The Sands of Time

Jane had decided she was going to go to San Francisco. The city had always appealed to her and she felt she would do best there. That meant a cross-country trip. Jane decided to take her time crossing the country so she could see some of it that she had only flown over in past years. She thought she would go south through Virginia and Tennessee to Texas and then swing northward to Colorado and over to San Francisco.

Jane felt badly about lying to her friends who discovered her moving out her furniture. She had told them that it was only in preparation for the sale of the house. The trailer, she told them, was for a long overdue vacation. After all, she rationalized with them, how much can you put in a Mustang and the small trailer that was attached.

Finally the day came and Jane left in the early morning hours. Jane preferred to leave quietly and unnoticed. She was successful and soon was on the highway heading southward. Jane's trip was uneventful through Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas. Jane stayed in Dallas for a night. She had never stayed there and did it just to do it, even though she had traveled a mere 200 miles and it was only early afternoon. The next day Jane got back on the interstate with the idea of making her way to El Paso that day.

Just about noontime Jane had just passed by a town called Midland. She noticed that the next exit, a mere 50 miles later, indicated food there. She wondered if she might get some good TexMex food there. She hoped so. The exit was only a couple of miles further and she exited the highway there. At the bottom of the exit she noticed the road, the paved road, only went off to her left and under the highway. There was a dirt road off to the right. The decision was obvious and easy. She turned left and just as she passed under the Interstate she noticed a small town that she did not, as yet, know its name. Jane drove slowly through the town. She noticed on the bank the name "Gopher Springs Savings and Loan. "Gopher Springs," she thought to herself, how appropriate for a Texas town. The town looked as if it were deserted. Jane noticed at the far edge of town what appeared to be a diner. She hoped it was open. She had not seen a person on the street and wondered why.

When Jane got to the diner she saw a sign hanging from its door indicating it was open. She sighed a little relief, pulled up to it, parked the car, got out and locked it up. She noticed how hot the day was. Looking around she gazed upon the very arid part of the country she was in. Only small brush grew here.

Jane went into the diner. It was empty but it was clean and air-conditioned. Still she saw no one. Jane sat at the counter preferring it to one of the tables. She pulled a menu out from between a napkin dispenser and a bottle of catsup. She looked at it for a few seconds.

"Ain't much on there we can serve ya," a woman's voice said. Jane looked up and saw an average height woman with dirty blonde hair, thin but with the look of many years upon her. She was dressed in a waitress uniform typically worn in the 50s. "Whatcha want?" the woman asked.

"Well, what do you have?" Jane replied.

"I'll make ya most any kind a sandwich ya like including grilled plus we got chili, frajitas, and burritos." The woman said this as if it were a burden upon her and one that she was being forced to do.

"I'd love some chili and two burritos as well," Jane said, "and a glass of water please."

The woman said nothing and did not jot down anything Jane had ordered. But then, Jane thought, she was the only customer so it couldn't be too hard for her to remember. Only a few minutes later the woman appeared again this time with Jane's order.

"Hear ya go, anything else I c'n gitcha?" the waitress asked.

"No, this will be fine, thank you."

"Yer not from around here are ya?" the waitress asked.

"No, I'm not. Mmmmmm, this chili is good. "Did you make it?" Jane inquired.

"'Course I did. No one else around here gonna do it." She said with depressed resignation. "So whatcha doin' here?"

"Nothing." Jane responded, "I was hungry and just got off the interstate for some lunch. I'm heading for San Francisco."

"Oh," the woman responded drolly, "thought ya might be the new school teacher. She was supposed to be here two weeks ago but never showed. Too bad. She prolly saw this place and left, my guess."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Jane said with empathy.

"You ever teach?" the woman asked unexpectedly.

" Noo, errrr yeahhh ahhhhh, no, never," Jane said. She had decided that the night courses she gave at the college didn't really count.

The woman looked like she wanted to say something. She didn't. She took Jane's plate away and cleaned off the counter with a damp rag. "Anything else I can get you?" She asked.

"No thank you. That was fine. May I have the check please?"

"No check, just $4.70 for the meal." The woman said very matter of fact way.

