Stitches

5: It Had To Be That One...

—Kendra—

The hours passed by as the diner slowly came to life. Kendra's surreal morning continued as she noticed a pattern with the customers coming in. Besides the one man who had come and gone early this morning, only regulars seemed to enter the diner. As she made her usual small talk with the tables, they all made comments around the same subject.

"Is your phone working today? Mine isn't."

"This sucks. I can't get on Instagram! The Wi-Fi isn't working either!"

"All these kids whining about phones; we didn't need them to go out to breakfast when I was their age."

Everyone had lost their ability to reach the world outside of this town. She felt her heart pounding, her body felt warm as questions filled her psyche.
What if it wasn't here anymore?
What if the world was ending?
Was it right to let these people go about their day, blissfully unaware of what was out there?
She needed to ground herself before it got worse.

Her racing mind was teetering on the edge of losing control. She needed to calm herself.
Three things she could see; Miss Della pouring coffee, Andrea running food, Casey working through the window to the kitchen.
She took a breath.
Three things she could touch; The notepad in her hand for taking orders, the feeling of her uniform on her skin, and the empty plate on the table that she could clear.
Another breath.
Three things she could hear; The many conversations going on throughout the diner, the clinking of silverware on well-used plates, and the music that played in the room.

"Fill my cup, put some liquor in it."

The feeling of dread was dispersing with each breath as relief hit her.

"Take a sip, sign the check."

Tif had been chatting between the songs until she had signed off a little earlier. Sure, she never had an exact time she'd come into the diner.
She was a 'free-spirit', at least that's how she put it, but she had always made it in.

"Julio, get the stretch!"

"Please be alright," Kendra muttered to herself when the bell in the kitchen window dinged.

She looked to the window. "Table four!" Casey said when she made her way over to the pair of plates placed under the heat lamps. 

"Got it." With a plate in each hand, she made her way to the end of the counter. She glanced at Travis, who still slept despite the ruckus. "Please tell me you're not comatose." She said in a hush as she passed by the booths.

"Morning Kendra!" said one of the many old ladies whose name she couldn't recall. There were so many she'd see each week.
But she could handle it. She was in control.

Kendra flashed her teeth. "Morning dear!" She said, emulating her boss as she passed the booth. She continued towards table four when the man in the booth before her destination waved at her. "I'll be right with you!" Her promise placated the man as she ventured past him and reached her goal.

A mother and her young daughter sat at the table, while the mother made eye contact with Kendra, her child was off in her own little world as she colored on her white paper placemat with crayons scattered about the table.

"Ranny, our food is here! You know what that means, right?" She looked up at Kendra, then back to the table.

"Clean up my crayons?" she asked.

Her mother smiled at her. "That's right! Now hurry and grab them, so she can set your food down for you!" The mother's voice was as sweet as the cream on top of the waffle.