Between Nowhere and Somewhere
The light rain had cleansed the walkway where Andy was crossing.
It was past the midnight hour and he was heading for somewhere, called Coffee Road. He was searching for words scattered among the standing puddles reflecting the lights of the city.
The rhythmic sounds of the traffic, and the coldness of the night air, — dampened his soul. His mind was restless as he pulled his jacket collar closer to his neck.
He reached the corner of Coffee Road and Hope Ave, he paused and looked into the big-picture window of the Coffee Road Filling Station, a place that had seen many writers emote.
Andy saw the same three people who were in their appointed spots, staring into the air, with expressions of wax figures in a museum.
Their souls had taken a break, leaving them in a catatonic state, waiting for their next life to begin.
When he reached the door and before he pushed it open, he froze.
He could not believe his eyes, he saw himself sitting in his spot and asked, "What is going on?"
He blinked his eyes several times, and the image would not leave his eyes.
He saw a ghostly figure with his face. An old man was sitting in his place and his body was covered in street-stained clothes.
The face had a blank stare as it looked into the air. A pencil lay lifeless on top of a yellow legal pad.
He lowered his head and blinked some more. He thought, "I am seeing the future, and it does not look good."
Blinking as hard as he could, he looked again at his spot, it was now empty.
With a big smile, he looked towards the night sky and saluted. Going inside and looking out the door he said, "Thanks for the writing prompt, buddy."
He smiled, turned around, and waved to his secret love, Mary the waitress. She grabbed a cup and filled it up.
They had a secret coffee ritual and performed their tasks with traditional perfection.
She brought Andy's coffee to the table, smiled, and asked, “What are we writing about tonight, my little pigeon.”
"A poem"
"What's it about?"
His loving eyes looked deeply into hers as he softly spoke, "It is about a lonely man who falls in love with the most beautiful rose in the world."
Mary raised an eyebrow, and said, "Don't drag me into your imagination, I'm too busy living, I can't go for that."
He gave Mary a big smile and looked over at the counter where his three-night friends sat.
They turned their heads and nodded in his direction.
He met their eyes and nodded his head slightly. He quickly looked up at Mary with those eyes that spoke softly, I love you.
She looked away and said, “You know the rules, raise your hand when you need a fill-up. Don’t stay too long or I might have to charge you for parking.”
He smiled and saluted Mary.
As she slowly walked back to tidy up the front counter, she thought, "He's an OK guy, if only he had a job, things could just maybe, just maybe work out. I'm not in the market for a dependent. I need a working partner."
©️ LuMar Lee 2023,
all rights reserved
Next Story
Finding a Path to a Destination Randy was a cab driver and a guy flagged him down for a ride to the bridge. Randy took him to the mission instead.
2-minute 38-second read time.
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