Jane felt the price to be extremely reasonable. She dug into her pocket for some change but found none. She opened her wallet and pulled out a five and a one-dollar bill. She put it on the counter and told the woman to keep the change. Jane went out to her car. She noticed how dusty it looked but knew it was just road dust. She got in the car, put the key in the ignition and turned. Nothing happened. She tried again and again nothing happened. What now she thought. Jane looked at the diner and thought the woman in there could direct her to a garage. Jane got out of her car and went back inside the diner. This time the woman appeared quickly.

"Yes?" was all she said.

"My car is broken down. Could I use your phone to call the triple A?"

The woman laughed and said, "Honey, the nearest triple A is back in Ft. Worth and I don't think they're gonna take a hankerin' to findin' someone hundreds of miles away just to get your car started."

"Well, is there a garage in town that I can take it to?" Jane asked.

"Sure, Bud's, but he's not there."

"When will he be back?" Jane asked her agitation rising.

"Hard to say. Bud went out hunting with Earnie and they could be gone for days."

"So what do people around here do if they have a problem?" Jane asked sarcastically.

"They just wait for 'em to return. No sense in gettin' all riled up over it. People around these parts just ain't in no rush to go no where."

Jane thought about her predicament for a while and resigned herself to the fact that she would be stuck here for a few days until Bud and Earnie return. "Is there a hotel I can stay at while I wait for them and, oh, since I can't move my car I hope you won't mind if I leave it where it is."

"Hotel's right dead center of town and no, don't mind. Reckon you'll be seein' it a few times a day when you come to eat."

"What do you mean by that?" Jane asked a bit impatiently.

"What I mean by that is if you wanna eat you gotta come here cause they ain't no other place ta eat." the woman said quite matter of fact way.

Jane digested all this and resigned herself to finding the hotel and getting checked in. She thanked the woman, left the diner, got a few things from her car, checked the lock on the trailer and headed for the hotel. Of a sudden Jane had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this was just the beginning of more trouble than she had bargained for.

Jane walked towards the hotel. Even though it was very hot she noticed that she wasn't sweating too much while carrying her burden. She walked down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from the diner. In the middle of the small town Jane found the hotel just as the woman had said she would. It reminded her of a throwback to something out of the old west. For all she knew it just might be, she thought. Jane opened the door to the hotel and walked to the reception counter that was straight ahead. A bell centered on the counter had a card in front of it that read "Ring For Service." Jane did just that. A few seconds later an elderly man slowly entered the lobby from a room to Jane's right rear. She thought him to be another guest there however he moved behind the counter and said, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like a room."

"How long will you be staying?" He asked this as if people frequently stayed there for extended periods of time.

"Just a few days, I hope." she said.

"Well, I'll put you down for a week, just in case." he said.

"Just in case of what?" Jane asked.

"Just in case Bud's a little late in returning."

"How did you know I am waiting for Bud?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"Ma'am, this is a very small town. When something happens, people know pretty quickly. In your case Ellie called me to tell me you'd be staying with us."

"Ellie?" Jane queried.

"Yes, Ellie, down at the diner."

Jane tried to size up the situation and came to the immediate conclusion that she knew far too little of this town's goings on to make any conclusions. "She did huh? Well that was nice of her." Jane said this trying to set a more friendly tone.

"Ellie's a nice woman. Widowed 6 years now that diner is all she's got. She's a damn good cook too but just try to get her to cook you anything sides what's been on that menu for years. When Joel died he took a good piece of her heart with her."

Jane immediately felt sorry for Ellie. Jane paused a moment trying to remember the man's name but realized she didn't know it. "Excuse me sir, what is you name."

"I'm sorry ma'am. My manners are wanting these days. The name is Alexander."

"So they called you Alex right?"

"No, no one has ever called me anything but Alexander and to be honest with you, I like it that way. Now, we don't have an elevator in this here hotel so I'm putting you on the second floor and to the rear so you won't be bother by the noise."

"Thank you," Jane said and thought, since she had been in town the only one making noise that she had heard was herself. She found his statement extremely curious. She couldn't imagine what noise there could be in the town that would bother her. She put his comments off to a bit of harmless eccentricity and followed Alexander up to her room. He opened the door and place her bag at the far end of the room and out of the way. The room was a corner room. Alexander prompted Jane over to the windows, there was one at the corner on each wall, and had her look out them. One window looked out to the rear of the hotel and the other to its side that was tantamount to looking across a small alley to another building.

