mom

my mom was a nice lady i really liked her a lot we went for long rides together when it was cool, and when it was hot one day we went for a drive further than we usually went we came to an old gas station its sign was faded and bent there beside the station was an old fashioned general store i had the strangest feeling that i had never been there before inside was an old cooler filled with sasparilla and coke i put my hand in the freezing water and a voice from the shadows spoke "you got to pay up, mister before you put your hand in there" the proprietor lurched like a grizzly from a quivering rocking chair i had never encountered such behavior in all my pristine days the terrible creature glared at me i could not hold his gaze i bought a bottle of ginger ale for mom and a royal crown cola for myself i thought i saw two yellow eyes high up on a dusty shelf the sun was shining like an oil slick on the roof of battered tin though we traveled the whole state over we never went there again