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<v Speaker 1>Us Studios The Corner Grocery. The Corner Grocery sat at

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<v Speaker 1>the intersection of Birch Street and the Old Canal Road,

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<v Speaker 1>a narrow building with a green awning and a bell

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<v Speaker 1>above the door that had been ringing for forty seven years.

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<v Speaker 1>The bell was small and brass, and it made a bright,

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<v Speaker 1>clear sound, like a single note held in the air

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<v Speaker 1>for just a moment before it faded. Inside the store

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<v Speaker 1>was warm and close, with shelves that reached almost to

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<v Speaker 1>the ceiling and aisles so narrow that two people had

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<v Speaker 1>to turn sideways to pass each other. The floor was linoleum,

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<v Speaker 1>scuffed and cracked in places, but clean, always clean, because

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<v Speaker 1>Guss swept it every morning before opening and every night

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<v Speaker 1>before closing. Gus had owned the store since his father died,

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<v Speaker 1>which was thirty one years ago. Though it felt like

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred, he was not a large man. He was

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<v Speaker 1>medium height, with gray hair that he combed straight back

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<v Speaker 1>and hands that were always moving, re stalking a shelf,

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<v Speaker 1>wiping the counter, folding a paper bag into a neat square.

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<v Speaker 1>He wore the same thing every day, a white shirt

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<v Speaker 1>with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and an apron

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<v Speaker 1>that had once been blue, but was now the color

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<v Speaker 1>of a faded sky. He did not wear a name tag.

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<v Speaker 1>He did not need one. Everyone in town knew him,

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<v Speaker 1>and he knew everyone in return. The store was opened

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<v Speaker 1>from seven in the morning until ten at night, seven

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<v Speaker 1>days a week, every week of the year. Guss closed

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<v Speaker 1>only on Christmas, and even then he left a basket

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<v Speaker 1>on the front step with bread and milk and a

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<v Speaker 1>note that said, take what you need, pay me whenever.

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<v Speaker 1>No one ever failed to pay him back. Though some

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<v Speaker 1>took weeks and a few took months, Gus did not mind.

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<v Speaker 1>He understood that life sometimes moved slower than money, and

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<v Speaker 1>that a person who needed bread to day might not

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<v Speaker 1>have the coins until third and that was fine. The

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<v Speaker 1>bread would wait. His regulars came at their regular times.

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<v Speaker 1>Missus Patterson arrived every morning at eight, just after the

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<v Speaker 1>store opened, and bought exactly the same thing, a quart

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<v Speaker 1>of milk, a loaf of wheat bread, and a single banana.

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<v Speaker 1>She paid with exact change, always counting out the coins

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<v Speaker 1>on the counter with the slow precision of someone who

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<v Speaker 1>had done this ten thousand times. Guss never rushed her.

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<v Speaker 1>He counted the coins back to her, even though he

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<v Speaker 1>knew the total by heart, because he understood that this

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<v Speaker 1>small ritual was important, that it was the shape of

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<v Speaker 1>her mourning, the first thing she did that made the

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<v Speaker 1>day feel real. High school students came at lunch, crowding

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<v Speaker 1>the counter for chips in candy bars, and bottles of

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<v Speaker 1>cold water. They were loud and quick, their wallets full

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<v Speaker 1>of crumpled bills, their laughter bright and careless. Guss liked them.

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<v Speaker 1>He remembered their parents, some of them who had come

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<v Speaker 1>in thirty years ago, with the same bright laughter, the

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<v Speaker 1>same crumpled bills. Time moved strangely in a small store.

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<v Speaker 1>It was not a line but a circle, and the

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<v Speaker 1>people who passed through it were always arriving and leaving

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<v Speaker 1>at the same time. At night, the store changed. The

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<v Speaker 1>bright overhead lights gave way to a softer glow because

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<v Speaker 1>Guss turned off every other fluorescent tube after eight o'clock.

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<v Speaker 1>The aisles became quieter. The customers came in ones and twos,

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<v Speaker 1>not rushing, but lingering, standing in the produce section with

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<v Speaker 1>a head of lettuce in one hand and their phone

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<v Speaker 1>in the other, not sure whether they needed anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>These were the night owls, the people who could not

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<v Speaker 1>sleep or did not want to, who came to the

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<v Speaker 1>store not because they needed groceries, but because the store

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<v Speaker 1>was open and warm, and the bell above the door

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<v Speaker 1>made a sound that said you are welcome here. Gus

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<v Speaker 1>listened to them all. He was not a therapist or

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<v Speaker 1>a counselor. He was a grocer. But he had learned

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<v Speaker 1>over thirty one years that people who came to a

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<v Speaker 1>store at nine o'clock at night were not always looking

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<v Speaker 1>for milk. Sometimes they were looking for some one to

