This is an idea that was originally conceived as a potential short film. I hope you enjoy.
Declined
His tightly balled up fist slammed the desk. Rage radiated from his white knuckles, frustration clearly pulsating out of his arm with every anxious beat of his heart. Max sat in his wobbly brown leather computer chair, staring into the virtual depths of the internet, which beamed from his desktop computer screen with enough power to light his otherwise pitch black bedroom. His room was a cluttered mess. Clothes strewn about all over the floor and the foot of his messy unkempt bed. Old papers and trash thrown everywhere, fulfilling the exact meaning of what it was to “live in a dump.” His closet, on the wall opposite the mess that was the foot of his bed, looked like a war scene. Old gadgets, toys, college textbooks; you name it, it could be found in the explosive remains of what was once a neatly organized clothing storage room. Max had gone through all of his useless old junk, salvaging whatever he could and selling it for cash. Hoarding had finally come in handy, despite what the television shows may say. From all of his “collectibles,” Max had finally earned enough money. But was it worth it?
He pounded the desk again. This time the vibration from the powerful thud caused his bottle of Mountain Dew to topple over the edge and down to the hardwood floor. Of course, Max thought to himself. Of all the places on this floor literally covered with clothes, the bottle would fall on the one exposed piece of hardwood. He bent over the armrest of his chair, picked up the soda, unscrewed the cap, and noticed a severe lack of hisssssss-ing noise that usually comes along with a well carbonated beverage. Max took a sip, knowing full well what to expect. As the neon green lemon lime soda pop crossed the threshold of his lips, it cascaded over his mildly crooked teeth and attacked his taste buds. Only he didn’t feel the familiar bubbly sting in his mouth that is usually associated with soda. It was flat, drat the luck. He pressed his index and middle finger against his temple as he navigated the web page he was currently on. Poring over the details and technical specifications, Max was building a “Pros and Cons” list of purchasing the newest high tech tablet. With all of it’s bells and whistles, it was rumored to be the gadget to end all gadgets. Marketed as the “the last piece of technology you will ever need,” Max was sold. He wanted it, and he wanted it bad. That constant itch at the back of his mind was relentless, pressuring him to go out and just buy the damned thing already. Max’s hands began to sweat, his fingers on his temple becoming slightly slippery. He gripped his computer mouse like it was a gold bar he would never let go of. His muscles tensed up as his brain began to do somersaults, trying with all it’s might to come to a decision.
SLAM!
His fist hit the desk once again, with a force closely resembling that of the Hammer of Thor. His hand quickly jumped up as his body stood straight from his chair, his arm jutting out as he grabbed his keys off of the hook next to his bedroom door. With a jingle of keys, Max was out of the house and into his 2006 Honda Civic, purring along down the road with a sudden burst of confidence. Today was the day that he splurged on himself. Today was the day he finally did something for him. With his new found attitude, Max felt unstoppable. For what seemed to be all of his life, he had been one to sacrifice anything for the betterment of those around him. His strings were pulled and wound so tight within him that they finally snapped, and he knew it was his turn. But first, he needed to get some gas. The ever recognizable orange glow popped up on his dash, informing him that he was nearing empty and essentially running on fumes. Can’t get that tablet if I don’t even make it to the store, he thought, chuckling a bit because the idea of purchasing such a gift for himself was one that had never occurred to him until tonight. As he pondered how happy he suddenly was, he made the turn into the next gas station, his tires squealing on the unnaturally smooth pavement as the rubber introduced itself. Max rarely ever stopped at this particular gas station. He much preferred the cheaper gas another few miles away, but that was a luxury he couldn’t afford at this time. All that was on his mind was getting to the store as quick as humanly possible, and playing with his new toy the second he returned home.
The smell of fumes wafted into his nose as he walked around the backside of his old compact car. He opened the tank door with an attractive creak, twisted off the cap, and spun around to slide his card for payment. Just then, another scent found its way into Max’s preciously sensitive nose. The scent of stink. Body odor and dirt mixed with sweat and piss. A skunk was the first thing on his mind, but this was different. Worse. Horrified and quite frankly nervous, Max did as slow of an about face as possible. Standing behind him, fresh out of his most recent dumpster dive, was the most derelict homeless man Max had ever seen, and he’d seen a lot. The man’s ratty brown Bass Pro Shops hat hung down on his face, slightly covering his bloodshot eyes and holding back his stringy grey and brown hair. He had on a long dirty coat, even though it was upwards of 80 degrees out today. His light blue jeans had holes everywhere, even places you wouldn’t wish on your least favorite pair of jeans. And his shoes- or, lack thereof - were aging and unpractical. There’s no way whatever it was that he was wearing on his feet were protecting said feet in the slightest.
