muse:laundromat

a/n: this is actually a somewhat true story, based off of the fact that i just washed one of my jackets and forgot to take a pack of gum out of the pockets. and this was all in our brand spankin' one day old laundry machine. go, me.

muse:
lenny isn't careless. he isn't absentminded, either. he just... forgets little things sometimes. like taking gum out of his coat pockets before putting his jacket into the laundry machine at the small asian-run laundromat across the street from his dingy apartment.

the latest flavor his clothes reeked of was peppermint. lenny doesn't even remember having the sticks of gum in his jacket pocket until he opens the laundry machine door. sometimes, the gum has retained its shape and he just pulls small wet wrappers of gum out of the machine. other times, the gum gets so tumbled around that he ends up removing a giant colored gummy ball from his clothing. and sometimes, the gum doesn't even get out of his clothing until the dry cycle so at the end of the whole process, he just leaves a sticky smear inside the drying machine. the owner of the laundromat, of course, is an old asian lady who has yet to discover exactly who is gumming up her laundry machines.

as lenny tosses his clothes into the dryer, he wonders what this week's outcome will be. he vaguely remembers buying tropical fruit flavored gum--the trident kind with the lime green package and bright, fluorescent orange pieces. the kind of gum that bursts with flavor in your mouth for about all of two seconds and then leaves faster than you can say, "delicious fruity flavor." either way, lenny's craving gum now, and searches his pockets, coming up empty. he sighs, slamming the laundry machine door shut.

he wonders exactly what flavor will greet him in a couple hours.