by jot and tittle

It had been a busy day. The store was cramped with people and the girl behind the counter, Allie, felt as if her face was about to fall apart or start doing muscle spasms due to all the smiling she had done for the last 7 hours. Only one more hour to go and then I'm done for today, she thought to herself as she smiled at a middle aged man wearing a dark suit. "And how are you doing today?" She asked the question so genuinely that the man looked up from his wallet in surprise.     "Fine," he answered.      Allie smiled again. "Well it really is a beautiful day. After all the rain we've had it's nice to see the sun for a while. Thank you," she took his money and returned some change. "Have a great evening!" She grinned and handed him his purchase.      "You too," the man muttered, received the bag from her and walked out the door. He threw the bag roughly into the passenger seat of his car, got in, and drove down the lonely

 It was a cool day where she worked. Bundled up in multiple layers she labored away at the tasks before her between helping customers select what they needed and load it into their vehicles. A young mother wanted some heavy pots and an elderly lady desired three bags of mulch. She loaded them into their cars, smiling, chatting, brightening the cool day with her own personal rays of sunshine.     It had been a rather hard and long day and she was looking forward to going home when an elderly man (probably between 75-80 years old) walked in with a cane and stood before the front counter. He was wearing a cap that must have been for free from the farm show and his face had a smear of dirt across his left cheek. His blue coveralls were faded and dirty and a bright red handkerchief stuck out his pocket.      "What can I help you with today, sir?" She asked with a bright smile.      "I need two bales of straw" he replied and lay his ten dollar bill on the counter. She