Popuri went outside in the morning light and took a walk outside like any other day. She trotted down the dirt roads, clutching the twenty dollars her mom gave her to spend on groceries. Usually Rick, her over-protective brother did the shopping, but today Popuri felt in a cheery mood, so she offered. The market was empty as usual, with Jeff, the owner, sweeping the dusty floors clean. "Hi, Jeff," she greeted sweetly. "I just came to pick up a few things."
"Fine, fine. It's great to see you," he replied with a grin. He then scrubbed the check out counter with a soapy sponge, and bubbles went everywhere.
"Okay, let's see. We have bread, eggs, milk, and flour. Not bad at all," she whispered to herself. Once she gathered all four items, she brought them over to Jeff and paid the twenty dollars.
"Thanks for coming," he finished. "See you later, Popuri!"
"Bye, Jeff!" Then she closed the door, which made the bell ding, and brought the food in paper bags to her sick mother, Lilia. At home that morning, Lilia was sitting in the kitchen while reading the newspaper. "Hi, mom. Here's your groceries. Now can I go see Kai?" she wondered, setting the bags on the kitchen table.
Kai was her boyfriend, and they met last summer on the beach, He owned a small shop on the Mineral Town Beach, and sold many things there. "I guess so, honey," she answered. "Thank you for doing some shopping. I really appreciate it." Popuri hugged her mother quickly and jogged out of there. She charged through the square and onto the sandy beach. There standing was Barley, and when I saw what he was sad about I started weeping.
I dropped the beaded necklace I made for him and almost fell into the sand. "No," I cried. "NO!" Barley, the oldest person in the village, came over and patted my back.
There was Kai, covered in blood. There was a huge gunshot on his shoulder. I dropped down on the ground and hugged him, screaming, "Why, oh why, oh why?!"
Barley knelt down beside him. "Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll find out who did this," he comforted, stroking her back. "We'll contact Harris as soon as we can." Harris was the only policeman in the whole city, but that was only because crimes never happened in Mineral Town. The only thing he does was circle the town making sure no kid was out later than ten… now he has to figure out a crime.