Daniel Kendall lives with the friends of his own making. He sees them as separate beings within himself. To the crowds inhabiting The Complex Shopping Complex, he appears simple and awkward from the outside. He appears to live outside because he is terrified of the things from his inside.
Daniel has been inhabiting The Complex Shopping Complex for just on seven hours. Little by little he brings his possessions into the store, dropping them into bargain bins, setting them on display stands, or simply leaving them on the floor.
Slowly he begins to notice the most beautiful checkout operators in the world. They were all so virginal blue, standing in emptiness, trapped behind the tills. He brought his most personal belongings as spiritual offerings. Whilst most non-persons took away from The Complex Shopping Complex - Daniel Kendall gave it all.
Kendall's family albums, his grandmother's locket, letters from his father, a model helicopter, two mystery thrillers and so much more. Daniel is a man of charity, a man of equality, a man of the cross. He is a good good man. He distributes his personal life around the store, never speaking at all. That is, until he found what he was looking for - namely, the most beautiful checkout operator in the world.
Daniel spoke to the checkout operator, confiding in her. ACTUALLY I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME.
She looked at him earnestly, letting the groceries build up. There was certainly something mysterious about him. Was their meeting the reason for her recent relationship break-up? There must be a reason inside him.
I KNOW YOU'RE SURPRISED, he lowered is head. NO-ONE THINKS THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH ME.
YOU'RE INTELLIGENT, she said.
Daniel cried. BUT I CAN FEEL THEM ALL INSIDE. I CAN'T FEEL ANYTHING OUTSIDE. AND THAT'S WHERE I'M LIVING. THEREFORE I'M NOTHING. YOU THINK I OUGHT TO GO TO THE DOCTOR OR SOMETHING?
YES, YES, she said. The soccer playing boyfriend kicking goals inside her head.
So that's what had been missing in their relationship. Simple intelligence. Intelligence. It was so obviously absurd. Intelligence. Intelligence.
Checkout Operator: I THINK I LIKE THAT WORD.
Daniel: DO YOU THINK IT COULD BE CANCER? AM I DYING? HAS THE WORLD SLIPPED PAST MY VISION? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT AM I DOING?
INTELLIGENCE, she grabbed his shoulder. I DON'T BELONG HERE NOW. I'VE GOT TO GO AND TELL HIM OR SOMEONE ELSE WHO'LL LISTEN. IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT WORD FOR ME. MY GOD. I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME. BUT MY LIFE HAD BEEN CHANGED THROUGH A VISION.
She slipped off her orange apron as the customers began to complain. She let loose her tired hair from its elastic and pushed off her stockings. She looked much more spiritual that way, he thought. Then she was gone. Customers cursed under their breath and moved on. She rushed out into the rain, and was never seen inside The Complex Shopping Complex again.
Daniel: I CAN'T FEEL YOU ANYMORE.
Something from inside him began to crash against the door. He wrapped his coat around himself. Shivering although it wasn't cold. He approached the second most beautiful checkout operator in the world. Unbeknowns to him, she had waited for such a miracle all morning.
She began shivering although she wasn't cold. As he approached her, gazed into her eyes, her innermost thoughts began to unfold. She felt intuitively that Daniel and she had begun to relate. All her brief life she had been chained to this till, in search of her soul mate.
I HAD THIS MOST AMAZING DREAM. I HEARD VOICES AND I THINK I ACTUALLY SAW THE PART OF MYSELF I'D BEEN RUNNING FROM.
Daniel nodded. He shouldn't have come. Checkout operator No.2 looked at him stunned, as he began to dribble and piss on the floor. CLEANING FLUID TO CHECKOUT NO.2 CLEANING FLUID TO CHECKOUT NO.2. They were butchering him from the inside and he couldn't hold back anymore. He rushed out of The Complex Shopping Complex, as part of himself dropped onto the ground. He stumbled away from his new found soul mate, without even turning around.
Checkout operator no.2 didn't call the manager. She had been a trainee nurse some years before. She had known the look in Daniel's eyes. She had seen Sex and Savage drop onto the floor. She kept the best kept secret in the world all through her lunch break. She forgot to eat her sandwich and that wasn't all. She thought of Daniel. In her own special way, hoped that he'd come back to tell her some more.
