as an omen. Destiny do

se or too cru

car

ay's goal of being on somebody's payroll, she decided to catch her breath by sneaking a smoke in the restroom. Sh

kness. And the brief flame of the lighter, which she snapped closed as she took a strong, slow drag. Another night-shift to deal with old grannies looking for denture cream, kids trying to li

kinds of people: those who couldn't live without air conditioning and her uncle. Another run-down, fix-it-up farm in this family was out of the question. She took another deep drag and wondered why she kept smoking these things. They were like beer, Uncle Justin had told her: after

erfectly. She had a job, she was going to school - although Uncle Justin kept reminding her it was "only" for accounting. No science, no liberal arts. But she read a lot on her own. Mysteries, new fiction, the classics t

ourses, he would say. To say nothing of real science. He accused her of falling for the same trap his sister, Julia's mother, had fallen for: living in a Wisconso-centric universe. Once

t existed), about the elusive qualities of soul (love, happiness, etc.), and about the urge to bury one's face in Godiva chocolate every twenty-eight days. The last question was more easily

d the ceiling in an Osco restroom were connected was beyond her, but what the hell - there would be an entire evening for worrying about mundane problems. Like most of her dreams, she

le who didn't deserve it, or know what it was, or what it meant. At least, that's what it seemed like in the dream. Or maybe she had made all that up after she woke up. But she did remember it had altered into a haze, growing more uniform, covering the world in a grey aura. The white of th

she realized that she wasn't just remembering the dream - the haze was overheard was coming through the ceiling, causing the restroom lights to bend and shimmer. Julia stopped giggling and stare

toilet, and quickly lit another cigarette. Nicotine euphoria swept through her body, but it would not take her to

adness until she heard someone move outside the door. She looked at her watch

well chosen stall expelled the smoke and Julia began flapping

" asked

The restroom door quickly closed and Rhon

Give me

relief and passed another cigarette and the light

head looking into the re

ale and exhale in rhyt

answered, "somebody s

ding the lighter. Julia took it from her as they

da? J

air-tight alibi which, notwithstanding the stern tone in the voice outside, caused them both to giggle. They

, where

ne said he called in

e's fir

exclaime

ou missed your shift yeste

d

at's the third t

lieve I did

eed to know." He turned to Rhonda. "And I figure if you leave now, we won't nee

trollably as she gave a gui

that, he returned

but Rhonda pealed in

funny!" sh

opsicle-stand! You

. "Well," continued Rhonda, "let''s take o

th sides of the street. Eventually, they found themselves at Popeye's pub, where they had a sandwich and a few beers, and decided to kill the rest of the evening with a movie.