The writing prompts this week were song lyrics from Kris Kristofferson. I took the lyrics: “The scene was a small roadside café/The waitress was sweepin’ the floor…”
When You Find Yourself in Times of Trouble
It was a roadside cafe. I needed a place to sit down and get something to eat. I’d been driving nonstop for 14 hours now, just trying to get away. Just trying to get the world of troubles I had behind me, going to – who knows where.
The car had been overheating, which made sense in the 100+ degree heat I had driven through most of the way. It was evening now, so it was somewhat cooler, a mere 95 degrees.
This was a 24-hour cafe, and even though it was late, there were no other cars or trucks around outside it. That didn’t matter to me; I needed a break.
As I walked in through the door, all I saw was the waitress sweepin’ the floor. On seeing me enter, she stopped what she was doing and spoke to me.
“Howdy, Bud. Been expectin’ you. What took you so long?”
This confused me. First, no one has called me Bud since I was a little kid. How did this waitress know my name? She didn’t look older than maybe 24, too young to have ever crossed my path before. Trust me, I would have noticed her.
“You know me?” I asked.
“Darn tootin’ I do,” she said. “I’ve known you ever since you were a little skip bug.”
“Excuse me. A skip bug? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve known you since you were a baby.”
“I don’t remember you. How were you expecting me?”
She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Your mama told me on the day that you were born. She knew you were going to need help, and I should meet you here in this cafe just about now. I got here a month ago and took this job so that I wouldn’t miss you.”
“My mother predicted this, what, 45 years ago? I don’t understand.”
“Well, I’m what you call a guardian, or a protector. In folklore, you would call me your fairy godmother. Your mother was my first case, but she really didn’t need my help. I checked up on her future, and that’s when I told her about you. I might have mentioned some issues you might have later on in life. With more research, she found out about this place and some of the troubles that you would be carrying with you. That’s when she transferred all my fairy godmotherness wishes to you. All I had to do was to find you or to have you find me. So here we are.”
“That’s a lot to take in,” I said. Right now, is it possible for you to get me something to eat and a drink, please?
“Absolutely. Your wish is my command.”
She left me and went behind the counter to get me some food.
Unfortunately, I was so wiped out that before she could bring it to me, I put my head down on the table and fell fast asleep.
