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

duties of her office demand, or the needs of her body require—
Roy’s chin sinks to his chest and his eyes track down the wall
to the floor and come to rest on the threadbare material that
perhaps once was a ritzy carpet, back when this was a tony part
of town, in the heyday of the Great Gold Rush, in the time of
stern-wheel riverboats, mud-covered streets, coquettish girls
in crinolines, daguerreotypes and derringers and the clinging,
earthy smell of horseshit in the air.
Roy takes a deep breath and sighs. His hands clamp the
headphones back over his ears, back where they belong, back
where they will spend most of their lifetime here on earth before
obsolescence and ultraviolet radiation have their way.
The thumb of his right hand, exposed through a fingerless
woolen glove, presses PLAY on his Sony tape player.
His bald head bobs as if on the end of a spring as he clumps
his scarred work boots down the hall, not to stop before he
reaches his new home.
Number 23.
ROY ROGERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY