Local Break-In (369 words, unfinished, possible funny concept)

Out the back he sat upon a stack of papers and lit a cigarette. "What now?", he thought to himself. Taking his time to build up the enthusiasm needed, the shop keeper took a deep shy and returned to work.

He unbolted the door, and filled over the little sign, "Open... As Usual". The room was upturned. The chaos since the robbery made it easy to ignore the work that needed doing, what with all the police reports can contacting the insurance company. To be honest, the procrastination had been a comfort for him, a break from the mundane routine each day had brought for the last 8 years. The idea of having to return to the old grinding stone depressed him. Last week he was unaware of how unhappy he had become. But no sooner than when he started, the little bell above the door rang. He looked up. Stood there was the village's local busy-body, Phyllis. It was no surprise she had come to survey the carnage, and no doubt that she was desperate to disclose her opinion of who had committed the crime. "Is the anything I could actually get for you Mrs. Andrews?" The shop keeper's query was ignored, and she continued to natter on.

First he collected all the small thing off the floor, marking any damaged goods, and set everything aside. With the space cleared, he could move the larger and heavier shelves back to where they originally were. The door bell rang again, this time it was Olive, another of the village's vigilant do-gooders. The two old ladies gasped at the message, commenting on each others story's with, "Oh, I know!" and, "It wasn't like this during the war!" The relentless chit chat was intolerable, and driving the shop keeper mad as he tried his best to continue to tidy up around the two ladies. He turned on the radio, but that only encouraged them to talk a little louder. Again the door bell rang, and again and again until the entire woman's union where in small shop, discussing the horrors of the youth, and the terrible job the shop keeper was doing of putting things back into the right places.