The Writer Observes (Perkins Restaurant, Butte, Montana, Sunday, April 17, 11:17 a.m. - 12:16 p.m.)
“You definitely got more hash browns than I did.”
*
This place bakes in the midmorning heat, and smells like our various coats. The sun, aslant through the plate-glass windows, weighs heavy in the maple-flavored air, blankets our heads with Sunday torpidity. A hostess guides me past tables filled with heathens who have skipped church this morning (as well as those who went to the early service and now stare in judgment at those who probably did not). I’m led to a sticky booth at the back of the restaurant. I sit, order coffee, water, pancakes, and something called the Big Country Smasher®. I open my notebook, unpocket my pen, and begin my observations.
tryingtoldanything
what
not
doing
God
Hell
tearinggodgodrunning
David Abrams is the author of Fobbit (Grove/Atlantic, 2012), a comedy about the tragedy of war. He blogs about the literary life at The Quivering Pen (bit.ly/27VRLrM). His work has appeared in Esquire, Glimmer Train, The Greensboro Review, Narrative, Salon, and many other places. He lives with his wife in Butte, Montana.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author David Abrams
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author David Abrams
More in this series
“Why Jazz?”: A Music Festival Review
“Jazz is not a live being, and music is not subject to our laws of time.”
Men Stop Me Running
At fifty yards, I wave like I see someone I know. Ten feet away, I flash my pepper spray.
One Sister Sees X, the Other Sees Y
There are times I envy art’s effectiveness in a bilingual context, its ability to transcend language.