"I hope this will suit you while you stay." Alexander said. "There's an air conditioner in that window," he pointed to a second window on the wall facing the alley, "so if you leave the winders closed you can keep it cool in here."

"Thank you,:" Jane said genuinely, "Thank you very much. You've been very kind." Jane tried to hand the man a twenty-dollar bill.

Alexander pushed her hand away and said, "That won't be necessary. I'm paid well and this is just a part of my job. Have a good day ma'am."

With that Alexander left. Jane felt that she had landed in either the friendliest town or strangest town she had ever been in. She tried to imagine anyone turning down a tip in the Northeast and saying what they did was part of the job. Whatever the case she did not feel in any danger and actually felt that this stop could turn out to have some fun and adventure associated with it. She looked forward to the coming days. She assumed she was stuck there for a few days anyway from the way the people had talked to her.

Jane had her supper at the diner. The same waitress was still there.

"Doesn't someone relieve you here?" Jane asked the woman.

"Hon, this here is a one woman operation. I open it at six in the morning and close at eight at night or when ev'ryone's gone. Why, you looking for a job?" she asked half sarcastically.

"Well, I am between jobs right now," Jane said jokingly, "why not give me a day or so to think it over okay?"

"Honey, around here time is one thing we have lots of. Whatcha do fer job before here?"

"I was a financial analyst. Actually, I've just been promoted to a senior vice-president." Jane said proudly.

"Ah huh, that's what I thought. You don't know nothin'."

"What do you mean I don't know anything?" Jane asked defensively.

"Never mind, I don't mean nothin' anyway." Ellie said conceding.

"Oh, now that you mention it," Jane said, "what do people do around here?"

"Well, not too much." Ellie said. "We do have a couple of sheep farmers here abouts and then there are the oil rigs. They're about 25 miles from here. After that it gets mighty lean."

Jane ordered the chili, again. She told Ellie she liked it so much the first time she really wanted more. She chatted a bit with Ellie while she ate. Again she noticed that she was able to finish her entire meal without seeing another person in the diner. Jane ate quietly, paid for her meal and left. Ellie seemed tired and not at all talkative.

Jane returned to her hotel room and turned on the television. She went through the channels, all four of them and decided she needed to do something else. She settled on reading a book she had brought along with her. It was one of those books you buy and always think you'll get around to reading it one day. That one-day is frequently long in coming. Jane thought she'd have plenty of time to get reading in now, there being no demands on her at all.

The morning of the next day came and Jane got up at her usual 6 AM. It hadn't occurred to her that there was no need to rise so early. She showered and dressed. As she was putting on her lipstick in the bathroom it suddenly hit her that she had no where to go and there was certainly no rush to be anywhere. What would she do she wondered.

Jane decided to cease with her preparations for the day and go to Ellie's diner for breakfast. Jane had come to like Ellie and enjoyed her conversation. So now she had something to look forward to she thought as she walked down the street.

There were several people in the diner. These were the first people she had seen in there and found it novel. Jane decided to sit in one of the booths instead of at the counter. She felt very much the outsider and wanted to maintain as low a profile as she could. Ellie wasn't long in coming to Jane's booth.

"Yer up awfully early this mornin'," Ellie said kiddingly but maybe only half so.

"I guess I am. I'm so used to rising early and going to work it's a habit that's going to be hard to break." Jane said in a very matter of fact way.

"S'pose so," Ellie said, "now, what kin I getcha?" Before Jane could say a thing Ellie had placed a coffee mug on her table and filled it with coffee from a decanter she was holding in her other hand. Jane glanced over the menu. The breakfasts seemed to be awfully large for what she was used to. She thought a few moments about what she should get.

"I'll have an English muffin with marmalade and do you have some cantaloupe?" Jane asked.

"Nope, we ain't got none. Alls we got is mostly whatcha see on the menu."

