Chapter 3b
One day it snowed. I remember all the people outside, children sledding down short hills or building men and forts from the snow. I recognized all the faces but I don't think I knew anybody. Patricia and I had been together for a while. She has moved in now and we're very close. There are no secrets between us and minimal conflict.
I guess there are some places where it snows all the time and some places where it never snows. There are some places where it snows sometimes. This place is none of those places. And most days there is no weather. That's a hard concept to explain but there never seemed to be any specific temperature. There was no wind but also no lack of win. Days were not hot, not cold, not some comfortable middle ground. Everything just was. Usually. I still remember the snow.
I remember how cold my feet were that day as I walked down the street to the bar and how I wished that I had worn shoes. Inside was warm, though, and Darren was already polishing my glass for me. I asked for a beer and he poured it.
Paul walked in from outside as we were talking about what else there was to see in the world.
Darren had said, "What's the news today, boss?"
I answered, "Not much here. Cold day."
He said, "And you were thinking of Colorado!"
I told him Florida was starting to sound better.
He told me he'd like to tour the world, see the Great Wall, the pyramids, the general stuff.
I was about to tell him all of that sounded nice when Paul walked in. Paul was my mail man and another person I'd recently met and started being friends with. Somewhere in this city there are people hiding. I don't mean the people in the snow, I'm not even sure they were real, and even if they were they would have to be real nobodies. No, somewhere there are real people and the longer I stayed the more of them I met, the more binds I forged.
Paul said, "Heya, Erwin. How's the day treating you?"
I greeted him, told him it was treating me fine, no complaints and how was he?
"Good, you know, for what it is. Rain, sleet, snow and hail, you know?"
"Nothing stops the U.S. Mail," I confirmed. "Can I buy you a brew to warm you up?"
"No thanks," he said, "I just wanted to stop in and see you.
Darren had moved away from us and was polishing his glass at the far end of the bar. I said, "Okay, what's up?"
Paul grinned wide, too wide, and asked, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
I didn't get the reference, wasn't even sure if there was a reference.
I looked at him. He looked strange. I looked back at my beer. I took a drink. I told him... I said... I had to think.