Paper Bag

Paper bag

Olive Anderson 

Tightly packed in the cubby beneath the cash register

hundreds of us stacked on top of each other

every inch around us taken up

Crushed and folded up together in this tight space

ring, ring, ring

i listen to the repetitive sound and begin to feel the weight grow lighter 

nearing the light I see a giant hand come down to grab me

kited up into the bright, I am roughly opened 

loudness and beaming bulbs above are here to greet me 

enduring the pounds of all the groceries, I struggle to carry

dreadful hours pass when finally all the weight I hold is no more

Packed and folded up, there I go again, back into the darkness

a different type of darkness

perplexed by my new surroundings and new smells, and new sensations I wait

everything is calm as I begin adjusting to the new blackness 

roughly the bright beams hit me like a bolt of adrenalin, and another hand is here to grab me

barbarically my sides are torn apart, expecting my insides to gush out. I remember. I

am paper

gearing up for what happens next

I am placed out upon a wide wooden table

next to me lands cartoons of a newspaper

suddenly a great boom hits my middle

incapable of movement all I see is a large, round, orange thing

drenched with orange goo upon my crinkly face to the tips of my corners. Waiting for the

end. Finally, the weight is lifted off, leaving me with an autumn scent

Meanwhile, around me Calvin and Hobbs and the Black Friday ads are crumpled up 

enough is Enough! But before I can protest I am crumpled up too.