Member-only story
Short fiction: “The Abdication of King Michael of Rumania, Right There in the Grocery Store”
“Right this way,” said the old man with a name badge and a bad hip as he came out from behind the checkout counter and lead me to the frozen juice section.
He pulled a can off the shelf and handed it to me. “I believe this is what you’re looking for.”
I rotated it until I could see the main text on the label, The First Half of the Twentieth Century. The smaller text below indicated that it was “From Concentrate”.
“You think this will do?”, I asked.
He took it back and found the ingredients listing. He tilted his head back, looking through the bottom of the bifocals at the end of his nose. “This has everything,” he said. “Both of the great wars, prohibition, the first transatlantic flight, the Nuremberg trials, the-”
“What about the Hindenburg?”, I said, interrupting.
The old man paused for a moment, flustered. He continued.
“It also has the Russian revolution, the assassination of Prince Ito, The Dance by Matisse-”
“What about South Africa going off the gold standard?”
“No, but it has Germany capturing Sebastopol.”
