Trying to get back into the groove of writing

Sean pulled into the parking lot of the diner. He put the car in park and turned the key into the off position. He laid his head on the cool steering wheel and shed a few tears. He lifted his head up and opened the car door, stepped out of the car, dried his tear stained face, and stretched. He walked over to the long window in front of the diner and peered into it.
The building and fixtures look pretty new. The windows and aluminum accessories shine.  Looking over at the red neon sign flashing open, reflecting on the yellow painted concrete, Sean noticed the place looked empty. Wait, someone’s sitting at the end of the counter, reading a newspaper. Sean dropped his head in weary relief and walked into the diner, the bells jingling his entrance.

Sean walks over to the counter changed his mind and sat at a red vinyl covered booth and waited for someone to come over and take his order. He reached for the menu on the table and tried to concentrate on the words in front of him. Tears hovered on the edge of his eyes, threatening to fall onto the pale yellow table. He looked over to the swinging door to the kitchen, willing someone to talk to him. It didn’t matter if they were taking his order or making small talk, he needed conversation with a person, a human connection.

Finally, the door swung and a tall, auburn haired woman emerged from the kitchen. Her short hair was parted down the middle and held in place by a black barrette. It looked like a small skull was attached to the barrette. She walked over to him with a bright smile on her face. Her order pad in hand and pen poised to write, she asked, "What can I get for you, love?" Sean glanced at the menu again, closed it and placed it on the table. "I’ll have a cup of coffee, the eggs and bacon special. No toast, please. Could I also get a glass of water?"

"Anything else, sir?" she asked her smile losing some its brilliance. He noticed that she had bags under eyes and looked like she needed to get a bit more sleep. "That’s all for now. Unless you want to sit down and chat with me."

"Well it’s better than hanging out in the kitchen with the cook", she said with a laugh. "I just need to put in your order and grab your drinks."

For the first time in months, he felt as if he could finally connect with a person and maybe, just maybe share his secret.

The waitress came back to his table, hands full of glass, ceramics, and liquids. She placed them on the table in front of Gabe and slid into the booth. She takes the mugs from the brown tray filling it with dark, steamy liquid. She takes the other mug for herself. He smiles and asks her, "Since you aren’t wearing a nametag, what’s your name?" "Geneva." "I’m Sean," he said as he reaches over the table to grip her outstretched hand. "Nice name," Sean replies. He was never sure of himself when it came to small talk. He just hoped his awkwardness wouldn’t offend her or cause him to look stupid.

"So what brings you out to BFE?" Geneva asked. "We don’t get very many visitors on this stretch of the road."

Sean grabs the mug full of coffee and takes a long sip. He puts the mug down and replies, "Well, I'm just driving along the highway. I’m not going anywhere. Just felt like taking a drive. I saw the neon sign from the road and thought might as well eat. I think I’ll head back from where I came from once I figure out where I’m going."

Geneva looked at Sean with a quizzical look on her face. "So you decided on a whim, to drive up a lonely highway. are you crazy or just mad?"

Sean let out a rueful laugh, "Not to be cliché, but that’s half the story. If you want to hear the rest, well that might take a while."

"Honey, we got all the time in the world. Confess your sins and be forgiven."

Sean laughed again, liking the way Geneva spoke. She didn’t have the backwoods accent that you heard around here. She spoke like she was from the city, trying to imitate country people. He wondered how she ended up working on a lonely stretch of highway, miles from the nearest town. He opened his mouth to ask her when a bell sounded in the distance and a low voice announced, "Order up!"

Geneva gave him a broad smile, showing her white teeth outlined by her burgundy lipstick and for a moment he thought he saw a flash of long teeth but shook his head and teeth were normal. "I’ll just get that order for you, Sean. Be back in a jiffy." She eased out of the booth and walked over to the counter. Sean studied her retreating back and admired the contours of her hips and the lines of her legs. He watched as her ass swung back and forth to the drum in his head. He admired the way she stretched to reach the plate of hot food and how it emphasized her shapely body. As Geneva turned to come back to the table, he took in her polyester uniform. A bland brown affair that stopped at her knees, the top open enough to reveal a tattoo of a cartoonish skull inside of a pink heart. Her apron fixed slightly to the left as if she hurried getting dressed. "Hmm," Sean thought about his entrance earlier. "Maybe the cook is her lover."

Geneva placed the plate on the table and slid back into the booth and smiled at him and produced a fork from her apron pocket. He took it from her, turned it to the side and cut into his eggs. He shoveled the food I his mouth and gave her a messy smile when he noticed her watching with her mouth slightly open. He swallowed his food. "Sorry about that. I guess I was hungrier than I thought." Geneva shook her head, "No it’s alright. You’re gonna need your strength," and passed a couple napkins to Sean.

Sean nearly sputtered food out his mouth and looked at her quizzically as she rose from the booth and sashayed over to the kitchen. He quickly drank his coffee and threw some bills onto the table. He flew out of the door and the restaurant and into his car.

    A knock on the window and Sean is gasping for breath when he notices its Geneva. He rolls down the window and pants. Black pools and sharp teeth take up his vision as he pulled into the parking lot and dragged into the alley. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it," he coughs out. Geneva stops and looks down at him and Sean is blinded by a bright white light, making him squeeze his eyes tight. He feels as if tiny needles are pressing against the back of head. Sean grabs the back of his neck and bellows in pain.

When he opens his eyes again, there is glass all over him. He scrambles out of the car and back into the diner. Sean looks behind the counter and into the order window and sees no one in the kitchen. “No one here. I must have passed out in the parking lot.”

He walks around to the restroom to check for any cuts or bruises. He opens the oak colored door and steps inside. Its the type of restroom made for one person at a time. He walks over to the sink and peers into the shiny surface. His eyes are bloodshot, there’s a small cut between his eyes, but there are minor scratches on his face and arms. Sean washes his hands, dries them and walks towards the door. He opens the door and walks back into the diner.

Sean walks into the kitchen and looks around. It’s larger than what he expected a diner kitchen to look like. He walks around the counter and stops in his tracks. An older man in a grease stained shirt and pants lays on the ground, eyes staring and mouth open as if in the middle of a scream. Sean’s body convulses as he stares at the man who prepared his food a short while ago. He stumbles away for the body and sinks to the floor, eyes focused on the unmoving mass.

Sean had been sitting against the wall for a few minutes. What’s going on? How did this happen?

The room grows slightly dark and he hears female voice.

“Sit next to me.” Sean looks up and sees Geneva standing in front of him.

“ You can sit next to me at the counter when you get yourself together.”

Geneva walks out the door without another word.

Sean finally gets up and walks out the swing doors and heads for the counter. Geneva is sitting at the counter, eating what looks like rhubarb or strawberry pie. Sean stares at her for a moment before sitting on the stool next to her. She slides over a slice of the pie on a bright white plate and a cup of steaming coffee.

“Do you know what you have done?”

Sean looks into her face trying to decide to tell the truth or not.

“She was already dying.”

“But she’s not dead.”

“She was so sick.” Sean said as tears tumbled down his pale cheeks. “She was in pain. I couldn’t let her suffer like that.”

“Was she in pain or were you pain? Did she beg you to kill her? Did she want to die?”

“I couldn’t see her in that condition! I can’t take care of her,” he whimpered out.

“You can’t face the crime you committed but you will be punished. What shall it be, hmm?”

Sean stared at Geneva as she stood up and walked in back of him. She put her hands on his head and began to chant. Sean felt his mind speed up, his thoughts jumbling as his vision slowly faded. The last thing he heard was his shallow breathing as he was swallowed up by darkness.