(One more to use Marie's prompts. Really didn't mean to go on for so long...)The Restless Night
(June 1982)
Ennis drove for a while, he didn’t know where to go. He drove to town and stopped at the bar, and looked in the window. “Too many people in there” he said aloud. But he didn’t move. He sat there, as the sun was going down, the shadows taking over everything.
Ennis started the truck again and drove down the road to the edge of town. He stopped at the small diner, that he hardly ever went to. He got out of the truck and slowly went inside. “Sit anywhere you like” the lady at the counter said, not moving her eyes from the old tv, crackling and blurry at the edge of the counter.
Ennis sat down at a table way in the back. There were only a couple of other people there. He looked at the tv. The lines were going across the small screen, but Ennis stared at it. Amidst all the noise, Dorothy had just gotten back home and everyone was around her bed. Ennis closed his eyes. “There’s no place like home.”
“Hey, whadya want?” the lady asked. She was next to him, her hair blond and brittle, her hands spotted and yellow. Ennis looked at the stained menu on the table. Just then a man walked in, wearing a denim jacket and a big dark hat. He whistled, the waitress turned. “Ya gotta wait” she yelled, and turned back to Ennis and winked.
“Just coffee” Ennis whispered.
“Ya sure?” That’s it?”
“Yeah” Ennis said. But he looked at the man, and then at the waitress. He got up and walked out of the diner as fast as he could.
Ennis drove back home, his hands tightly gripping the wheel. The restlessness never eased. He finally got there, it was dark, the lights in the other trailers were dim. Ennis walked to the door. A piece of paper was stuck near the doorknob. Ennis took it out and crumpled it up as he went inside and put in on the pile with the others.
Ennis headed for the table, but he stopped to pick up the brown paper wrapping that was still on the floor. He suddenly realized there was a note within the wrinkled paper. “Since I’m moving on, just wanted to give you this, from a long time ago. Thank You, Bill.”
Ennis held the wrinkled paper in his trembling hand, and sat down at the table. He sat there for the second straight night, too restless to eat or to sleep.
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