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<v Speaker 1>talk to, some one who would listen without judging, someone

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<v Speaker 1>who would hand them a bag of flour and say

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<v Speaker 1>the bread is better if you let the dough rest

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<v Speaker 1>over night. And so Gus talked. He talked about the weather,

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<v Speaker 1>about the tomatoes, about the canal, and the herons that

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes stood in the shallows at dawn. He talked about

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<v Speaker 1>small things, because small things were the things that held

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<v Speaker 1>people together. One evening, a man came in who had

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<v Speaker 1>not been there before. He was tall and thin, with

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<v Speaker 1>a coat that was too heavy for the season, and

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<v Speaker 1>a face that looked like it had not smiled in

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<v Speaker 1>a long time. He walked up and down the aisles,

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<v Speaker 1>slowly touching the cans and the boxes as if he

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<v Speaker 1>were reading them in a language he had forgotten. He

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<v Speaker 1>came to the counter with a single apple and a

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<v Speaker 1>bottle of water. Guss rang him up. The man paid,

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<v Speaker 1>he did not leave. Gus looked at him and said

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<v Speaker 1>nothing for a long moment. Then he reached under the

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<v Speaker 1>counter and pulled out a brown paper bag. Inside was

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<v Speaker 1>a sandwich, still wrapped in wax paper, that Gus had

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<v Speaker 1>made for himself that morning and had not yet eaten.

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<v Speaker 1>He set it on the counter between them. You look

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<v Speaker 1>like you could use this, Gus said. The man looked

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<v Speaker 1>at the sandwich, he looked at Gus. His mouth opened

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<v Speaker 1>and closed once, like a fish pulled from water. Then

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<v Speaker 1>he sat down on the stool by the counter and

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<v Speaker 1>ate the sandwich slowly, in small bites, as if each

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<v Speaker 1>one were something he wanted to remember. He came back

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<v Speaker 1>the next night, and the night after that. By the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the week he had a name, which was Thomas,

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<v Speaker 1>and a story, which was that he had come from

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<v Speaker 1>a city far away and had lost everything that mattered

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<v Speaker 1>to him and did not know what to do next.

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<v Speaker 1>Gus did not offer advice. He offered a stool, a sandwich,

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<v Speaker 1>and the sound of the bell above the door, which

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<v Speaker 1>rang every time someone came in, a small, bright sound

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<v Speaker 1>that said you are not alone. There are others. The

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<v Speaker 1>store is open. Thomas stayed for three months. He found

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<v Speaker 1>work at the hardware store on Elm Street. He rented

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<v Speaker 1>a room above the laundromat. He still came to the

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<v Speaker 1>grocery every evening, but now he came to buy things

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<v Speaker 1>he actually needed, bread and milk and the good coffee

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<v Speaker 1>that Gus kept on the top shelf. He smiled. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>it was a cautious smile, the kind that took its time,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was real, and Gus was glad to see it.

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<v Speaker 1>On the night that Thomas told him he was moving

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<v Speaker 1>to an apartment across town, a real apartment with a

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<v Speaker 1>kitchen and a window that faced east, Guss shook his

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<v Speaker 1>hand and said, I am glad you fag your way here.

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<v Speaker 1>Thomas said, the bell above the door. I hear it

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes when I am walking home. It is the best

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<v Speaker 1>sound I know. Guss turned the sign on the door

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<v Speaker 1>from open to closed. He swept the floor. He turned

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<v Speaker 1>off the lights one by one until only the street

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<v Speaker 1>light outside remained, casting a long yellow rectangle across the linoleum.

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<v Speaker 1>He locked the door and stood on the step for

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<v Speaker 1>a moment, looking up at the sky. The stars were out,

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<v Speaker 1>faint and scattered, like salt thrown on a dark table.

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<v Speaker 1>The canal was silent. A dog barked once far away,

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<v Speaker 1>and then was still. He walked home. The streets were empty,

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<v Speaker 1>the houses were dark, except for a few windows that

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<v Speaker 1>glowed with late night light, televisions and reading lamps, and

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<v Speaker 1>the blue shimmer of screens. He liked this walk. He

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<v Speaker 1>liked the way the town felt at night, the way

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<v Speaker 1>it held its breath, the way it trusted him to

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<v Speaker 1>keep the store open just a little longer than any

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<v Speaker 1>one else. At home, he made tea and sat in

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<v Speaker 1>his chair and did not open a book or turn

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<v Speaker 1>on the television. He just sat listening to the quiet,

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about the store and the bell, and the people

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<v Speaker 1>who came through the door, one by one, carrying their

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<v Speaker 1>small needs and their large sorrows, looking for warmth and

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<v Speaker 1>light and a paper bag folded into a neat square.

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<v Speaker 1>He closed his eyes. The quiet held him. He slept