The coffee script

Writers block has been killing my ability to work on my novel lately, so I decided to challenge myself with some short story prompts. This is the first of several - a horror drabble in exactly 100 words.

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Life follows patterns.

Cycles. Rules. Scripts.

There are exceptions, but they always make sense in hindsight - an accident on the road, a misunderstood sentence, a forgotten action. Small glitches in the usual rhythm, adding depth to life’s flavours.

Ordering a coffee went as such:

“Morning, what would you like?”

“Good morning. A small cappuccino please.”

“Four dollars fifty.”

I wait for the screen to be ready to tap. One second, two, three.

The icon appears.

Flickers.

Disappears.

The barista flickers; there, then gone, then back and reaching for the screen to take my order.

“Morning, what would you like?”