Jane pondered the menu a bit longer. She decided on the oatmeal and the English muffin. Ellie took the order and without saying another word disappear into the kitchen. Jane saw a newspaper with today's date on it on the seat facing her. She got the paper and started to read it. Jane felt that she had been reading only and few minutes when Ellie appeared with her breakfast. Jane pulled the paper away from the table so Ellie could place the plate in front of her. She noted that Ellie had also brought a glass of orange juice. Jane looked up at Ellie.

"Just thought ya might like it," Ellie said of the orange juice she gave to Jane. Jane said nothing but looked at Ellie and smiled. Jane actually relished a glass of orange juice in the morning but had forgotten it this particular morning. She wondered how Ellie knew she'd want it. Jane also noticed that there were more customers in the diner now. Ellie was scurrying about taking and filling orders. Jane leisurely ate her breakfast and read the rest of the small newspaper at the same time. The next time Jane looked up the Diner had only but a few customers in it.

Jane looked at her watch. She had arrived shortly after 7 and it was now almost 8:30. Ellie had come by and refilled Jane's mug several times. Jane noticed that her plate was gone but she had no memory of Ellie taking it. The counter was almost empty now so Jane picked up her coffee mug, left the newspaper behind and sat on a stool at the counter. "What do I owe you Ellie?" Jane asked Ellie who was at the other end of the counter.

Ellie thought for a moment and said, "Dollar and a half."

Jane felt that to be quite the bargain. She dug out three dollars from her purse and lay in on the counter. Ellie came by and said a quite polite thank you. Jane wanted to stay a little longer. She felt she needed to say something to Ellie but she didn't know what. So Jane nursed her coffee for a while thinking. Finally Jane decided to ask a question.

"Ellie, how'd you know I'd want orange juice?"

"You ordered an English muffin," Ellie said, "and yer obviously from the east. Easterners always like orange juice in the mornin'."

Jane thought Ellie's logic a bit strange. The diner was once again empty. Jane was still trying to figure out what she needed to say. Ellie came down the counter and stopped in front of Jane. "Honey, you wanna work here for a few days till they git yer car fixed up? Most likely when they find out what's wrong with it they won't have the part and that means they are gonna hafta order it from Midland or worse from San Antone." Ellie said this as if it were a common occurrence. Jane thought a moment and it did make some sense.

"Where would I work and what would I do?" Jane asked.

"You could work right here. You saw my mornin' rush and a little help would be nice and then again at lunchtime. We don't get many people here in the evening so I wouldn't needja then. You could also spell me now and then." Ellie replied.

It took a week for Jane's car to be fixed but it took only 1 minute for Jane to accept Ellie's offer. It intrigued Jane. She had always been in positions of responsibility that most people don't even know about. Jane was wiping down the counter after the noon meals. She stopped and looked at the calendar. "Two months," she thought, "it's been two months since I left. No one knows where I am." That did not concern Jane much. However, Jane did want to know what was going on back at home. She decided she'd call Leah and find out.

When Jane got back to her room that evening, she had made a deal with the hotel manager to rent her room on a weekly, then monthly basis. Alexander accommodated her on both quite well. She decided that the first thing she was going to do was to call Leah. Jane dug out her personal phone listing, she'd forgotten Leah's number, got her number and dialed it. Leah answered on the second ring with a very soft hello.

"Leah?" Jane asked a little concerned.

"Yes it is," Leah said in a much stronger voice.

"Leah, it's Jane."

"Jane!" Leah literally yelling into the receiver, "Where are you? Where've you been? Are you all right?"

Leah would have gone on, Jane was certain, had she not cut her off by saying, "I'm fine, I've been out of town.. Actually I still am. I'm getting my head back together. I'm in Gopher Springs." Jane caught herself before she let Leah know what state the town she was in.

"Where are you?" Leah asked confused.

"It doesn't matter. I just need some time to get my head together. I'll be all right Leah. Believe me."

"What are you doing there?"

"I'm waitressing at a diner, the only eatery in town." Jane said this with a good deal of pride in her voice. "But Leah, please, how have you been? What have you been up to?"

There was a long pause and Jane could feel bad news coming, "I got married and now I'm kinda divorced Jane." Leah said with a quiver in her voice.