day. Still it didn't matter, there was no room for mistakes here. With a deep breath, he painted a smile on his face and got up on the stage. At first everything was going smoothly, the crowd laughed at his jokes and his confidence was growing. Halfway through his show, a waitress tripped over a spilled beer and crashed into him. Now his clothes were stained and his butt was hurting. A hush fell over the crowd before they started laughing loudly; and here was where he made the first mistake, he froze. As a comedian you must be prepared to laugh at yourself and after something like that, doing that was what made sense. Except it brought painful memories about high school and bullies, freezing him. Like a snap of the fingers everything he had memorized vanished; his mouth was like a gaping fish, opening and closing several times without actually saying anything. Lame and sexist jokes left his mouth as a defense mechanism and people started getting mad.
He didn't know who was the first one that threw a tomato or how. Andrew thought stuff like that only happened in the movies, but apparently not. After a while he gave up on fending them off and just laid there, taking the hits. A fitting ending for one of the worst days of his life. When all it was over and he dropped on his bed exhausted there was only one thought in his mind 'Lord, please let tomorrow be a better day '.