Between Then & Now || Currently Editing for Wattys 2022

36.

The next day, I make sure to stop for lunch. The candy might have tasted good at the time, but my stomach was not happy with me when I woke up the next morning. Probably because my body requires actual food every once in a while.

The first restaurant that came up was some diner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The town wasn't exactly small or big when I pulled off the highway to head to downtown, where the map said the diner was. It's almost cute. Beautiful sculptures lined the main street in downtown, with those little wicker baskets hanging full with flowers from the old-fashioned street lights.

And the diner smelled amazing as soon as I stepped inside. It looks almost exactly like the one my mom used to work in before saving enough money to launch her business. All the booths were old-fashioned, the tiled floor a retro white-black pattern. The smell of burgers and fries and greasy food floods the air, and the restaurant is full of little families, all dressed up. It's Sunday, so maybe they had just come from church. As the waitress walks me to a little table in the corner, I see a little girl, her blonde hair in pigtails, giggling at something the person across from her said from over her milkshake. When I look over my shoulder, sitting down at the table as the waitress tells me someone will be with me shortly, I look over at their table, and find an old man. Probably her grandpa. I can hear her giggling again, like little bells jingling, and I smile, looking down at the menu.

When I look back up, another man in a t-shirt booty bumps the little girl, urging her to move over in the booth. He's younger than the man across from the girl, and, when she looks up, her smile is even brighter. "Daddy!" She jumps up in her seat, standing on the booth, and wraps her arms around her neck. He laughs, and I look away, back down at my menu.

Damn poetic irony.

"Hey, there," When I look up, the waitress is smiling at me. She looks like she's probably still in high school, and I instantly feel old, thinking back to my first job at the restaurant my mom had worked out. "How are you doing today?"

She reaches forward, setting a napkin on the table in front of me, and pulls some silverware from her apron pouch and sets them next to it.

"I'm good," I look over at the girl and her dad again. Then back at the waitress.

"Awesome!" I have no idea how her voice is that cheery. Must be a blessing. She whips out a small notepad and pen. "Can I get anything for you to drink today? Coke, orange juice, coffee?"

"Um," I look over at what the girl was drinking. "Just a water, I think." The milkshake is a gray-white with black flakes in it. I'm not sure what it would be called on the menu, so I point to it. "And whatever that little girl has, too."

The waitress looks over her shoulder and whips back around, pen writing. "Awesome! A water and an oreo milkshake. I'll be right back with that to give you so time to look over the menu."

"Thanks," I smile, and I look back down as she walks away. After choosing something from the menu, and then rereading it again, and again, I look back up at the girl. Her dad tousles her hair, causing her to swat his hand away. Over the top of the booth, I can just see her stick her tongue out at her and I can't help but giggle. When I look across the table, her grandpa catches my eyes, and I look away, embarrassed for getting caught.

But when I look back up he's smiling, and I smile back, looking as the girl's head disappears beneath the top of the booth again.