The Receipt Songs

A found receipt: Blue Anchor Discount Liquors, Portsmouth, Virginia. Saturday, October 8th, 10:22 PM — six Budweiser, one night in Room 14, one bag of pretzels. Thirty-eight forty-five. Cash. No change returned. Exact. He lined them up on the dresser and sat down on the edge of the bed. Monday he ships out. She's asleep in the car.

A found receipt: Total Beverage, US-30 East, Somewhere, Pennsylvania. Tuesday, November 5th, 11:58 PM — Bullet Bourbon 750ml, Meiomi Pinot Noir, Tostitos Hint of Lime. $49.77 plus tax. Card ending 2203. Two people. A kitchen floor. The map went red. Neither bottle was opened.

A found receipt: Kroger, Columbus, Ohio. Thursday, March 14th, 2:17 PM — chardonnay, sharp cheddar, stonewheat crackers, two Bartlett pears. Twenty dollars and seventy-five cents. Card ending 4471. He'd had the badge on his lanyard since 11:40. Nobody at the register knew.

A found receipt: Lakewood Target, Lakewood, Colorado, June 3rd, 2:47 PM — Huggies Snug & Dry, a Graco sound machine, Carter's onesies zero to three months, Johnson's Baby Wash, a Cloud Island owl nightlight. Total: $124.43. He'd been trying for ten years. Today the paperwork finally said yes.

A found receipt: CVS #4417, Millbrook Road, February 14th, 3:08 AM — Whitman's sampler, a $4.99 Valentine's card, Advil, a lemon Snapple. Total: $22.95. Self-checkout. He didn't have her address anymore. He bought it anyway.

A found receipt: Denny's #3847, Exit 14, Route 9. April the ninth, 4:03 AM — Grand Slam breakfast, one black coffee, one dollar tip. He ordered everything. He didn't touch the eggs.

A found receipt: Kroger #872, Tuesday February 11th, 2:14 PM — DiGiorno Four Cheese, a two-liter ginger ale, Us Weekly. Eleven forty-seven. She drove home the long way, read the nutrition facts three times, and set the magazine face-down. Not grief yet. Just the next hour.

A found receipt: CVS #4417, December 24th, 10:47 PM — Plan B One-Step, a balsam cedar candle, Breathe Right strips, one Lindt truffle. Sixty-five and change. A woman alone on Christmas Eve, doing what needed doing. She sat in her car in the parking lot and didn't cry. Then she drove home.

A found receipt: seven items from St. Aurelius Medical Center cafeteria, 11:14 AM, the day his mother went into surgery. One of everything small — scrambled eggs, oatmeal, soup, juice, coffee, pudding. He carried the tray to a corner table. He didn't eat any of it.

A found receipt: seven items from Dollar General on Maple Avenue, 3:17 PM, same Thursday as the burial. Paper towels, bleach, trash bags, rubber gloves — and one bottle of lavender dish soap. The lease ends Friday. Someone has to be the someone.

A found receipt: seven items from Vending Bank C, St. Augustine Medical Center ICU, 2:31 AM. All quarters. A man feeding a machine one coin at a time while his wife is in surgery — the only decision left to him.

A found receipt: $217.14 at Costco, 6:14 PM, the night before the divorce hearing. Diapers for the new apartment. Dress socks for the courthouse. Two handles of vodka. A joint card he hadn't canceled yet.