Excerpt

I used to sit in the library for hours studying before heading back to my dorm to sleep. My roommate Sophia and her boyfriend Kevin had been traveling abroad and I found myself alone. 

The cold snowy winters had caused for some classes to be canceled which allowed me to catch up on my work.I had finished reading my book and found myself bored one afternoon.

 It had stopped snowing but the sky remained cloudy. I decided to stop by the local bar that would probably be empty at this time and grab a burger and a beer. Kyle, a friend, worked there and always gave me free lunch.

I grabbed my coat and my bag and made my way downstairs. It was cold, probably below 15 degrees. I was fighting the two feet of snow that had fallen the previous night, I could barely walk. I surely didn’t want to slip and fall.

“You have a cigarette?” I heard someone asked. I turned around and standing there was a man. He was black and had a white beard. He was wearing a red hat and a beat up coat.

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t smoke. But I can give you two dollars..?” I reached into my pockets where I knew I had some cash left from the grocery shopping I had done the day prior.

“Nah, I got money.” He said. “Jimmy won’t sell me any cigarettes, he thinks I’m slowly killing myself.” Jimmy was the owner of the only grocery store near the university. Every other place would require a trip to the city.

“Well, it sounds like Jimmy knows what he is talking about.” Alexandra said. The man shrugged and made his way down the street where he disappeared around the corner. Alexandra looked at the bus time and according to it, the bus was three minutes away.