GROFF MEDIA 2024© TRUTH ENDURES IMDBPRO
Presented by benandsteve.com By: Benjamin Groff II©s
The Lost Shopper
Harold Wexley left his house on a crisp October morning in 1977. He carried a shopping list, which his wife, Martha, had scribbled on the back of an old envelope. The list read bread, milk, eggs, and a pound of ground beef. That was all he needed. The sun was high, and the air smelled like damp earth. He had a pocket full of change jingling as he walked toward Miller’s Grocery, just six blocks away.
Harold never returned home.
Martha waited—first hours, then days. The police took her report, shook their heads, and assured her that most missing persons had turned up. Neighbors speculated wildly. Some thought maybe Harold had amnesia. Others guessed he’d run off with some floozy. He had just vanished into thin air.
The years passed, and Martha grew old. The town changed. Miller’s Grocery shut down in the ’90s, replaced by a chain supermarket. The world moved on.
Then, in 2024, something impossible happened.
Found Where He Was Lost
At precisely 9:17 a.m. on a Saturday, an employee at the local SaveMore supermarket screamed, sending a ripple of confusion through the store.
Harold Wexley stood in aisle seven, between the cereal and baking goods. He wore the same corduroy jacket. He also wore brown slacks and scuffed loafers. These were the clothes he wore when he left home 47 years earlier. Harold was still clutching the shopping list in his hand. His hair had not grown. His skin had not aged.
When the police arrived, Harold blinked at them in utter confusion.
“What’s all the fuss about?”
He asked, his voice scratchy from disuse.
“I just came in to pick up a few things.”
The officer, utterly dumbfounded, asked,
“Sir, do you know what year it is?”
Harold laughed.
“What question is that? It’s 1977.”
The grocery store manager rushed ahead.
“Sir, this place wasn’t even here back then. This store opened in 1999!”
Harold frowned, rubbing his temple. He looked down at the list in his hand. The ink had not faded. The paper wasn’t brittle. His clothes smelled faintly of Martha’s lavender detergent.
But Martha was gone. His house was gone. His entire world had disappeared. He had been standing in this store, this spot. It was as if no time had passed.
The Mystery Remains
Scientists, journalists, and conspiracy theorists all descended upon Harold. Tests revealed that he was, biologically, still 42 years old. He remembered nothing beyond walking into Miller’s Grocery on that fateful day. He hadn’t eaten in 47 years. He hadn’t aged.
Some claimed he had slipped into a time loop. They believed the store had somehow preserved him in a pocket of frozen time. Others whispered about aliens, government experiments, or divine intervention.
Harold, meanwhile, was only concerned with one thing.
“Can someone tell me where my wife is?”
No one had the heart to answer him.
Epilogue
Harold never adjusted to the modern world. He refused to believe that the year was 2024, even when he saw flat-screen TVs and self-checkout kiosks. He spent his days wandering the grocery store, staring at shelves full of strange new products. He was looking for the familiar brands of his youth.
One night, after closing, a janitor was working late. He swore he saw Harold standing in aisle seven. Then he blinked, and Harold was gone.
The next day, an old yellow envelope with a shopping list was found on the floor. It was written in Martha’s neat handwriting. It seemed to have fallen from Harold’s hand in confusion.
No one ever saw Harold again. Sometimes, in the stillness of the grocery store, employees swore they heard the faint jingle of coins. The coins seemed to come from a pocket that wasn’t there, as if Harold’s spirit still wandered the aisles.
And sometimes, in the stillness of the grocery store, shoppers would listen closely. Even they swore they heard the faint jingle of coins. The sound came from a pocket of a man’s pants. It was from Harold, who had disappeared again.
benandsteve.com 