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

WHEN DAWN COMES
to the quartzite sky, Roy is still awake.
o-lay-dee-o-lay-dee-o-lay-dee-o-lay-dee-o-lay-dee-o-lay-dee-hee!
It seems momentous decisions come with the price tag of
sleeplessness.
Perhaps it is this very absence of rest—or the resolution of his
will—that causes a determined Roy to open his door and stare
hard at 28/RR.
Not a sound can be heard in the building.
He steps into the hall.
The light above the B THRO M door is curled into a ball of
sleep.
Roy is jealous.
Now would be the perfect time to wake up the slumbering
bulb and relieve his bladder.
Instead, he crosses the hall and stands directly before Old
Guy’s door.
This shouldn’t take a minute.
Lack of sleep has made him brave.
And foolhardy.
But not stupid. That came years before.
He raises his right fist and cocks it back, ready to let fly.
Seconds trickle past like Seattle mist.
Roy continues to stand, right fist cocked, ready to let fly.
Even more seconds shed themselves of the Here and Now.
His feet grow cold. His stare grows bold.
His eyes wander down the door and land on his mismatched
socks. His naked right big toe...
He is startled from his reverie by a loud knocking.
ROY ROGERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY 1