Borders at 10:00 p.m.

books
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Don't ask me why. I don't even know. I just know that at 10:00, in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm my wife said she wanted to go to the book store. She likes reading for free and of course the libraries are closed. She found out that Borders stays open until 11:00. That'll give her an hour.

So in the pouring rain and thunder claps we drive to the book store. It dumps fat drops that slap the windshield. The wipers fight them off courageously but in vain. More water cascades out of the sky like tumbling books from towering shelves. We hydroplane through rivers in the road. No one is out here. All the sane people are ensconced at home cowering under an angry heaven of thundering voices.

But we are fearless or foolish, same difference.

There are plenty of parking spaces. We slide into one and quickly dart inside.

I find a chair with impossibly narrow armrests. I type here on my iBook, my arms cramped, my elbows jammed in my sides. My coat is still on. I'm growing sleepy and dizzy. I'm hot. I yank my North Face waterproof jacket off. I throw it over the next chair. I lay back trying to fight the sleepiness.

The store is quiet. No music plays. I can hear nothing save a few pages shuffling in the next isle. I can just hear the store cashiers giggling in the distance. The air conditioner hums and whirrs above. I hear no thunder, I see no lightning. Has it stopped? Am I dreaming?

I don't know. I just want to get horizontal. I want to go to bed. This is one time I DON'T want to be at Borders. I close my eyes as I type these last few sentences. I'm not even looking at the screen or keyboard. I'm so sleepy. How did I get so tired?

I need sleep. Just a few minutes. I need to return home.

Where is she? How much longer? I can't hold on. I can't lay down here.

I stumble out of the book store into the rain, eyes half-closed. I find the keys and climb into the back seat. Alas, I lie here sleepily. Will anyone ever find me here? I feel as though I've become lost in a wilderness and there's a storm outside. I've crawled into a cave to sleep it off. I'll never be found again.

....dave
I reach for sleep and pull it like a blanket around me.