meteor shower

meteor shower

fiction
edward w pritchard

The kids in the neighborhood often joked about Mr. Dewitt who dragged a lawn chair into the middle of the back yard and then stayed up all night watching for meteors. He took a quart of beer out there and would watch until a little drunk he dozed off until at about 4AM the cold drove him into his house. Sometimes he would sleep through the morning cold and they would see him on their way to school and joke about it up past the second corner. Not a dignified thing for a 60 year old man to do.

Mr. Dewitt sat in the backyard and thought about the two girls. He worked at the hotel when he was nineteen and he rushed out near the overhang near the front door about 11PM to get someone to move the car. It was an expensive car but he rushed just the same and do his duties planning on yelling a little to clear the entrance to the hotel that he was in charge of for the next 8 hours. The two girls leaning on the car were very pretty, too pretty to pick a favorite. One thing lead to another and the two bored 18 year co-eds ended sleeping in lawn chairs out by the hotel pool.

Mr. Dewitt, as the young man, took out a blanket to the girls and the three of them sat in one lawn chair and watched meteors. Just watched meteors but all three slept a while together even Mr. Dewitt who was supposed to be watching the desk at the hotel even at 3:45AM. About five thirty they went into the lobby of the hotel and he used his key to the restaurant and found them a little something for breakfast.

After watching meteors all night Mr. Dewitt hears the children going to school even over the old music on his MP-3 player as he wakes up in the middle of his backyard a little hung over from watching meteors and stiff and cold in the damp morning air.
End