Old Home Café: The Next Generation
By Edward Floden, based on characters and situations created by William D. Fries, Jr.
Episode XXXI: Waiting And Hoping
(Originally published in The Legend-News of 2004 September 4.)
The humidity was high in Pisgah today. How high was it? Well, the sugar wasn’t coming out of the sugar shaker even after you banged it on the table a few times. This annoying situation caused a few customers to surrender to the weather and rip open a packet of Sweet ’n’ Low, but the die-hard sugar lovers just twisted open the shaker and dug out a few chunks for themselves.
Harry Parsons was visiting, making a few minor tweaks and improvements on the Café’s second major tourist attraction, the Auto-Dog. The mechanised tube steak dispenser had been working well, but Harry had thought of a new feature that he ought to add.
Jon observed Harry’s tinkering. He hoped that, when Harry was finished, the Auto-Dog was still working. Harry wasn’t talking about the “new feature”: “When it’s done, Jonny, you’ll be the first to see it.” Jon wondered if he would soon be wiping something off of the walls.
Fortunately, the crowd in the dining room wasn’t there for the hot dogs. Another biker club was rolling through town and they’d stopped at the Café for some of Mike’s burgers. Since Mike had widened the selection of ingredients, he’d been getting the oddest requests. A provolone and tomato burger was understandable; but feta and avocado? He was wondering if some of these riders weren’t secretly from California.
As Jon poured another cup of coffee, he looked out of the window at the hot, sunny day and wondered if a plot would develop.
Next: Spittin’ image