The Day That Lasted Forever

Part Three

I readjusted the backpack strap on my shoulder, as James and I progressed down the dirt path and out the forest, together this time. "So, this place. Is it a breakfast type of place?" I asked, as we both hopped over the wooden gate, and into the tall grass that surrounded it. He laughed. "I wouldn't say a breakfast place. I mean, it's not exclusively a breakfast place. It's right off of Waverly, you know, on the corner? Right next to that old tattoo shop?" He asked me.

"I'm familiar with the area, but I'm not sure I know which place you're talking about."

"Dot's Diner, you can't miss it. They have a little bit of everything there. Coffee, ice cream, burgers, breakfast, you name it, they got it!" He said excitedly.

"Ohh! Dot's! Oh my god, Lenny has been trying to get me to go there for years! I've always wanted to go. Hmm But I just never did for some reason."

"Lenny?" James asked. It completely slipped my mind that he doesn't know Lenny.

"Oh! Yeah, Lenny. He's the owner of the local Deli around the corner. Have you been? They have amazing sandwiches there. And his lemonade is freshly squeezed, he grows the lemons himself!" I raved.

"I thought I saw you holding a lemonade cup when I snuck up on you earlier! I've never been, no! Here, I'll tell you what." He had stopped walking, and looked at me curiously. "How about I take you to Dot's, and maybe afterwards we can go meet your Lenny and his lemonade? Eh? Ehhhhhh?" I agreed without hesitation, and we shook on it. I think Lenny meeting James would be a sight to see. A good one, nonetheless. If James is anything like me, which, evidently he is, then Lenny will love him. I'm excited to see that.

Sawyer wasn't the biggest town, so it wasn't a very long walk, Waverly was only about a twelve minute walk from the forest. James and I talked the entire way there, about any and everything there was to possibly talk about. The minutes had started to pass by as seconds. It felt almost as if now that time was seemingly unfrozen, we just didn't have nearly enough of it now.

"Bum bum dum bummm." James said, holding his hands up to his mouth, playing a spectral trumpet. "Welcome to Dot's." Before me stood a small restaurant, the front of the building, facing the street, was primarily made of glass. As we walked in, the smell of cherries and mint permeated the air. Strangely, it was a pleasant smell. On the inside, it was filled with red, leather booths with jukeboxes sitting in between each, and every wall had a black and white checkerboard lining wrapped around it. It appeared vintage, as if serving as a time capsule straight from the fifties. James and I grabbed a booth next to the front facing windows, and sunk down in the soft leather seats. After speaking for what seemed like eternity, it was now silent. I worried that we had talked about everything, and saved nothing for when we got here. The only sound to be heard was the one of many jukeboxes playing softly in the background. The song was slow and mellow, almost melancholy. I couldn't place my finger on what it was, but it sounded so familiar. This silence between us didn't last long. I've started to notice that silence never really lasts long with James and I admired that about him immensely. "My mom used to take me here everyday after school when I was younger. It's more on the quaint side, and they could probably do without a jukebox between each table," He started to say, as we flipped through the menu together. "But it's just a really cool place."

"Yeah, no doubt! It's a nice place, I can't believe I didn't come here sooner. Hey, how good are the shakes?" I asked, hardly able to contain my excitement. James began raving about how amazing they were, that Dot's was infamous for many things, but most notably for their shakes. It didn't take much for James to convince me, I was sold the minute I saw them. As we continued flipping through the menu, an older woman approached our table. She looked to be in her early thirties, and she wore her brown hair in roller curls that stopped just a few inches above her shoulder.