“‘Cuse me sa’, spare some change?”
Revolted, Max backed away, his butt gracing the fuel line which he had just managed to wriggle into his gas tank. “Sorry pal,” he said, “I don’t have any cash and I’m just trying to pump some gas here.” Max reached behind him to hit the button, choosing the octane level of gas, all while keeping an eye on the homeless man in front of him. He was always an 87 kind of guy, and had only ventured up to 91 when he was in college and driving his favorite convertible Mustang which he since sold. He certainly didn’t miss the price jump of purchasing premium fuel, that’s for sure. The man stared at him for an uncomfortably long time as Max gripped the pump handle and pulled the lever and locking it in the “up” position. The stare down continued as Max tried his hardest to chuckle the man away, but he persisted. The look in his eyes could not be summed up better than potentially homicidal. But what kind of lunatic would commit murder in a well lit public area? A homeless homicidal lunatic, that’s who!
“I may dig through the trash, but at least that’s valuable to me. It’s worthless trash like you that is ruining this world.” The homeless man said, and walked away. Max let out a deep breath and realized he hadn’t breathed once in that entire exchange. He heard the click of the lever releasing and quickly reholstered the pump, grabbing his receipt in a hurry as he dashed back around to his driver side door. Now that all of that was behind him, and he survived a rather worrisome encounter with a scary homeless gentleman, Max only had one thing on his mind. Tablet time!
The nearest store carrying the latest technology was a good 30 minutes away, but he made it feel like five. He screeched his balding tires into the first parking spot he could find, and leapt out of his car, bounding for those glorious automated sliding glass doors. The always familiar scent of electronics filled the air around him as he stepped through the doors, and Max felt at ease. He was here, on a mission, with nothing to stop him. He finally made it. Max made quick work of finding the booth where his Sleeping Beauty had been lying in wait, and made a B line right for it.
“Hello sir! Can I assist you at all today?” A nice young lady around his age stepped up. She was attractive, and on any other day Max would’ve noticed. But today he only had his eyes on his tablet. He was locked in on the display on the table in front of him, and was so focused he almost missed the girl say, “oh yes, that’s a good one. Would you like me to ring one up for you?” The moment of truth was here. Could he finally budge and spoil himself for once?
The words couldn’t come out, his throat had tensed up on him and was not cooperating. Try as he might, he couldn’t get the sounds out. He was determined to not let anything stop him today. Not this time. So he nodded. It was all he could do, but it did the trick. The girl, Jess, based off her name tag which Max had just noticed, smiled a pleasant smile and went to fetch him his prize. She was back quite efficiently, and gave him a total price of $974.25 as she whipped out her mobile transaction device. He handed over his debit card and she swiped it, seemingly excited to be making a large sale. Her excitement suddenly grew dim as a frown crossed over her face.
“Hmm, it says payment not authorized. Ok let’s go to the register. Sometimes these mobile card readers are so finicky.” He followed her around the displays, watching her long brown ponytail sway with her every move. “Ok let’s try this again.”
She swiped. Beep.
She swiped again. Beep.
She swiped once more. Beep.
No words were muttered between the two. The only word present was on the register screen that was sitting right in front of Max’s face:
DECLINED
“I’m, uh, sorry sir. It’s not taking your card. Do you have any other forms of payment?” He didn’t. Max thought for what seemed like the longest few seconds of his life. He asked for one minute, put his wallet in his pocket, and got on his phone to ask his bank what exactly was going on.
“Yes sir, I’m seeing here four declined transactions for a lack of sufficient funds.” But that makes no sense, he thought to himself. I sold all my stuff, I know I have the money! I haven’t bought anything else except for-
Max reached back for his wallet and shuffled through the tangled mess of old receipts. He found the freshest piece of white paper he could see, the receipt from the gas station. As he unfolded it, his thoughts became a reality.
Primetime Gasoline
5/27/16 6:54pm
Premium 91……….. 15.267 GAL
PRICE/GAL…….. 2.93/GAL
TOTAL W/ TAX……. 48.08
Premium gas. He never got premium gas. It must’ve been the homeless man! He was so distracted by the stench and the wretchedness and potential danger that he must’ve hit the 91 button by accident. A terrible blunder in what should’ve been a perfect day.
