volume one IN THE D U D L E Y C L A R K - Ohio Vine Tours

thumpthumpthump
Not far from the head of the stair is 28/RR. When he comes
in sight of this, his heavy thudding becomes a dainty tiptoe.
Quietly, he steps onto the second floor.
He glides past 28/RR and hurries along to 23.
His second key is out. Into the slotted cylinder it goes,
muscling pins up and out of its way. With a twist the cylinder
revolves—and he’s safe inside.
He heads for the bed where he sets his burden, then removes
his draining raincoat. This he replaces on its nail.
If not clean, Roy is at least neat.
His raincoat replaced on its nail, a puddle on the floor
beneath just getting started, he next moves to his duffle. He digs
through this until he encounters the blue, spiral-ring paper pad
and, with a bit more digging, uncovers a plastic Bic pen filled
with blue ink.
With these items in tow, he moves to the bed.
squeak
Now he must compose his thoughts. What ought he to write?
Cooking the lasagna had been the easy part. Outside, wind
lashes a freezing rain. Inside, Roy’s steam radiator maintains
just enough headway to steer against the current. Roy chews on
his Bic.
He wishes he had a pencil.
Roy is always wishing for something.
He begins:
To Whom It May Concern:
Your music the other night was awesome! I dug
it very much!! Here is some food for you. I am in
room 23. I am the one ran into you the other
night. I would like to hear more of your awesome tunes.
If that is cool with you that is. My name is
Maybe he shouldn’t tell him his name.
What If he gets pissed off, and comes after him? Then he
shouldn’t tell him his room number, either. What he should do is
he should eat the lasagna, and forget the whole thing, that’s what
ROY ROGERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY 10