the empty road - 16. the window

by bofa xesjum

part sixteen of forty

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the road runs on and on and on, as the night turns to day, but no wanderers walk beside it. there are no lonely cafes with a single gas pump, only malls with huge parking lots and liquor stores. john pulls delilah into one of the lots, gets out in the rain and heads to a mcdonalds. there are no other customers, only two women behind the counter, one of them a teenager. not a likely spot for the beginning of an exciting adventure, but john is not disheartened. he knows his prospects will improve when he gets deeper into the heart of america. the bleak land where the flowers of violence bloom in the undergrowth of desperation. where. everybody had a story to tell, and all night to tell it. but now it is morning and john suddenly feels a great weariness. he orders a bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich and coffee. the woman who is not a teenager watches him pay.. his card is not accepted by the little machine. neither of the two women make any comment. john pays with a ten dollar bill. the older woman gives him change. he leaves a dollar tip. john finds a seat. beside the window. and looks. outside. next