Half an Hour Before Closing
Last Thursday a dog dropped dead in isle ten.
I saw an old man standing over him when I went to bring back bread.
He let out a heavy sigh and he stared down at the poor thing.
“That’s the second one in the last year” he told me,
still staring down at the limp mass at his feet.
The silence between us was broken by a quiet
“I’m sorry this happened.”
The old man looked up at me and shrugged.
“Y’know,
it’s the only thing you can’t run from.”
“I died once.”
He said softly.
“People always ask how it happened, and how I knew I had to come back.
But I don’t know really,
it just happens to you.”
Autumn Forsing is currently a sophomore at University of Southern Maine studying English Education with a focus in poetry and creative writing. She plans on teaching high school students both subjects. Growing up in a predominantly female household with a single mother, she finds the biggest source of her inspiration to be the female experience. This is her first publication and she is incredibly excited to be a part of the Outrageous Fortune community.