First story. Brief introduction to book. Originally I was going to make them lovers like in the song but changed my mind. They don’t have to be lovers to bicker.
FRANK AND JOHNNY
Frank and Johnny, two cops sat in a squad car in the corner of a parking lot at a strip plaza on a cool Tuesday night in June. Drinking coffee. Slowly.
“Sure is pretty out there.” The young cop, Johnny, smiled.
“What?” Frank asked, taking his hat off and laying it on the dashboard, staring out at the vacant parking lot. He picked up his coffee.
“What the hell is pretty?”
“The asphalt.” Johnny glanced at his partner. “I’ve always liked the look of fresh asphalt. It’s so… black. And the smell. Especially after a rain. Like a woman. So mysterious.”
The older cop shook his head and sighed. “I think you might be working to many long hours, Johnny.”
“It’s like an empty dance floor,” Johnny continued. “Beckoning.”
“Beckoning?”
“Makes you feel like swinging.”
“Swinging?” Frank sipped on his coffee.
The young cop looked at his older partner as he slipped a stick of chewing gum into his smile.
“Dancing. Don’t you like to dance, Frank?”
Frank paused for a moment. The conversation was moving to fast for his liking.
“When I go home all my feet want, is to curl up in a nice warm pair of slippers and sleep.”
Johnny laughed. His gum snapping in his teeth.
Frank sipped at his coffee and looked suspiciously at his partner. For several minutes neither cop spoke. Frank kept sipping his coffee. Johnny kept staring into the parking lot. Snapping his gum.
“I don’t like that,” Johnny said.
Frank glanced at his partner once again with suspicion.
“Like what?” Frank asked.
Johnny turned and smiled at Frank, then turned his gaze back to the parking lot.
“The parking lot is almost empty.”
“It’s three in the morning,” Frank responded. “The only thing open is the drug store.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” Johnny said. “Empty parking lots freak me out. Reminds me of the universe.”
Frank shook his head. “The universe? First a dance floor and now the universe.”
“Is the universe filled with intelligent life or is it empty?” Johnny turned and looked at Frank again. “Depresses me to think that the universe is empty.”
Frank smirked. “Doesn’t do anything for me.”
“Imagine that there isn’t any other intelligent life in the universe but us.” Johnny said.
The older cop looked down into his paper cup as if the coffee had acquired a bitter taste that he hadn’t noticed before.
Frank sighed. “The universe might be relieved.”
Johnny leaned back, deep in thought.
Frank looked at him waiting for his young partner to offer him another surprise.
Johnny smiled.
“There’s always the drug store,” Johnny said.
“Are we talking about the universe now or the dance floor?” Frank asked quixotically.
Johnny sighed deeply.
“Open 24 hours. That’s what it says. Imagine if there wasn’t a drug store. Nothing lonelier than an empty parking lot.”
Frank looked at him.
“Why would you have a parking lot without some stores?” Frank asked.
Johnny smiled. “Exactly.”
“You ought to write this stuff down,” Frank said with a snarl.
Johnny, pleased with himself, continued to stare out the front windshield at the night sky.
“There’s a whole universe out there, Frank. And it’s big. Everything in the night sky is but one grain of sand. On a beach that runs as far as the eye can see. Scientists figure it’s mostly empty. Maybe completely empty. And then there’s our little planet. Our little blue marble. It’s like that drug store. Open 24 hours. Nobody knows why.”
“Sure they do,” Frank responded. “Money.”
Johnny turned to Frank. “You’re such a cynic.”
Frank looked at his young partner and smiled. He did not respond for several moments.
“We need some music in here,” Johnny said.
“Why not?” Frank laughed. “After all, we got a dance floor.”
……………………………..
Cover for Sleeping Beauty
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