He asked Jess how much the total was once again, and she replied “974.25.” Max opened up his banking app on his phone to check his balance. 972.09. He did some quick mental math, keeping in mind that premium fuel is twenty cents more than regular. At twenty cents more, with 15.267 gallons, he overpaid by $3.05. Had he bought the correct fuel, he’d be in the clear right now, on his way home with his new tablet riding shotgun. Instead, Max said goodbye, and walked out of the store’s automatic sliding glass doors. His head hung low and he was as deflated as a birthday balloon after a week had gone by.
The weeks crawled by as Max wallowed in self pity. The one instance where he would finally take care of himself, and it hadn’t worked out. He paid rent, bills, car payments, bought groceries, and worked his butt off, but the motivation to treat himself had passed. He no longer felt like he deserved anything nice, let alone an incredibly expensive tablet. He went about his day to day life with a cloud of sadness hanging over him, but he eventually got over it. All of the things he wished he could do on his tablet he could just do on his computer at home. Sure, it wasn’t mobile, and was also limited as far as applications go, but he made due. He wasn’t one to dwell on first world problems.
Then, six months later, his computer dinged the familiar ding of his email notification. Max had spent a good amount of time recently unsubscribing from all of the email lists that just routinely spammed him the most annoying notices on new things he should spend his hard earned money on, but one seemed to slip through the cracks. He was about to delete it when the subject line caught his eye. The very VERY last tablet you will EVER need!! He hated clickbait, but this was just too intriguing to pass up. He clicked the email and began to scan the contents. The same company had just released a brand new tablet, and it was being touted as ten times as powerful as the previous model. Such a load of crap, Max thought to himself. They promise you all these things every time, claiming to be the be all end all of gadgets, yet not even a year later they’ll pop up with yet another one. He scoffed and quickly hit the trash can icon, blowing the email into virtual smithereens. He felt good. He didn’t need the newest stuff to validate his self worth. He lived a good life, had a nice home, and was generally comfortable and satisfied with what he had.
But one more look couldn’t hurt, right? He dove into his email’s trash and recovered the deleted message. He clicked the link and was brought to the site, and there he saw it. It was glorious. The screen was huge, and it was so crystal clear it made high definition television look like an 8-bit video game. It had incredible processing speeds and the front and rear cameras were top of the line. The built in speakers were designed to act as surround sound, making it the perfect device for streaming movies on long binge nights. Max suddenly found himself picturing all the wonderful things he and his new tablet could do together. He would take it everywhere, make every penny worth it. He could lay in bed with it and caress it’s perfectly rounded edges, thanking it for providing him the entertainment he didn’t actually need, but wanted nevertheless. He would kiss the smooth reinforced glass screen and tell it just how much he appreciated everything it did for him. They would live a wonderfully happy life, him and this tablet, the last one he would ever need. He lost himself in thought, and when he snapped back to reality he found himself in his car driving to the electronics store. His car purred as the rubber rolled effortlessly along the road, en route to his new soulmate. The next thing he knew, he was at the store walking through those beautiful automatic sliding glass doors. And the next thing he knew after that, he was swiping his card at the register. The total was slightly more expensive than he had expected, but that was understandable. This was the last device he would ever have to purchase, after all.
He heard a ding, and then the printer began printing his receipt. The transaction was a success. Max was now the proud owner of the most advanced device the world had ever, and will ever see. On his way out to the car, things seemed brighter. Happier, even. He had the tablet still wrapped up in the box, carrying it under his shoulder like it was a prized rare treasure. He sat in his car and admired the sharply designed box. It looked so classy, so elegant, and Max couldn’t wait to open the packaging and hold his new beauty for the first time. But he wanted it to be special. He wanted to be home, not sitting in his car in some grungy parking lot. He’d waited a long time for this moment, surely he could wait one more hour. Max started up his car and began his journey home, excited for the adventures he and his tablet would take together.
Just then he noticed the ever recognizable orange glow on his dash. He needed gas. Max pulled into the first gas station he found, anxious to get it done with and get home as fast as he could. There was a homeless man digging through the trash near the pump on the other side, but Max ignored him. He had one thing on his mind now, and that was to fill his tank and get home so he could enjoy his newly acquired piece of technology. Max swiped his card at the pump, and it beeped. Nothing happened.
He swiped again. Beep.
He swiped once more. Beep.
Frustrated and angry, Max tried one more time. He went nice and slow, so as to let the card reader really get a scan of the stripe on his card. He heard a jingle once he removed the card, and one word popped up on the screen:
DECLINED
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