the price of eggs

Standing before the grocery store's egg section, I recall when a dozen cost around $6.  I express my current sticker shock at $11 to a younger woman, who appears to be disinterested in my attempt for mutual dissatisfaction.  It's been a while since I bought eggs apparently, and as usual I'm late to the reality.

When I visit my mom with my siblings, she persistently offers her carton of eggs, claiming that she doesn't eat them often.  However, I reject her maternal gesture, since our brother-in-law went through the effort of getting them for her.  In addition, my personal guilt remembers that she can't walk to the store because of her aging hip.  

We take mom to the store, and the eggs are $13.  We then realize that the last dozen priced at $5 was snatched by our sister, who lives conveniently across from her own neighborhood grocery. Gazing at the scarce display of egg cartons, I explain to my brother how for some reason, half a dozen is on sale for $3. So, buying two of those would seem to be the viable bargain.  A pair of men join us and overhear my suggestion that they appear to consider.   

As we leave our mom, who continually offers to share her eggs, my siblings are still debating over the eggs that my sister hijacked.  I laugh to myself when my brother finally exclaims to my sister, "I don't want your eggs!"  I’m reliving childhood.

Days after I return to the egg section of my grocery store, contemplating the lower price of $8. I wonder if the cost will ever return to its normal rate.  A younger man saunters into the scene. I don't attempt a conversation to complain. I grab a carton and walk on to the bread section.