The tragedy in the parking lot.

People, discarded, worn and shabby, their sheen dulled by the unrelenting sun lay around the parking lot like so much trash. Deacon shook his head in pity and heaved a sigh as he began the dreaded task of picking them up. "The waste!" he thought to himself. "The senseless tragedy!"

Used briefly and discarded.

Deacon, a Library volunteer, noticed that donated back issues of Smithsonian and Architectural Digest were lovingly tied with twine and in neat stacks next to the library dumpster. So unlike People, Us, or Soap Opea Weekly. Piles of them were just dumped next to the book drop.

They were dated and no one would want to buy them at the monthly booksale. Deacon would have to hurry to get them ready for the trash pickup the following day.