Chatterbox: Down to Earth

This is a true story.

I don't want you to comment on the way I write it. I'm not using my writing skills right now. I would just like you to mull over it with me. Please help me make sense of it.

As you may know (although you probably don't, becuase it seems that nobody looked at the thread I made), I am in New Hampshire right now. I went to a paint-your-own-pottery place with my sisters, mom, and grandma. I finished my piece before they did, so I asked to walk home. 

"Are you sure?" asked my mom. "It's a forty minute walk." 

"Yes. I want to do it." I left the shop and started walking back to the place where we're staying.

Let me give you some background: In March, we were here to catch the end of the ski season. It was my mom's first time skiing. After her first day, she wanted to buy new socks, because her feet had been very cold. I offered to go with her. She looked on Google Maps for a nearby ski gear store. The first one we tried was closed. The second one was open. I'm not going to tell you what it was called, of course. Inside the store an oldish, tattered-looking woman sat behind the desk. My mom asked her to help her find some new socks. After she had found the socks, tried on a pair of snowpants that didn't fit, and paid, she started talking to the woman. They had a very long conversation. I stared into space and walked around the cluttered, messy store while they chattered. After we exited the shop, I asked my mom why she had talked with the woman for so long. "She's lonely," said she. It turns out that a few years ago her old space, which was twice as big and had a second floor, was taken away from her by a big company that sells the same things she does. She runs the store by herself, except in the Summer, when she hires someone to help her.

Anyway, I was jogging home when I saw her store. "She's lonely," my mom had told me. Lonely. I wanted her to feel better. I decided that I would go in and tell her that my mom had come in a month or two ago and bought some socks, and I was wondering how she was doing. I thought this was a good idea at first. When I stopped in front of the store, I had to stop and think. I considered the fact that I might make her agitated. I considered the fact that I might confuse her. I considered the fact that I was really scared, but that it was the right thing to do. So, taking a deep breath, I opened the door. A bell rang. I didn't see anyone behind the counter, but I saw some movement by a tent display. The oldish woman whose name I do not know peered out from behind a corner.

"Can I help you?"

I looked into her face. Her face was very square and her teeth looked dark and uncared for. She wore a knit blue sweater. 

"Yes," I said, putting on a cheery voice and friendly smile. "Um, my mom came in here a few months ago to buy some socks."

"Socks?"

"No, um, you had a conversation with her and I was, uh, just wondering how you were doing."

"Did you come in here recently?"

"Um, a few months ago...in March. To buy some socks. I was wondering if you were alright."

"You...want to buy more socks?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

I left the store.

I wonder why I went in in the first place. I wonder if it was the right idea.