Page 28 of The Last Kelpie

He scanned the bread, straightening with satisfaction when it beeped.

“Please place item in bagging area,” the machine said.

He placed the bread in the bagging area.

“Unexpected item in bagging area.”

He frowned at the machine, then looked at me. “I just put it there. It told me to put it there.”

“Sometimes they're sensitive about weight.” I held back my grin.

“Please remove item from bagging area.”

Áedán removed the bread.

“Please place item in bagging area.”

He placed it again, more deliberately this time.

“Unexpected item in bagging area.”

“That's the same item.” His voice had taken on a dangerous edge. “The expected item. The item you just told me to place there.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

“It does that sometimes. I just have to override it.” A teenage girl came over, scanned her card, and pressed several buttons. The machine beeped approvingly.

“Please place item in bagging area.”

Áedán narrowed his eyes at it as he set the bread down.

“Please scan next item,” the machine said.

“There you go.” The teenager went back to restocking the shelves.

Áedán took the next item and scanned it.

“Please place item in bagging area.”

He set the cheese on the metal platform.

“Unexpected item in bagging area.”

“I will drown you, machine!” Áedán pointed at the scanner.

The teenager sighed and headed over.

After she left, I took over. We finished the transaction in tense silence, Áedán glaring at the scanner every time it beeped. When we finally escaped with our cooler full of groceries and ice, he looked genuinely rattled.

“That was designed to make people feel stupid.” He glared over his shoulder at the store, the blue plastic cooler in his arms.

“It's designed to save money on staff and speed up checkout time.”

“By making customers want to commit violence?” He shook his head. “Your modern world is very strange.”

We walked back to his cottage in silence. The first drops of rain began to fall as we reached the door, cold and sharp against my skin. Áedán set the cooler down, unlocked the door, pushed it open, then paused.

He turned to look at me. “Thank you for breakfast.”