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Janus stood in the line with five candy canes in his hands, rocking back and forth on his feet. The person in front of him grabbed the few things they had bought and the person at the register called out, “Next?”
Janus stepped forward and gave them the candy canes to scan. They began swiping them across the scanner and as they did, they said, “Are these all for you?”
The five year old shook his head and replied, “They’re for my bestest friends.” He began pointing at the different colored candy canes as he spoke about them, “The blue one is for Lo. The green is for Re. The red one is for Ro. The other blue one is for Pat. And the purple one is for Virgie!”
The cashier smiled at him and said, “That’ll be 2 dollars and 6 cents. And you’re pretty good with your words for your age.”
But Janus hadn’t heard them, instead frowning at the money he had pulled out of his pants pocket. “I only have 2 dollars. I don’t have enough.”
The cashier’s grin dropped slightly and they reached into their pocket, pulling some coins out of it. They dropped the coins in his hands and winked at him. A bright and dazzling smile grew on his face and he handed them the money.
They put it into the register and handed him the candy canes. “Have a nice day!’ they called to him and Janus managed to wave back at them as he left the store.