THE MOMENT
Ralph felt cursed; it was the only explanation. He forgot to buy more bread the previous day and he was down to his last, burnt, slice of toast. Somehow, he missed his mouth and ended up pushing the toast out of his grip and facedown onto the floor. He was starting to wonder if dropping the dozen eggs first thing in the morning was an accident after all, or if the universe didn't want him to have breakfast for some reason. He picked up the toast and reminded himself to buy more bread, then returned to his room to get ready for the day.
He hurried due to hunger; it wasn't that he had anywhere to be. He woke up to an email informing him he was fired, so at least he had time to run to the store for a couple of things that morning. The moment he was ready, the doorbell rang. He dashed out of the bedroom and through the kitchen to answer it. He'd been so busy wondering who it could be that he didn't stop at the peephole to check. Ralph threw the door open to see a teenager in an orange suit with a silvery, almost polished tie and a purple visor over her eyes.
"Hi?" he asked the greeting. "Can I help you?"
"HI! My name's Eury, and I'm here from Chroma Corp.!" she beamed throughout the short introduction.
"The Food-a-Rama?" Ralph tilted his head as he tried to guess what she wanted. She didn't have any coupons to hand out, nor a clipboard to take signatures for anything. But, the 'Chroma Corp. Food-a-Rama was too bulky a name for most people. He'd almost forgotten about that part of the name and needed to think a little harder for the connection.
"It's one of our many businesses," Eury nodded. "You were in there yesterday, and there was a mishap...," she started to explain, but Ralph shook his head. He took a step backward into the safety of his home and closed the door a few inches.
"Hold on... How'd you find me? How'd you know I was there?"
"We're Chroma Corp.," Eury giggled as if just saying the words gave her joy. "We monitor everything about our business, including our clients."
"You can't? How? I didn't agree to that kind of tracking...," he didn't know who he could report it to; but, there had to be something he could do.
"Sure you did," Eury nodded. "You walked in and bought something. We have the terms of use posted at every entrance, it applies to everyone who shops there." That couldn't be right. It shouldn't be right, at the very least. But, Ralph would sort that out later with a letter to his congressman. He still did not know why she was there now.
"What do you want?" his courtesy was gone.
"I need to confirm it first. You did visit the store yesterday, is that correct?" She asked.
"Oh.. yes...," he sighed. It occurred to Ralph that he could have denied it, if he hadn't already made his answer obvious. He didn't have the mental agility to lie on the spot. Eury nodded, then pulled out a transparent glass card from the pocket of her orange blazer. She tapped it and the display came to life with bright text. She fiddled with it for a moment, then held it up to show Ralph a picture.
"Did you interact with this woman?" she asked. The small screen showed an attractive brunette that he definitely remembered.
"Oh yeah, she seemed nice; she was there at the self-serve checkout. I didn't really have a reason to talk to her, but she smiled at me," he shrugged.
"Was that all? She didn't help you scan any items or pack bags or anything?" Eury asked. Ralph shook his head.
"It's self-serve...," he answered. "I only picked up a few things."
"Okay, thank you," Eury giggled to herself. Then, she pushed the glass card toward Ralph. "I'd like to apologize for any inconvenience you might have suffered. Please accept this node on behalf of Chroma Corp.
"Okay," Ralph took the node in his hands first to make sure he kept it. "Why? What happened?"
"She was offended that you didn't tip her," Eury shrugged. "She put a curse on you."
"Really?" Ralph chuckled. It was only mildly surprising. Curses were known to exist; but, he never really put much stock in magic. Witch schools were a rarity and he didn't live near any of them. "Well, that certainly explains my morning," he said.
"Oh, did you have a bad morning?" Eury asked.
"Well, it wasn't great," Ralph smiled. He gestured at the kitchen with his thumb over his shoulder. "On top of getting fired, breakfast fought me every step of the way."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Eury nodded. "Though, I have a few things to clear up. Luckily, for you, her powers were really feeble. If the curse had stuck, it would've worn off after a minor incident or two. But, Chroma Corp. also takes customer safety quite seriously. We have wards at every exit to cleanse any curses you might walk out with. She did curse you; but, it was picked up by our in-store defenses. You were clean by the time you walked out, and we were able to track the curse to her; she's no longer part of Chroma Corp. Food-a-Rama."
"Oh....," Ralph sighed. "So, I just had a bad morning?" He was back where he started; but, it was so much more boring now. He didn't think much of magic until he unknowingly had a brush with it. For a brief couple of minutes, it was nice to be able to blame all his problems on something else.
"I don't think so," Eury shook her head with a smile. "You got a node, and it's still early. You've got a whole multiverse to explore, and no job to report to. I'd say that's a pretty ideal morning for most people."