THE PRICE OF FREE
ALM No.95, November 2026
SHORT STORIES
“Congratulations! You’ve been chosen!”
Tasha froze.
A woman wearing a bright red dress and a smile too wide for her face held out a tiny cup of cheesecake.
“Chosen for what?”
The woman shoved the sample toward her. “Our famous Triple Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake!”
Tasha shrugged.
“Okay. Free food is free food.”
She popped the sample into her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
The woman clapped.
“You love it!”
“I need a whole cake.”
“Wonderful!”
Tasha walked away, already thinking about cheesecake.
She had made it three steps toward the bakery section before someone grabbed her shoulder.
“Excuse me.”
Tasha spun around.
A tall man in a black suit stood behind her.
“Can I help you?”
“You owe us.”
Tasha blinked.
“For the cheesecake?”
“For much more than the cheesecake.”
He handed her a thick envelope.
Tasha opened it.
Inside was a contract.
Her eyes widened.
“What is this?”
“Your agreement.”
“I never signed this.”
“You accepted the sample.”
“So?”
“That was your signature.”
Tasha stared at him.
“My mouth is not a signature!”
The man frowned.
“You consumed the product willingly.”
“Sir, I consume pizza willingly too. That doesn’t mean Domino’s owns me.”
A crowd gathered around them.
The woman in the red dress walked over.
“Tasha, please don’t make this difficult.”
Tasha stared at her.
“How do you know my name?”
The woman smiled.
“We know everything.”
Tasha backed away.
“Nope. Absolutely not.”
She turned to leave.
The doors slammed shut.
The grocery store went silent.
The lights turned red.
“CUSTOMER NUMBER 47 HAS REFUSED PAYMENT.”
Tasha looked around.
“Customer number WHAT?”
The man in the black suit stepped forward.
“You have thirty seconds to fulfill your obligation.”
“What exactly do you want?”
The woman smiled.
“Your firstborn child.”
Tasha stared at her.
“Lady, I don’t even have a boyfriend!”
The crowd gasped.
The woman checked her clipboard.
“That’s... inconvenient.”
The man leaned toward her.
“Then we’ll take something else.”
“Like what?”
“Your soul.”
Tasha stared at him.
Then she burst out laughing.
“Oh, y’all have lost your minds.”
She reached into her purse.
“I have five dollars, a coupon for laundry detergent, and half a granola bar. Pick one.”
The woman’s face turned red with anger.
“SECURITY!”
The store’s employees rushed toward Tasha.
But before anyone could grab her, the old cashier behind register six stood up.
“That’s enough.”
Everyone stopped.
The cashier removed her glasses.
Her eyes glowed bright blue.
Tasha’s mouth fell open.
The cashier pointed at the woman in red.
“You failed again.”
The woman dropped her clipboard.
“Mother!”
Tasha looked between them.
“Mother?”
The cashier sighed.
“You were supposed to choose someone who would willingly accept the contract.”
Tasha pointed at the woman in red.
“So she’s your daughter?”
The cashier nodded.
Tasha looked around at the glowing-eyed cashier, the strange woman in red, the locked grocery store, and the employees who had just tried to grab her.
“Wait. You two are some kind of demon family, aren’t you?”
The cashier looked at her.
“Because this isn’t a grocery store.”
Before Tasha could respond, the walls disappeared.
Tasha stood inside a massive courtroom filled with hundreds of demons.
The woman in red slammed her hands onto a table.
“She ate the cheesecake!”
The crowd shouted.
“THE CONTRACT IS VALID!”
Tasha looked down at the empty sample cup in her hand.
Then she smiled.
“Actually…”
Everyone became silent.
Tasha pulled out her phone.
“I took a picture of the sample table before I ate it.”
She held up the screen.
The fine print clearly said:
FREE SAMPLE. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. NO CONTRACT REQUIRED.
The demons gasped.
The cashier smiled.
“Clever girl.”
The woman in red screamed.
“No!”
The courtroom shook.
The walls cracked.
The man in the black suit collapsed into a pile of smoke.
The woman’s body twisted and changed.
In seconds, she turned into a giant three-headed monster.
Tasha stumbled backward.
“THIS IS WHY I DON’T TRY NEW FOODS!”
The cashier snapped her fingers.
Everything stopped.
The monster disappeared.
The courtroom vanished.
Tasha was back inside the grocery store.
The lights were normal.
The crowd was gone.
The woman in red was gone.
The man in the suit was gone.
Tasha looked down.
She was holding a full cheesecake.
A note was taped into the box: “Congratulations. You survived. The cheesecake is yours.”
Tasha smiled.
Then she noticed the tiny print underneath.
Cheesecake offer expires in 666 years.
Tasha stared at the note.
She looked at the cheesecake.
Then she looked toward the exit.
“I’m calling Walmart.”
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