Motel

john still had a few items in his pocket in his pocket, a paper clip, a few losing tickets from the track and winning pepsi cap for some contest. He couldnt remember how long he had been wearing his white dress shirt. It had some red dots of liquor on it, but it didnt look that bad. The lights werent on and the room was pretty cool. he rolled up off the bed and walked down the hall to find the ice machine. He found it in a dark alcove right in front of the executive gym. He could see a woman in turquoise shorts pulling herself up and dropping down on a weird looking machine. She was making an "O" shape with her mouth and her eyes were closed. Bright fluorescents poured out of the gym and illuminated the humming ice machine. He looked at it. He opened the flap on the front and put both hands inside. He felt the ice. It felt good. He got down on his knees and put his head in a little. the vibrations felt good on his head, resting on the metal sill. A family from Kansas got off the elevator and dragged their luggage down the hall. It was pretty late to be getting off the road, about 1 AM. The must have gotten stuck in traffic. There was a bad wreck on I-64, just outside of town. John walked back to his room and put the chain on the door. he took his shirt off and sat on the floor in front of the bed and turned on the TV. There was a story on the local news about a boy who was missing for 2 days. They found him in a forrest near his house, and except for some minor scrapes and bruises, he was fine. The reporters fained jubilation. The Rams beat the Jets 21-11 (Final). Animals mate. Cartoons. Elimidate had rednecks on it. John put his shirt back on and turned the AC down. He got in bed, but the blankets were scratchy, so threw off the top cover and rolled over. He wasn't really sleepy. He thought about getting a cab downtown and finding a music club. He probably wouldnt know anyone there. It might be a little awkward. It shouldnt, but it would be. he thought how it would be a waste of money and how he would be sleepy the next day. He decided to just go to sleep. He dreamt of World War I and the care bears. He woke up at 6:15 AM and went down to the lobby. There was an elderly man at the front desk and two Japanese guys eating their free continental breakfast. John starred out the front door and then began to leaf through the rack a brochures near the pay phones. He grabbed a couple and sat on the couch. The first one sucked. It was a black and white card with driving direction to the tourism center. The second one was for place that let you pan for gold in a man-made stream. He folded that one up and put it in his pocket. John grabbed a cheese danish and went back to his room.