especially at night

by horace p sternwall

coffee, mister? yes, thank you. anything else? pie’s pretty good, especially the pumpkin. i’ll think about it. suit yourself. can i ask you something? go right ahead. any strangers passed through lately? can’t think of any. just you. i’m trying to find this fellow, i thought he might have passed through. probably headed east. you know, folks come in especially at night, i don’t look out the window to see which way they are headed when they leave. besides, they go down to the interstate, they could take any entrance, north, south, east, or west. that makes sense. what did this fellow look like? hard to say. like he could get lost in a crowd. not young or old, fat or thin, short or tall. didn’t dress like a banker, or like a bum. brown hair, parted on the side, might be getting gray by now. can’t remember what color his eyes were. sometimes he wore glasses. wouldn’t be walking, wouldn’t be driving a rolls royce. or have a chauffeur with him. the chauffeur might have waited outside in the car. good point. you sound like you want to find this fellow real bad, like you been looking for him for a long time. i have, i have followed him all over the __________, from _____________ to ____________, from ___________ to____________, from____________ to ___________, by _________, by____________, and by___________. sometimes even by__________. let me guess. he did you wrong. maybe. maybe i did him wrong. i guess it all amounts to the same thing in the end. you may be right. well, i will keep an eye out for him. if i see him, and if you happen to come back this way some time, i will let you know. thank you. sure you don’t want some pie? i had some in the last town. that is my life, traveling from town to town, city to city. have some pie or a burger or some ham and eggs in one town, skip it in the next. want a refill on the coffee? no, thank you. i will be moving on. good night, then. good night. the coffee was very good. i’ll be sure to give this place a good word with all my friends. thank you. you take care, now.